Kuzul

When Herb Pennock learned that the Boston Red Sox had traded him to the New York Yankees, he and his wife danced a jig.

With the Yankees from 1923-33, Pennock was 162-90 (.643) with a 3.54 ERA, a 114 ERA+ and a 1.335 WHIP.

Pennock was never an ace. He lacked a good fastball which forced him to develop three curve balls and to use “junk” and guile to win.

He rarely was matched up against the opposition’s best or even second-best pitcher. He and Walter Johnson were in the American League for 15 seasons. Pennock started against him three times.

In his first six seasons with the Yankees, Pennock averaged 19 wins a season. He was a clutch pitcher in the World Series, going 5-0 with a 1.95 ERA and an 0.849 WHIP in four Series.

Pennock’s last season was in 1934. The Yankees released him in January and he returned to the Red Sox, but made only two starts in 30 appearances.

Pennock became the Philadelphia Phillies‘ general manager in 1944. According to The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), Pennock spoke to Brooklyn Dodgers‘ general manager Branch Rickey in early May 1947 in which he indicated that the Phillies would not take the field if Jackie Robinson were in a Dodgers’ uniform.

The teams did play as scheduled on May 9 with Robinson playing first base. The racial epithets directed at Robinson during the four-game series should have seemed unbelievable, but sadly, they were not..

It got so bad that Brooklyn second baseman Eddie Stanky, who was born in Alabama, challenged the Phillies to a fight. Robinson later referred to the first game of that series as his darkest day.

When Pennock passed away on Jan. 30, 1948, Babe Ruth said he was “A honey of a pitcher who never made an enemy.”

Pennock had never fared well in the Hall of Fame voting. In 1946, he received a mere 16 percent of the votes, but emotions ran high following his death.

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1948, receiving 82 percent of the vote.

Pennock does not belong in the Hall of Fame based on his pitching record and the Hall of Fame’s Rule 5 Character Clause.

A career record of 241-162 with a 3.60 ERA, a 106 ERA+ and a 1.348 WHIP are not Hall of Fame worthy. Of greater importance, one  must wonder how important the Hall of Fame’s Rule 5 Character clause was in electing Pennock.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

From 1982-87, John Sterling worked for Ted Turner’s Atlanta Braves, broadcasting the team’s games on TBS.

Sports editor Buddy McCarter didn’t mince words when it came to his opinion of Sterling in a column written in May, 1985. 

“John Sterling … has to rank as one of the all-time worst announcers in the game.”

One of Sterling’s favorite phrases in those days was “mind-boggling.”  He worked with Pete Van Weiren, Skip Caray (Chip’s daddy and Harry’s son) and Ernie Johnson (Ernie Johnson Jr.’s daddy).  None liked working with Sterling.

St. Louis shortstop Ozzie Smith had just signed a lucrative contract. Sterling told the audience that Smith had just signed a “mind-boggling” contract and that anyone associated with the game of baseball knows how good Smith is. 

He continued, “There just isn’t anything Ozzie Smith can’t do.”Broadcaster partner Pete Van Weiren couldn’t take it any more. “I know something he can’t do. He can’t wait to pick up his next check.”

Vince Coleman hit an inside-the-park home run a little later. Sterling asked, “Have you ever seen an inside-the-park home run where the runner didn’t have to slide at home?”

Skip Caray zapped Sterling as members of the broadcasting crew had trouble hiding their chuckles.

“Yes, when outfielders collide and the runner circles the bases as the ball rolls around,” Caray said.

When knuckleballer Phil Niekro was pitching, Sterling almost continually reminded fans that “Knucksie must get his knuckleball over the plate to be effective.” 

Stating it once or twice would have been sufficient, but not for Sterling.

Dave Skretta wrote that Sterling has been given the most desirable and influential seat in sports radio, but he is hardly Mel Allen or Red Barber.

Joe Torre, who had the misfortune of managing the Braves when Sterling did their games and the New York Yankees when Sterling did their games, made an interesting comment.

“He’s very outgoing, and in some areas – what’s the word? – oblivious,” Torre said, laughing. “He’s oblivious to a lot of things, too.”

The best line was that Sterling, who on occasions makes excuses for a player’s mistake, is not beyond saying the reason that Derek Jeter missed a pop fly was because the sun got in his eyes, even if the game were being played in a domed stadium.

Sterling admits that often, he is thought of as a clown.  He laughs it off, probably because he makes more money than his critics.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Alex Rodriguez has learned.  One of baseball’s all-time greats demonstrated class and character with his response to Donald Trump’s ridiculous comparison.

When Debbie Gibson, who used to be popular during the 1980s, said she didn’t care who received the credit as long as her team won, Trump revealed that he is the antithesis of Derek Jeter, Lou Gehrig and Alex Rodriguez.

“That’s all about winning; that’s a Derek Jeter-type statement,” Trump said. “We love Derek. That’s not an A-Rod statement; it’s a Derek statement.”

When he was asked to respond to the ridiculous attempt at creating controversy where none existed, Rodriguez merely said, with a smile, “Just baseball.”

Rodriguez refuses to be drawn into ludicrous discussions that have nothing to do with baseball and which clearly illustrate the character of the individual attempting to foment the disagreement.

The fact that A-Rod was willing to move to third base from shortstop when he was traded to the New York Yankees refutes any claims that he is not a team player.  Rodriguez was well on the way to becoming the second greatest shortstop ever when he became the greatest third baseman in Yankees’ history.

From 1996-2003, as a shortstop, Rodriguez batted .311/.387/.590, averaging 46 home runs and 130 RBIs over a 162-game season.

Honus Wagner batted .328/.391/.467 in the dead ball era. It doesn’t matter if one prefers Wagner or Rodriguez. There is no doubt that Rodriguez and Wagner would be ranked as the top two shortstops.

When he joined the Yankees, A-Rod became part of Derek Jeter’s team. Jeter rightfully never considered abdicating his shortstop position and Rodriguez never made any attempts or demands for him to do so.

The Yankees won the 2009 World Series.

In the ALDS, Rodriguez batted .455 with a pair of home runs as the Yankees swept the hapless Minnesota Twins.

In the ALCS, Rodriguez batted .429 with three home runs as the Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels in six games.

In the World Series, Rodriguez batted .250, but had a .423 on base percentage and a .550 slugging percentage.

Rodriguez was enough of a winner to admit that he had used substances MLB frowns upon.  His remorse was real.

If Donald Trump owned the Yankees, chances are that as soon as soon as they went into a slump, he would pull “a Ted Turner” and take over as manager.

Of course, Trump wouldn’t want any credit if the Yankees won. Didn’t he agree with Debbie Gibson that she didn’t care who received the credit for winning?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

George Frazier attempted to put his three World Series losses into perspective. After being charged with losses in the third, fourth and sixth games of the 1981 World Series, the New York Yankees relief pitcher spoke to the media.

“How many guys get to pitch in a World Series?” Frazier asked reporters. Then he took it down a notch.

“How many guys even get to play in the big leagues? I did my best. I’m not ashamed. If I was with St. Louis, I’d have been fishing instead of pitching in a World Series.”

Originally signed by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1976, Frazier was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for catcher Buck Martinez. On June 7, 1981, prior to the baseball strike, the Cardinals sent Frazier to the Yankees to complete a deal in which the Yankees sent the Cardinals shortstop Rafael Santana.

Martinez had a successful career as a catcher, manager and broadcaster, while Santana was the shortstop for the 1986 New York Mets.

Yankees catcher Rick Cerone claimed that Frazier had pitched well in his losing efforts.

“He lost three games and they didn’t hit a ball hard off him yet.”

Frazier agreed but admitted that Pedro Guerrero’s two-run triple had been hit hard.

“I don’t think I made one bad pitch in the World Series. Only one ball was hit hard, that was Guerrero’s triple. I lost. That’s history. Spring training is two and one-half months away. I can’t wait to be there.”

It is fascinating how each of us sees things the way we want to see them.

In three appearances against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Frazier worked three-and-two-thirds innings, gave up seven runs on nine hits, walked three and struck out two. He had a 17.18 ERA and a 3.27 WHIP.

Frazier did go to spring training with the Yankees in 1982. He had a decent season, winning four games and losing four games with a respectable 3.47 ERA and a 115 ERA+. The Yankees failed to repeat as American League champions.

On Feb. 5, 1984, the Yankees traded Frazier and young Otis Nixon, who would find stardom and problems with the Atlanta Braves, to the Cleveland Indians for shortstop Toby Harrah.

Never more than a journeyman pitcher, Frazier’s career ended after the 1987 season at the age of 32. He finished at 35-43 with a 4.20 ERA, a 96 ERA+ and 1.47 WHIP.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The 1981 strike resulted in a strange situation in which the season was split into two halves.

The teams that won the first half of the season would meet the team that won the second half in a best-of-five playoff series with the winners playing another best-of-five series for the pennant.

The New York Yankees, under Gene Michael, won the first half to qualify for the playoffs. They played poorly in the second half, which did not please George Steinbrenner, who summarily told Michael that his services would no longer be required. Bob Lemon replaced Michael for the rest of the season.

Under Lemon, the Yankees went 11-14 to finish at 25-26, which placed them sixth in the seven team Eastern Division.  Since they had won the first half of the season with a 34-22 record under Michael, they faced the Milwaukee Brewers in the first round of the playoffs and beat them.

In the second round, the Yankees beat Billy Martin’s Oakland A’s to win the pennant.

Lemon and the Yankees were now in the World Series. The 1981 World Series was one of the worst disasters in New York Yankees’ history.

In 1955, the New York Yankees won the first two games of the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Yankee Stadium. The Dodgers won the Series.

In 1956, the Dodgers won the first two games of the World Series at Ebbets Field. The Yankees won the Series.

In 1978, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the first two games of the World Series at Dodger Stadium. The Yankees won the Series.

In 1981, the Yankees won the first two game of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. Logic dictates that it is better to win the first two games at home than to lose one or two of those games.  Sometimes logic is illogical.

In the third game at Dodger Stadium, the Yankees couldn’t hold an early 4-3 lead and lost, 5-4, when George Frazier, who had replaced starter Dave Righetti in the third inning, faltered and the Dodgers scored twice to take a one-run lead the Yankees could never overcome.

George Frazier was the losing pitcher in Game 3.

The next afternoon the Yankees had an early 4-0 lead. The Dodgers rallied and Lemon turned to Frazier with the scored tied 6-6 in the sixth inning.  He retired the side, getting the two outs he needed, but in the seventh inning the Dodgers loaded the bases with no outs. That was it for Frazier.

Two of the runners scored as the Dodgers took an 8-6 lead in what became an 8-7 Yankees’ loss.

George Frazier was the losing pitcher in Game 4.

Ron Guidry was out-dueled by Jerry Reuss in the fifth game, 2-1 to give the Dodgers their third consecutive win. Some fans remembered 1955, 1956 and 1978.

It rained in New York on Tuesday, Oct. 27, pushing the sixth game to Wednesday.

With the score tied 1-1 in the fourth inning, the Yankees had a runner on first base with two outs. Lemon sent Bobby Murcer to hit for starter Tommy John. Burt Hooten retired Murcer and Lemon brought in Frazier to pitch.

Of course, you know what happened.

George Frazier was the losing pitcher in Game 6.

George Frazier become only the second pitcher to lose three games in a single World Series. The pitcher he tied for the ignominious record was Left Williams, who lost three games for the 1919 Chicago White Sox.

Frazier pitched three seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals before moving to the Yankees. He was 3-11 with a 3.84 ERA and a 98 ERA+. 

One shouldn’t be too hard on Frazier. After all, it was Lemon that kept putting him into key situations.

What would the fired Gene Michael or Billy Martin have done?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Lenny Dykstra was sitting with his back to everyone, facing his locker in the visitors’ clubhouse.  He still couldn’t believe it. He certainly would never accept it.

Joe Carter’s three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning won the World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays.

“It always seemed that somehow, some way, we were going to get out of it,” Dykstra said. “It was a weird feeling, seeing that ball fly out of there. I felt helpless. I can’t really describe it.”

Dykstra’s seventh inning, three-run home run had put the Philadelphia Philllies back into the game after they had trailed, 5-1. At the conclusion of the inning, the Phillies held a 6-5 lead.

“I really believed after we took the lead that it would go seven games. I thought, ‘Wow, this was meant to be.’ I didn’t say it out loud, but I believed it. I thought it was destiny.

“Everyone thought the game was over in the third inning,” Dykstra said.

Dykstra had helped the New York Mets win the 1986 World Series. His view of what constitutes a season is identical to the one that George M. Steinbrenner held.

“Just getting to the playoffs isn’t enough,” Dykstra said before the playoffs started. “I know what it’s like to go to the playoffs and win it all, like I did with the Mets in 1986, and I know what it’s like to lose and go home. I don’t want to go home.”

There was only one playoff round in 1993. The winner of the best-of-seven NLCS went on to the World Series.  The wild card didn’t exist and only four teams made the playoffs.

In 2012, there will be a total of six division winners and four wild cards.

Now there will be 10 teams that can claim they had a successful season. To Lenny Dykstra, only one of the those 10 teams will be the real winner.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Pete Rose had no choice. In the 12th inning of the 1970 All-Star game, Rose bowled into American League catcher Ray Fosse to score the winning run.

“He was doing his job but it was my job to score,” Rose told reporters as he lay on the training table with his left knee packed in ice.

Continuing, the gutsy Rose said, “If I can change the score, I’m not going to worry about getting hurt.”

Rose was quite concerned about Fosse. He, Sudden Sam McDowell, Fosse’s Cleveland Indians‘ teammate and Rose had dined at Fosse’s home the night before the game. Friends don’t stop winners from trying to win.

“We just talked baseball and Sam played the guitar. They’re both great guys,” said Rose.

After the game, Rose called the American League clubhouse to ask about Fosse.  He was told that Fosse was sent to the hospital to have X-rays on his right shoulder.

Rose had entered the game in the fifth inning. He walked his first time up and then struck out in both the eighth and ninth innings.

With two outs in the 12th inning, Rose singled to center, Billy Grabarkewitz singled to left with Rose stopping at second and then Jim Hickman singled center to drive in Rose.

Fosse never went on the disabled list after the collision. He played 42 games in the second half of the season and ended batting .307/.361/.469 with 18 home runs.

The next season, Fosse did fairly well, batting .276/.329/.397 with 12 home runs. It was obvious he was not the same hitter after Rose’s hit, although it could be that he played over his head in 1970.

Deadspin reports that the real reason Fosse struggled at the plate and behind the plate took place after he joined the Oakland A’s. Fosse attempted to break up a fight between Reggie Jackson and Billy North on June 5, 1974.

Fosse suffered a crushed disk in his neck trying to stop the two A’s outfielders from hurting each other. He spent three months on the disabled list. Maybe it was the broken neck, not Rose’s hit, that ruined Fosse.

From 1971 (the year after Rose’s hit) through and including to 1973, Fosse batted.258/.310/.369, averaging 12 home runs over a 162-game season.

After the broken neck, Fosse batted .244/.286/.334, averaging only six home runs over a 162-game season.

It is possible that Rose’s hit was the primary reason Fosse never had the career predicted for him.  It is possible that the reason was his broken neck. Or, it could be that he had played over his head in 1970.

All that is certain is that Pete Rose was remorseful he hurt his friend, but if he didn’t try to score the winning run, he wouldn’t have been Pete Rose.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

In the sixth game of the 1917 World Series, New York Giants‘ third baseman Heine Zimmerman was forced to chase Eddie Collins of the Chicago White Sox toward an uncovered home plate.

Photographs revealed that Zimmerman was a mere step or two behind Collins, who slid across the plate as Zimmerman jumped over him to avoid a collision. The White Sox won the game and the World Series.

There was a public outcry about the play, the Series and Zimmerman.  There were accusations that Zimmerman had allowed Collins to score.
 
In 1919, Zimmerman and Hal Chase were banned from baseball based upon their long records of corruption.

Pete Rose is suspended from baseball forever.

That the 1919 World Series was fixed is common knowledge. The Cincinnati Reds became world champions, but we will never know if that would have occurred if the Chicago White Sox had played fair and square.

Pete Rose is suspended from baseball forever.

In 1926, pitcher Dutch Leonard presented American League president Ban Johnson with letters that implicated future Hall of Famers Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker as well as pitching great Smokey Joe Wood in a gambling scandal.

Johnson turned the evidence over to commissioner Kenesaw Landis, who met with the players. They were exonerated. It would not be good for another baseball scandal so soon after the Black Sox.

Pete Rose is suspended from baseball forever.

Former Cincinnati Reds’ owner Marge Schott was suspended from baseball in 1996. She had made derogatory comments about Blacks, Jews, Asians and homosexuals. Schott also expressed some sympathy for Adolf Hitler. She was reinstated in 1998.

Pete Rose is suspended from baseball forever.

George Steinbrenner hired gambler Howie Spira to “investigate” Dave Winfield and the David M. Winfield Foundation for children. Steinbrenner paid Spira $40,000 for nothing.

Commissioner Fay Vincent investigated the situation.  In July 1990, Vincent banned the owner from day-to-day operations of the New York Yankees for life.

Of course, life for Steinbrenner and Schott didn’t mean the same thing as it has for Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson.

Pete Rose is suspended from baseball forever.

Following the 1985 season, only four of 35 free agents changed teams.  The players claimed “collusion.” They received $64.5 million in damages.

Pete Rose is suspended from baseball forever.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Range Factor is a measurement of a defensive player’s range. It is a simple statistic that is calculated by adding a fielder’s put outs and assists, multiplying that number by nine and dividing the result by games played.

Derek Jeter is rated as an average defensive player by some “experts.” Others consider him to be and to have been below average.

Range Factor for an infielder is dependent upon the number of ground balls put into play. Maybe, I hoped, that if they didn’t hit many ground balls, I could rationalize Jeter’s RF.  A batter that strikes out doesn’t hit a ground ball.

The following table lists Jeter’s Range Factor and the number of strikeouts New York Yankees pitchers recorded from 1996-2001:

 
YEAR    SO    RF

1996    1139    3.81      
1997    1165    3.90      
1998    1080    3.61      
1999    1111    4.45      
2000    1040    3.78      
2001    1266    4.05      
2002    1135    4.52      
2003    1119    3.81      
2004    1058    3.74      
2005    985      4.00      
2006    1019    4.25      
2007    1009    4.46      
2008    1141    4.12      
2009    1260    4.14      
2010    1154    4.02      
2011    1222    4.76      

During Jeter’s career, Yankees pitchers averaged 1,118 strikeouts a season. Jeter’s Range Factor was 4.10.

In 2002, Jeter’s 4.52 RF was the best of his career. The Yankees struck out 1,135 opposing batters. 

Jeter’s lowest RF occurred in 1998, when Yankees’ pitchers recorded 1.080 strikeouts.

A Pearson R reveals that the correlation between Jeter’s RF and Yankees’ pitchers’ strikeouts for his career is only 0.188. There is only a small correlation between the two.

Another variable is a pitching staff’s ratio of ground ball outs to fly ball outs. The following table shows Jeter’s RF and Yankees’ pitchers GO/FO ratio.

 YEAR     RF    GO/FO

1996    3.81    1.08      
1997    3.90    1.18      
1998    3.61    1.06      
1999    4.45    1.06      
2000    3.78    0.93      
2001    4.05    1.00      
2002    4.52    1.00      
2003    3.81    0.80      
2004    3.74    1.03      
2005    4.00    1.14      
2006    4.25    1.01      
2007    4.46    1.01      
2008    4.12    1.09      
2009    4.14    1.01      
2010    4.02    1.01      
2011    4.76    1.04     

In 2002, Jeter’s RF was 4.52. The Yankees’ GO/FO ratio was 1.00, which means pitchers recorded the same number of ground ball outs as fly ball outs. This reveals nothing.

The correlation between Jeter’s RF and the ratio of ground outs to fly outs is .062, which is even less than the correlation between Jeter’s RF and Yankees’ pitchers’ strikeouts.

Finally, here are the career Range Factors of some other Yankees shortstops:

PLAYER    RF      

Phil Rizzuto    5.13      
Tony Kubek    5.09      
Bucky Dent    4.94      
Tommy Tresh    4.85      
Alvaro Espinosa    5.04      
Fred Stanley    4.60      
Gene Michael     5.30     

I would never denigrate Derek Jeter, but as my mother used to say, “If everybody says you’re sick, go to the doctor.”

It’s difficult to admit, but maybe some of those that don’t think Jeter has been anything more than an adequate defensive player are right.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The 1971 All-Star game, played at Tiger Stadium, had what could be described as a convention of living legends.

Johnny Bench summed it up.

“It wasn’t a game, it was the world,” said Bench.  “In 1971, the fans and managers picked all the guys who were sure to be in the Hall of Fame.”

National League All-Stars included Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Ron Santo, Willie Stargell, Lou Brock, Willie McCovey, Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Juan Marichal and Ferguson Jenkins.  That’s 10 Hall of Famers and really includes 11.

The nine American League Hall of Famers were Rod Carew, Carl Yastrzemski, Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Al Kaline, Harmon Killebrew, Luis Aparicio, Reggie Jackson and Jim Palmer.

The American League won the game 6-4, which was memorable for many reasons.

Frank Robinson became the first player to hit a home run as a National League All-Star and then as an American League All-Star.

In the second inning, Bench hit a home run into the right center field upper deck. He was thrilled, saying that it was the longest home run of his career.

Then along came Reggie. Jackson hit one of the longest home runs in All-Star history off Dock Ellis in the third inning. The ball hit the light tower on the roof of the upper deck in right field. It was still rising when it hit.

“I was so happy about my home run going so far,” Bench told the media. “Then Reggie hit his. I said, ‘Oops, mine just went from the sports headlines to the obituary page.'”

Each league hit three home runs, as the American League broke a nine-game losing streak. But the 1971 win would be the only blemish on the National League, which went on to reel off another 11 consecutive wins.

It is difficult for some modern fans to believe, but the National League once won 19 of 20 All-Star games.

Hank Aaron, who was around for most of the wins, gave his explanation.

“They always had good players, but we approached the game a lot differently than the American League did. We went for the win. So many times, I saw American League guys going into the clubhouse during the game. We stayed in the dugout and rooted.

Today, the All-Star game is merely a showcase. Not even the “reward” of the winner getting a potential extra home game in the World Series is much of an incentive.

Reference:

Ryan, Jeff. “All-Star game 1971.” Sport. Aug. 1993. P. 103.

Note: Document URL
Gale Group Westchester Library System

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com