Thanks Mom!

Happy Mother’s Day!  When I was about ten years old, I recall taking a bad, infield hop right in the throat and going to the turf at my baseball game.  The next thing I know my Mom is kneeling beside me with a cool wash cloth.  All I said to her then was “get off the field”.  After seeing yesterday’s celebration of mothers in MLB games and reflecting on my late Mom as a baseball Mom, all I can say now is “THANK YOU”.  Thanks for everything – driving me to practice and games; taking care of my injuries; playing wiffle ball with me in the backyard when no one else wanted to; and going with me to Reds games.

In October 1972, I sat next to Mom at Riverfront Stadium in the final NL championship game. Our Reds entered the bottom of the ninth trailing the Pirates, 3-2.  My Mom’s favorite player, Johnny Bench, whom she affectionately called “JB”, led off for the Reds.  Bench’s Mom, Katy, took over from there.  As Bench strode to the plate from the on deck circle, he thought he heard his Mom say “hit a home run”.  He smiled to himself and thought “if only it were so easy”.  Bench made it easy though and hit a home run, tying the game. Bench jumped onto the dugout rail and kissed his Mom. Shortly after, the Reds won the NL pennant.

Probably the most famous Mom in MLB history is Christina Gehrig, Lou Gehrig’s mother.  Mrs. Gehrig regularly attended Yankees home games and witnessed her son’s stardom rise as part of the famous “Murderer’s Row”.  Christina and Lou were extremely close.  Babe Ruth and Lou, forming the best three-four sluggers a lineup has ever seen, often fought off the field and would not speak to each other for weeks. Christina would be the one to mend the fence between them. 

A reporter who covered the Yankees in this era, Fred Lieb, reflected on Lou: “There was no one else to compare with his Mom. He used to say that the thing that gave him the greatest joy about his success, and his bettered financial position, was that he was able to repay Mom and Pop for their early sacrifices”. Gehrig died at age 37 as a result of ALS.  All of his awards and trophies were given to Christina.  Upon her passing in 1955, her will provided that all of the awards and trophies would go the Hall of Fame. Cooperstown and all fans are forever grateful. 

A more modern day story of a close knit player-mother relationship is that of Andrew McCutcheon and his Mom.  Petrina McCutcheon was just 17 years old when Andrew was born. Her athletic prowess and background in education have been instrumental to Andrew’s success.  They are the best of friends, as Andrew relates: “It’s always very relaxed, laid-back, laughing about whatever, joking around.” 

Just like Mrs. Gehrig, you will find Petrina around the ballpark, but mostly with a microphone in her hand.  She is a tremendous vocalist.  In 2013, she sang the National Anthem at the Pirates’ first playoff game in 21 years.  In Andrew’s first stint with Pittsburgh, Christina sang at PNC Park numerous other times, most notably her renditions of “God Bless America”. With Andrew’s return to Pittsburgh this season, fans are hoping to see Petrina back at PNC Park in October.

I smiled this past week when reading a story in the Chicago Tribune about the Cubs calling up 25-year old first baseman Matt Mervis from their Iowa AAA team. After some injuries sidelined him in college and his first years of professional baseball, Mervis skyrocketed through the Cubs minor league system over the past year.  When Matt received the phone call promoting him to the big league team, his first call was to his mom, Ellen. Mervis told a reporter: “My mom’s been my go-to when things aren’t going great, so she definitely deserved the first call”. Ellen attended her son’s first game as a Cub last week at Wrigley Field, and witnessed Matt’s first hit and RBI. 

What is interesting about the 1972 Bench home run story is that Katy Bench claimed that she actually told her son “you know what to do”.  She wouldn’t have wanted to put the pressure on him of having to hit a home run.  I lost my own Mom way too early in life, just before her 69th birthday.  I don’t think my success or lack of success in baseball really mattered to her.  What mattered is that she believed in me and that I too would know what to do in most circumstances of life.  And for that reason, I say thanks Mom! I am who I am because of you.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Low Budget

I remember walking into my family’s kitchen sometime in late 1968 and seeing my Dad holding the front page of the Cincinnati Enquirer with the headline: “Pete Rose Becomes Baseball’s First $100,000 Singles Hitter”.  When you are nine years old, it is difficult to know the value of money. My Dad most probably assured me that it was indeed a lot at the time. He would though often remark on the salaries of Cincinnati sports stars compared to those in the “big city markets”.

Most recently, I checked the MLB team payrolls for 2023.  Not surprisingly, the Mets and Yankees stood at the top of the list at $346 million and $279 million, respectively.  I also checked the bottom of the list.  There are nine teams under $100 million, including Miami (ranked #22), Cincinnati (#26), Pittsburgh (#27), Tampa Bay (#28), Baltimore (#29), and Oakland (#30). This piece is about those low budget teams, and how some of them find themselves near the top of the standings this year in over a month of regular season play.

Any narrative of baseball operations begins with the Oakland Athletics and its executive vice president of baseball operations, Billy Beane. Beane is of course the central character of Moneyball, Michael Lewis’ 2003 book on baseball economics which was also made into a film. Beane was the first to apply statistical analysis, called sabermetrics, to baseball.  Because of the low budget operations of the A’s through the last few decades, Beane has used his analytical approach to find diamonds in the rough as opposed to bigger name free agents.  While the Athletics have had some modest success since its early 1970s dominance, Oakland’s current record, 8-27, does reflect its bottom of the heap ranking in 2023 payroll.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been the surprise story of the National League this year.  Not one prognosticator could see their April record (20-8) coming.  The Bucs have done it with a mix of veterans (Andrew McCutchen, Brian Reynolds, Mitch Keller and Rich Hill) and outstanding youth (Jack Suwinski, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Roansy Contreras and Johan Oviedo).  Pittsburgh is 4th in the MLB in runs scored and 5th in the NL in ERA.  While they grew accustomed to “Raising the Jolly Roger” at PNC Park in April, the Pirates just completed a rough first week of May going 0-7.

Not only are the Tampa Bay Rays the talk of the American League so far, but they have put together one of the hottest MLB starts ever (28-7 at week’s end).  The franchise began MLB play in 1998.  After a decade of futility, Tampa surprised the baseball world in 2008 with its first playoff appearance and the AL pennant.  Over the last fifteen years, the Rays have been in the playoffs an additional seven seasons, including another AL championship in 2020.  Managed by Kevin Cash, one of the best, Tampa always seems to be in the mix in the very tough AL East. 

The Baltimore Orioles are also off to a great start (22-12) and will be knocking on Tampa’s door this season.  The Orioles’ championship history began in the late 60s- early 70s and continued when Cal Ripken Jr.’s Birds won it all in 1983.  Since then, it’s been quite a drought, until playoff baseball returned last season.  The Orioles’ roster includes young stars Cedric Mullins, Ryan Mountcastle, Kyle Bradish, and Yennier Cano, names you might not know now but will be very familiar with in October.

While the Miami Marlins experienced a rough past week similar to the Pirates, the Marlins have shown some early season sparkle too.  Miami’s fortunes in their 30-year history is best described as some big hits and woeful slumps.  The Marlins have been in the playoffs only three times, yet won the World Series in 1997 and 2003 as wild card entrants.  Through last season, they ranked dead last of all the current MLB teams in the franchise win-loss column at 2,157-2,531, a .460 winning percentage.

I smiled this past week when I read a story about Jonathan India, star second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds and the 2021 NL Rookie of the Year.  It’s difficult to find many other recognizable names on the Reds’ 2023 roster. In the story India remarked that an umpire told him that he really enjoys watching the Reds play this season.  As a fan, my first reaction to the comment was that wins would make it even more enjoyable.  For fans of all 30 MLB teams, it’s not where you rank in payroll, but rather in the standings.

Until next week,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Pocket

Sitting in an MLB dugout you might hear a bench coach turn to the manager this season in the sixth inning of a game and say: “We have the heart of their order coming up in the seventh.  Their three-hole hitter has hit a couple gappers in the first two games of the series.  Remember that two-bagger yesterday.  Let’s get our closer ready now.  It’s a good pocket for him.” Say what, Coach?!  I’m sure you know most of that baseball terminology, but what is a pocket?  It’s the new 2023 baseball term. A pocket is basically that part of the opponent’s batting order that is likely to be a run-producer if you don’t get one of your high-leverage relievers in the game now, such as your closer or top set-up guy.

The history of relief pitchers in the MLB is a fascinating one.  In the early days, teams could not substitute players except for illness or injury. The first known relief pitcher is Firpo Marberry, who had 364 relief appearances in his thirteen year career spanning 1923 to 1935.  The first baseball term for a reliever was a “fireman”, someone who put out fires. Some early firemen were Hoyt Wilhelm and Elroy Face in the 1950s, who were known for throwing funky pitches like a knuckleball and a forkball. After a decade of pitchers dominating hitters in the 1960s with long outings and complete games, MLB lowered the mound in 1969 to create more offense.  One other result was the advent of today’s relief pitcher.

In the 1970s MLB teams turned to closers.  Every team had one.  His job was to come into the game in the eighth or ninth inning (sometimes even the seventh) and shut down the other team. Bruce Sutter and Rollie Fingers are some of the best known in that era.  Mike Marshall set the all-time record in 1974 as a closer with 208 innings pitched in 106 games.  In the 1980s the number of saves outnumbered the number of complete games for the first time.  Indeed, in 1995 MLB recorded four saves for every complete game.  Relievers became prominent members of pitching staffs.

Relievers have historically garnered far less attention, and especially fewer awards and recognition, than starting pitchers. There are only eight relief pitchers in the Hall of Fame, with Goose Gossage, Dennis Eckersley, Lee Smith, Trevor Hoffman, and Mariano Rivera, joining the previously mentioned Wilhelm, Fingers, and Sutter.  All of them were closers.  There are three relief pitchers who won both the MVP and Cy Young Awards in a single season – Fingers in 1981, Willie Hernandez in 1984, and Eckersley in 1992.  Yet, other relievers, in particular the valuable set-up men, receive little recognition, not even slots during the MLB All-Star games where they could be used so effectively.

Over the last fifteen years pitching staffs on MLB teams have grown.  Gone are the days of 9-10 pitchers on your 25-player roster.  Now, 13-14 pitchers comprise a team’s 26 player roster.  As pitching staffs began to grow, so did specialty relievers.  Closers would only pitch the ninth.  The set-up guys would get the seventh and eighth, and others would fill in some innings after the starter left the game (often having just pitched five innings). Managers would look to a top end left-handed reliever to face the opponent’s left-handed hitting slugger late in the game.  In 2018, some managers even began to experiment with an “opener” – a reliever who started the game and could get through the lineup once

The 2020 season saw a major rule change for the use of relievers.  Pitchers now have to face a minimum of three batters or complete the half-inning.  Commissioner Manfred endorsed this rule as a boost for offense, since the game was full of 95 + mph hard-throwers dominating hitters late in the games. One downside is that managers are restricted in taking advantage of all their relievers and skill sets.  It also creates a dilemma for general managers in how to best construct a roster.  The left-handed reliever coming in to pitch to one batter becomes extinct. In fact, some MLB relief staffs don’t include specialty left-handers anymore.  You look for top relievers who can pitch to batters from both sides of the plate.

Enter the 2023 pocket.  The so-called closer of your staff is no longer saved for the ninth inning.  You may never to get to a high pressure ninth if you don’t get your best reliever to face the key batters earlier in the game.  Some pocket relievers in the first month of the season include the Cubs Michael Fulmer and the White Sox Reynaldo Lopez.  Sox general manager Rick Hahn had this to say recently: “You may close the eighth, you may close the seventh.  It depends on the game situation, but bring that same mentality every time you go out there.” The end result is that having a traditional closer isn’t so essential to the bench coach or manager in today’s game.

The best things about baseball are the little things, the nuances if you will.  I remember as a little boy sitting on the front porch with my Dad listening to the Reds games and learning something every night from him and the broadcasters.  Life was slower back then.  I always had that pocket of time to enjoy the game and appreciate it more.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Balanced Schedule

Every team at every level has a rival.  I fondly recall the first game managing my daughter’s softball team.  We lost 7-6 to a team that we would battle for first place for the next four years. We marked those games on our schedule every season (at least I did). As baseball navigates through the new rules in this first month of the 2023 MLB season, one change that has not garnered much attention is the new balanced schedule.  Gone are the days that each team will face divisional opponents 18-19 times a season while meeting some teams in the other league once every three years.  Under the new schedule, every MLB team will face off against all 29 other teams at some point in the season.  This change adds some needed novelty to the schedule and certainly a touch of fairness to which teams get into the playoffs.  One result though is that there aren’t as many rivalry games to be marked on the calendar. 

For me, the history of MLB scheduling starts with the early 1960s – two leagues (AL and NL) and no interleague games.  The World Series was just that, a time that the AL and NL pennant winners would face each other for the first time in the season.  In 1969 MLB introduced divisional play, two divisional winners playing in league championship series with the winners meeting up in the Series.  The first MLB regular season interleague games did not take place until 1997.  For the next fifteen years, interleague play consisted of one division in each league playing a division in the other league.

Up until 2012, baseball attempted to keep interleague play from deciding pennant races.  All interleague games were played prior to the All-Star Game.  What happened though is that interleague play reduced the number of games played by each team against non-divisional league opponents. Indeed, each team was playing between 16 to 20 games annually against each divisional opponent, making up nearly half of each team’s regular season calendar.  As the playoff format introduced additional wild card entrants in each league, the better teams in divisions that were top-heavy had a greater chance in making the playoffs since they could beat up on the also rans.  Something had to change.

Enter the 2023 balanced schedule. The new schedule reduces the number of games against division rivals to 13, totaling 52 games; adds more same league games, given that each team will play six games against six opponents and seven games against four opponents in the same league, a total of 64; and 46 interleague games.  It’s the same 162, except spread out more evenly.  The playoff impact, of course, is that strength of schedule within one team’s division becomes less of a factor.  As MLB chief operations and strategy officer Chris Marinak noted:  “This new format creates more consistent opponent matchups as clubs compete for Postseason berths, particularly in the recently expanded wild card round.”

The biggest change is the number of interleague games, where teams go from 20 annually to 46.  And just like all of the other new rules in 2023, the spirit of the balanced schedule is to make the game more fan-friendly.  Marinak emphasized:  “This fan-friendly format provides fans with the opportunity to see more opponent matchups with a particular focus on dramatically expanding our most exciting Interleague matchups.” Natural interleague rivals, such as the Angels-Dodgers, Guardians-Reds, Yankees-Mets, and White Sox-Cubs, will include home and away two-game series, while the other interleague games (42) will be three-game series at the respective teams’ home ballparks on alternating seasons.

Is there any downside to the new schedule?  One concern is that the long-time rivalries will be reduced from 19 games to 13.  The Chicago vs. St. Louis NL rivalry is of course one of those.  The rivalry goes all the way back to 1885 when the Cubs (then called the White Stockings) faced the Cardinals (known then as the Browns) in games played in Chicago, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati.  While the Cubs hold a 1,259 – 1,209 advantage all-time, the Cardinals own more World Series championships (11 to 3).  Some of my fondest memories of the rivalry include the 1984 “Sandbergh Game” where Ryne Sandbergh tied a Saturday afternoon national televised game twice in the late innings with home runs at Wrigley Field and the 1998 home run race won by Mark McGwire (70) over Sammy Sosa (66).

Another NL heated rivalry is the Giants vs. Dodgers, dating back to the days when both teams played in New York alongside the Yankees.  When Walter O’Malley moved his Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles after the 1957 season, he was able to convince New York Giants owner Horace Stoneham to take his team to the West Coast as well.  The all-time series is divided by the two Coasts, the Giants winning 721-670 while the teams were in New York, and the Dodgers leading the series 592-552 since 1958.  One of the most historic plays in baseball history happened in 1951, when Bobby Thomson hit the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” with a ninth-inning homer in the third and deciding NL pennant playoff.

And then there’s the AL rivalry of the Yankees vs. Red Sox, games that we’ve witnessed ad nauseum on national television throughout the last few decades.  That rivalry began in 1919 when Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees.  The Yankees went on to become the most storied team in MLB history, while Boston suffered through 86 years of failing to win the World Series due to the “Curse of the Bambino”.  The Red Sox rebounded most recently, especially in 2004, when they came back from an 0-3 deficit in the ALCS and defeated the New Yorkers.  I won’t miss the 19 games annually of this rivalry, but I’m sure the national networks will.

The balanced schedule is about seeing the star players of all of the 30 MLB teams.  How fun it will be to see Shohei Ohtani face the Cubs every year!  Ohtani’s last two seasons in particular are just remarkable.  In 2021, in an AL MVP performance, he became the first player in MLB history with 10+ home runs and 20+ stolen bases as a hitter, and 100+ strikeouts and 10+ pitching appearances in a season.  Last year he became the first player in the modern era to qualify for both the hitting and pitching leaderboards, an unbelievable 586 at-bats and 166 innings pitched.  What will 2023 bring? A balanced schedule and a lot more Ohtani for everyone in baseball to enjoy.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

April Baseball

April baseball in the Midwest often means playing in cold weather.  We have already seen some early season MLB games where chilly weather has played a role in low scoring affairs. You might know the old adage that pitchers are ahead of the hitters in April. Baseball analysts like to point to out that hitters take a longer time to get into their batting rhythm, do not particularly enjoy the sting of the bat in their hands, and often lament those long fly balls that die on the warning track.  You might have also seen the news flash a week ago about a recently released study on how climate change has impacted baseball. Your Coach decided to be a baseball meteorologist for this blog post, and explore the hot and cold, as well as the myths and realities, of April baseball. 

The Tampa Bay Rays have come out of the gate red hot!  In their first eight games, the Rays won all eight by 4-plus runs, the best streak since the 1939 Yankees.  The Rays didn’t stop there, winning their next five outings to go 13-0, which tied the all-time start of 13-0 by the 1982 Atlanta Braves. Toronto’s 6-3 win over the Rays this past Friday night broke the streak.  By week’s end, Tampa’s record stood at 14-2, just four games ahead of the Blue Jays and Yankees in the tough AL Eastern Division.

Does a hot start mean a stand-out season and a championship awaits in October?  Sometimes, but certainly not always.  Of the ten hottest starts in MLB history, two were by American League teams that set regular season win records, first by New York in 1998 with 114, and then topped by Seattle three years later with 116. The ’98 Yanks won the World Series, but the ’01 Mariners fell short.  My favorite two hot starts had one thing in common.  Both the 1970 Reds (starting 22-6 with a 70-30 record at the All-Star Break) and the 1984 Tigers (starting with a blistering 35-5 record) were managed by Sparky Anderson.  While Detroit captured the crown in 1984, a very hot Orioles team dominated the Reds in the 1970 Series.

There have been only five teams in MLB history that have gone “wire to wire”, meaning they were in first place for the entire season.  The first such team was the 1927 Yankees, widely considered the best team ever with their “Murderer’s Row” lineup and a roster that included nine future Hall of Famers, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig among them. The previously mentioned ’84 Tigers is on this list as well, along with the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, 1990 Reds, and 2005 White Sox.  The ’05 Sox, famous for small ball (the last of its kind), ran through the playoffs with an 11-1 mark, the best playoff record since baseball included a divisional championship round.

At the top of the national and sports news last week was the release of a study by a group of researchers led by Justin Mankin, a professor at Dartmouth, on the impact of climate change on baseball.  The study, covering 60 MLB seasons (1960-2019), found that when the temperature of a game goes up by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, the number of home runs in the game increases by 1.9%.  To put it another way, for every 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, there could be 95 more home runs across a season. The study painfully notes that if humans had not emitted greenhouse gases, there would have been 500 fewer home runs over the past ten years.

There were though some naysayers who quickly discounted the study. In an April 7 New York Post article, Natalie O’Neill pointed out that despite all of the headlines, the actual impact of the climate change effect was small.  Indeed, researchers in the past have noted other factors that come into play for an increase in home runs, including the size of the ball and its stitches.  Chris Callahan, a baseball fanatic and one of the authors of the Dartmouth study, concedes that factors include the height of the baseball seams and advances in analytics.  The bottom line is best expressed by Alan Nathan, a baseball physicist, who applauds the study since it supports the proposition that a baseball carries better in warm weather.

Dr. Lawrence Rocks of the Society for American Baseball Research has studied for over fifty years the impact of weather on baseball.  He sees a trend of increasing cloud cover and greenhouse gases as opposing forces, resulting in more windy weather as we move forward.  His view of baseball’s future includes all stadiums with enclosed roofs; player facilities no longer underground due to poor air quality, a return to the early days of the game; spring training sites being relocated to northern cities; long-stay scheduling where series would go from today’s 2-4 games to 5-7 games; and schedules favoring regional games, an abrupt turn from the 2023 balanced approach (featured in next week’s blog).

Is this all a bunch of hot air?  FanGraphs, which maintains a very reliable database of MLB statistics, did a thorough study about ten years ago on whether pitchers or hitters have an “April advantage”.  The study looked at every major pitching and hitting statistic in the months of April 2009-2013 compared to the same statistics over the course of those seasons.  Interestingly, hitters actually came in above their respective full-season average in Aprils of three of those five seasons, a surprising result.

My favorite adage during April baseball when my favorite teams lose close games or key players to injury is simply that “it’s a long season”.  Oh yes, it is.  Let the games continue and the weather get a little warmer in the months ahead.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Speed Up

Opening Day, March 30, 2023, Wrigley Field.  It was certainly a day of many firsts.  The Cubs and Brewers squared off that afternoon in chilly conditions, the first baseball game ever played at Wrigley in March.  The game matched the Cubs’ ace, Marcus Stroman, and one of Milwaukee’s finest, Corbin Burnes.  Stroman hurled six shutout innings in Chicago’s 4-0 win in a speedy 2 hours and 21 minutes.  Stroman also did something historical that day.  He became the first pitcher in MLB history to violate the pitch clock rules.  The new pitch clock, fast paced games, restrictions on infield shifts and the number of pickoff throws, and bases that look like pizza boxes are all part of the discussion as we opened play on the 2023 regular season.

There have been some alarming trends in baseball over the past several years. The average time of a nine-inning game rose from 2 hours, 30 minutes in the 1950s, to 2:46 in 1989, and to a record 3:10 in 2021.  Executive VP Morgan Sword of the MLB has cited research indicating that in this age of reduced attention span fans indeed prefer games around 2:30. Second, with the rise in infield shifts last year (totaling 70,853 for balls in play) and higher velocity pitches, the league-wide batting average dropped from .269 in 2006 to .243.  This is especially true for left-handed hitters who on average last year batted .236, down from .254 in 2016.  And third, speed on the base paths has basically come to a halt. MLB teams last year averaged just one stolen base every other game.

Before we explore the specifics of the 2023 MLB rule changes, let’s see how the change in rules have played out in MLB’s ultimate testing grounds, minor league baseball (MiLB).  Last year baseball instituted a pitch timer in all three levels of MiLB (AAA, AA, and A).  Times of games were reduced dramatically, from 3 hours, 3 minutes in 2021 to 2:38.  And importantly, statistics like runs per game and batting average remained the same.  Also, MiLB has experimented with a limit on pickoff attempts from the mound. Stolen base attempts went up from 2.23 per game in 2019 to 2.81 last year, with an improved success rate of 68% to 78%.  A shift limit was also tested at the AA level of MiLB, resulting in increased offense.  The stage was set for the rule changes to be implemented in 2023 by MLB’s 11-person competition committee. Curiously, the four MLB players on the committee each voted against the use of a pitch clock and the limit on defensive shifts.

Let’s first tackle the pitch timer, an innovation deemed by MLB executive Sword as “probably the biggest change that’s been made to baseball in most of our lifetimes.”  How does it work?  The basics are that a pitcher gets 15 seconds to deliver the ball to the plate with no runners on base and 20 seconds with runners on base, and if the time expires the umpire calls a ball.  The clock is positioned for all to see – the pitcher sees the clock behind the plate; the batter can view one in the outfield; and the television viewer even gets one on the screen. The days of a batter stepping out of the box after each pitch and adjusting his batting gloves are over.  When a hitter steps to the plate, he needs to be in the box with at least eight seconds on the clock or an automatic strike is called.  And importantly, a batter can call time once per plate appearance to stop the clock.

The early returns are so far, so good.  While the MiLB AAA experience in 2022 saw an average of 1.73 violations last April, MLB violations have averaged just around 1 per game so far this season.  As the MiLB players adjusted throughout the season last year to a violation of 0.43 per game, the hope is that violations might be even lower than that as the MLB season progresses this year.  A humorous sidelight  is that Shohei Ohtani committed another first this past week when he committed a violation as a pitcher and a hitter during the same game.  And most importantly, the time of MLB 2023 games has seen a dramatic decrease, around 30 minutes per game so far!

The restriction on infield shifts is also earth shattering. Two infielders are required to be on either side of second base and all infielders must be within the outer boundary of the infield when the pitcher is about to deliver the pitch.  Interestingly, MLB has also now mandated that the infield dirt have uniform dimensions – the outfield edge must be 95 from the front of the pitching rubber.  While infield shifts have increased substantially over the past ten years, batters have pretty much refused to adapt.  Gone will be the days of your team’s left-handed slugger hitting a line drive, one hopper to the second baseman stationed in short right field for an easy out.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said this recently on the shift restriction:  “I think that you’re going to look at the field and see players positioned the way that most of us grew up seeing them positioned.” While some teams have experimented a little with having their left fielder leave his position and create an outfield shift for left-handed hitters, more often we are seeing the positioning MLB is seeking.  What is clearly the trend is having more athletic and versatile second basemen.  In Chicago alone, both the Cubs and White Sox are starting two middle infielders with shortstop backgrounds, Swanson and Hoerner on the North Side and Anderson and Andrus on the South Side.

The new rule on “disengagement” might be the most intriguing one.  Pitchers can only attempt two pickoff throws to the bases during any at-bat.  If a third one is attempted and fails, the baserunner is awarded the next base.  This, coupled with the larger bases that were instituted to cut back on collisions near the base, may make 2023 the year that stealing returns to baseball.  It will become more important than ever for a pitcher to be quick to the plate with his delivery with runners on base.

I have really just touched the surface with this discussion of the new rules, and will review again during the season how they impact our game.  Your Coach is all in for now.  The game seems to be faster paced and well received by the fans.  Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said it best this past weekend: “We are in the entertainment business.  The fans are liking it more. The action, the pace.  It’s been good for the game.”

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Cactus League

Welcome back to the Baseball Bench Coach!  MLB’s regular season is here, but allow me to begin my fifth season as your Coach with a spring training story.  I remember the anticipation in early March 2020 when I was about to embark on my first Arizona trip to see Cactus League games. I had seen some training games in the Florida Grapefruit League on a few occasions in the past and loved the relaxed approach to the games.  I was so excited for that 2020 Phoenix trip . . . and then something happened.  As we too often say nowadays, three years later, let’s try again.  My wife and my trip a few weeks ago to Mesa and Goodyear, AZ, didn’t disappoint, as I saw my favorite teams in action.

In the early days of baseball players would get ready on their own prior to the season beginning. Most often that meant players maintaining another job before getting to their team’s home ballpark to practice for a couple weeks. Spring training by MLB teams in sites other than their home ballparks didn’t become popular until around 1910.  Hot Springs, Arkansas, is often called the “birthplace” of spring training.  The Tigers, Pirates, Brooklyn Dodgers, Red Sox, and Cleveland Spiders used three Hot Springs ballparks built for their use in the first official spring training games. 

Spring training in Florida started around the same time. In 1913 the Cubs maintained a site in Tampa, while the Indians located in Pensacola.  A handful of other teams soon joined them and the Grapefruit League was off and running. Interestingly, an incident in Ocala, Florida, in the early 1940s, triggered the start of spring training in Arizona.  Bill Veeck, then owner of a minor league team that was training in Ocala, sat in the black section of the segregated stands to chat with fans. He was told by local law enforcement to leave.  Aggravated by the racist incident, Veeck, once he purchased the Indians in 1946, moved them to Tucson to train and convinced the New York Giants to play in Phoenix.  The Cactus League was born!  Today, 15 MLB teams train in Arizona, while the other 15 teams find their spring training homes in Florida.

The first stop on our spring training journey this year was Sloan Park, the home of the Cubs in Mesa. The ballpark opened in 2014 and remains the newest one in the Cactus League.  Sloan Park has a capacity of 15,000 + fans, the highest capacity among Arizona and Florida ballparks. On our visit to Sloan it was the fifth sellout of the spring season with fans lining the general admission grass seating beyond the outfield fence. We had the good fortune of taking a guided tour around the ballpark prior to the game. Our guide (a great reader of this blog!) pointed out the numerous images of Wrigley Field as we walked around, including Sloan’s own marquee. Our keepsake photo from the visit is our names and “Go Cubs Go” displayed on the marquee.

I always find ballparks to be my ultimate place to relax, and in spring training maybe even more so.  Both the Cubs and White Sox rested many of their star players, so it felt like a minor league game in many respects.  Early in the game the scoreboard read “Mesa 76 degrees, Chicago 36 degrees”.  Many of the fans were there to just enjoy the warm weather and see a little baseball. On the mound the Cubs started Drew Smyly while the Sox countered with Lucas Giolito.  Both starters left around the fourth inning, which is typical midway through spring training.  We did see Cody Bellinger and Ian Happ each get two at-bats.  I’ll have to wait to see my new favorite Cub, Dansby Swanson, in person at Wrigley during the season.

Sometimes spring training is the start of a great career for a player who is a longshot to even make the team.  I recall fondly hearing about this unknown third baseman, Albert Pujols, tearing it up in 2001 Grapefruit League play. 22 years later, Pujols completed his HOF career last season. Of course, the ultimate a “star is born” story goes back to 1918 when the Red Sox had one of its pitchers, Babe Ruth, play first base in an emergency against the Pirates in a spring game in Hot Springs.  The Babe hit two HRs that day and soon found himself in the everyday lineup. Oscar Colas, the rookie rightfielder of the Sox, might be this year’s find. Last week Colas’ call to his mother with joy that he made the team went viral. When I saw Colas play a few weeks ago in Arizona, I remarked that he had such a sweet swing.  This rookie can hit!

After the game we ventured into the Cubs Team Store.  One can never have enough Cubs apparel for the wardrobe.  Spring training baseball is not only a huge revenue source for the teams, but clearly for all the hotels, restaurants, and other businesses in the area.  The Arizona Republic estimates that the Cactus League generates around $300 million each spring for the Phoenix metropolitan area.  In fact, Mesa and the surrounding area seems like Chicago West.  There are several Lou Malnati’s pizza and Portillo’s hotdog restaurants around for those to experience the finest in Chicago cuisine.

My Cincinnati food desires were satisfied as well on this trip.  Two days later we visited the Reds spring training site in Goodyear.  In the Reds Team Store I spotted Montgomery Inn barbecue sauce.  For lunch I had two coney cheese dogs courtesy of Skyline Chili.  It was close to the real thing, but the shredded cheese was not quite the same.  The Reds share the Goodyear Ballpark with the Guardians.  The ballpark has a capacity of 10,000, an average size for MLB spring ballparks.  Goodyear Park is in more of a suburban setting than Sloan Park, and even more chill. About two-thirds of the fans at this Reds vs. Dodgers game were wearing Dodger blue, and frankly it didn’t bother me.  It was just good to sit back and enjoy the game in the sun.

Both the Reds and Dodgers were playing their “B” lineups on this Sunday afternoon encounter.  It was though Joey Votto’s first game back since his injury late in the season last year.  He struggled in his three plate appearances.  Late in the game we were treated to an at-bat by the Reds top rated player in the minor leagues, Elly De La Cruz (remember that name!). Like the game in Mesa, the teams started pitchers in their rotation, the Reds’ Graham Ashcraft against the Dodgers’ Dustin May.  Both appeared to be in mid-season form.  One interesting moment was May’s  approach to a Reds hitter who left the batter’s box early in the count. Since you only get to step out once, May froze the batter the rest of the at-bat by holding the baseball until late in the pitch clock.  More on the pitch clock and the new MLB rules in next week’s edition.

Over the past week the MLB teams left their spring training homes for the start of the season.  It’s time to really PLAY BALL!

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Coach

MLB's Elite Eight

There’s nothing better than baseball in October! Except for the series on the last weekend of the season when the Braves swept the Mets to capture the NL East, pennant races were mostly blah this season. This past weekend the new wild card format featured eight teams battling it out in the best of three. The baseball world was rocking as we witnessed a 15-inning scoreless game ending with a monumental home run (Guardians’ 1-0 victory over the Rays) and the only time in MLB history that a road team came back from a seven run deficit to win (Mariners’ 10-9 win over the Blue Jays). What we have now is an “Elite Eight” of teams, each with a shot at capturing the 2022 World Series. Let’s break the teams down in the order of their chances of winning it all but not necessarily reflecting your Coach’s predictions. (Hint: Read the entire article.)

HOUSTON ASTROS.  The old school baseball guy in me really likes the makeup of the ’22 Astros.  Some of the core position players from the tainted 2017 team have now left – Carlos Correa and George Springer.  Yet, this team set a team record for wins this season (106) with the help of an exceptional pitching staff.  When you can trot out starters Jose Urquidy, Lance McCullers, Jr., Framber Valdez, and two-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander in a playoff series, your chances are really good.  Manager Dusty Baker arrived on the scene three years ago to add stability to a team struggling with the 2017 cheating scandal.  He’s done just that, and maybe this year the long-time manager can get his first World Series championship at the helm.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS.  How do you put one of the best regular season teams ever in the second spot in this ranking?  LA’s run differential this season (+ 334) is third only to the ‘39 Yankees (+ 411) and the ‘27 Yankees (+ 376).  The Dodgers are the best hitting team in MLB (.258 batting average), have the best pitching rotation (2.74 ERA), and pound the ball like no other team (MLB’s best slugging percentage of .445).  Each game in the playoffs you will see the top of their lineup include these stars – Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, Freddie Freeman, and Will Smith.  Yet, they are missing one huge component, a closer.  Craig Kimbrel failed in the role this season, so the Dodgers turn to closer by committee.  In tight games, and finally they will see a bunch of them, I just don’t see LA running the table.

ATLANTA BRAVES.  Just like last season, the ’22 Braves were the best team in baseball during the second half of the regular season.  Atlanta won 101 games, and may be better than the ’21 World Champion team.  They feature a star-studded lineup that boasts the return this season of All-Star centerfielder, Ronald Acuna, Jr. The Braves’ starting rotation is strong, headed by Max Fried, and the champs feature a great closer, Kenley Jansen.  The team is managed by one of the top veterans in the game, Brian Snitker.  So why won’t they repeat?  Freddie Freeman moved along to the Dodgers in free agency, and I believe took with him some of that team chemistry needed to pull it off again.  And the odds of a repeat are against them – the last team to win consecutive World Series was the New York Yankees (1998-2000).

CLEVELAND GUARDIANS.  The Guardians are my favorite team to watch.  They play the game the way it is supposed to be played – solid defense and pitching; exceptional baserunning; and getting timely hits after moving runners up on the basepaths. Cleveland is a TEAM.  In their Wild Card wins over the Rays, their key players all played a part.  Jose Ramirez got some big time hits, including an HR to win Game 1.  Shane Bieber excelled in his start in Game 1, and Emauneal Clase, the best closer in baseball, was flawless in the two-game series.  Throw in my favorite new player this season, outfielder Steven Kwan, who led the majors in the fewest swings without a miss, and it’s baseball at its best.  I also like that the Guardians are managed by the best skipper in the MLB, Terry Francona.  Maybe this is the year that gets them finally to the promised land, a place that has eluded Cleveland since 1948!

NEW YORK YANKEES.  The way the Yankees started out of the gate, it’s hard to imagine that there would be four 100 + win teams this season and they wouldn’t be one of them.  The Bronx Bombers fell just short at 99 wins, and frankly cruised too much during the second half allowing the Blue Jays to close the gap at 5 games in September.  New York though has the best hitter in baseball, Aaron Judge, whose remarkable regular season included an AL-record breaking 62 HRs, as well as an MLB leading 131 RBIs.  Judge fell percentage points short of winning the batting title and AL Triple Crown.  The Yankees can really score, especially at Yankee Stadium, but their pitching falls short. Stalwart starter, Gerritt Cole, and former closer, Aroldis Chapman (not even on the ALDS roster), limped to the 2022 finish line, as will unfortunately the team this year.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES.  I watched the Cubs sweep the Phillies in late September, and wondered if Philadelphia was indeed a playoff caliber team. They did nudge out Milwaukee and snuck into the #6 NL spot only to have to face one of baseball’s best second half teams, the Cardinals.  The Phils’ 6-run ninth inning in Game One set the tone for their two-game sweep over St. Louis.  Now it’s on to a divisional matchup with Atlanta.  Philadelphia brings to the series a formidable duo of starting pitchers, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola, along with a solid starting lineup, headlined by Bryce Harper and also featuring Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, and Nick Castellanos.  There’s a certain chemistry around this team that might launch a longer playoff run.

SAN DIEGO PADRES.   The 2022 season has been one of highs and lows for the Padres.  San Diego was the clear Trade Deadline winner acquiring stars Juan Soto, Josh Bell, and Josh Hader, as well as Brandon Drury.  A few weeks later though came the announcement of the 80-game suspension of superstar, Fernando Tatis, Jr.  The heart of the Padres is Manny Machado, who has to be in the discussion for NL MVP with 32 HRs, 102 RBIs, and a .296 batting average.  On the hill for the Pads are starters Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, and Joe Musgrove.  I don’t think it is enough this year to get past their NL West rivals, the Dodgers, in the NLDS. Next year, watch out!

SEATTLE MARINERS.  Put your shoe on your head for this team!  Seattle’s huge come behind win in Game 2 of the Wild Card sweep of the Blue Jays was one of the best games in the MLB this year.  The Mariners are a solid ballclub, especially in the infield with Ty France (1B), Adam Frazier (2B) and Eugenio Saurez (3B).  At the Trade Deadline Seattle sent a lot of their minor league talent to the Reds in exchange for Luis Castillo, one of the top starters in the game.  Castillo filled his role in the Wild Card series by hurling 7 1/3 innings of shutout baseball. The key for a Mariners’ playoff run is getting more support from its starting staff.  While I would love for Seattle to make some further noise, the upcoming matchup with Houston in the ALDS may be too much to overcome.

So here is how the Coach predicts it will play out:

NLDS – Dodgers over the Padres (3 games to 1); Phillies surprise the Braves (3 games to 2).

ALDS – Astros topple the Mariners (3 games to 1); Guardians beat the Yankees (3 games to 2).

NLCS – Dodgers prevail over the Phillies (4 games to 3).

ALCS – Guardians stun the Astros (4 games to 3).

World Series – For the first time since 1948, Cleveland captures the World Series by beating LA 4 games to 2.

My only guaranty is that October will be fun!

Until next season,

your Baseball Bench Coach

A Bit Weird

About thirty years ago, I began my career as a manager.  After years of playing baseball and softball, it was time to hang up the cleats and shape the careers of some future players. You see, I was tabbed by another father to manage my eight year-old daughter’s softball team.  The girls named the team the “Grand Slammers” (although I don’t recall anyone on the team actually hitting one that summer).  I taught the Grand Slammers how to play the game, yet I probably learned more from them. They taught me that fastpitch softball can be a lot of fun.  The girls chanted songs when their teammates were batting, and even had a couple taunts when their opponents were at the plate.  I enjoyed every moment of my rookie year on the top step of that dugout (or should I say, at the end of the bench).

I thought of my Grand Slammers this past week when one of the feature stories in baseball news concerned the Savannah Bananas, a baseball team in the Coastal Plain League that has quite a lot of fun themselves. Unfortunately, one of their players, 75-year old former MLB pitcher Bill Lee, went into cardiac arrest while warming up in the bullpen.  Due to the fast action of first responders at the scene, Lee survived and is doing fine.  What’s interesting though is that many of those who were attending the sold out game first thought it was just another entertaining act put on by the Bananas. 

The Bananas are famous for showing their fans a good time at the old ballpark.  Among their antics is the “Banana Baby” where each home game begins by wrapping a baby in a banana outfit and raising the baby to the sky, ala Simba. There’s a long waitlist for moms (and prospective moms) to include their kid in the pre-game tradition.  The Bananas have sold out all of their home games since 2016, their first year in Savannah.  Their story has gone national, featured in separate pieces by ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and even the Wall Street Journal.

The Bananas’ founder, franchise owner Jesse Cole, prides the organization on reinventing the game of baseball.  The visiting teams to Grayson Stadium in Savannah have to play by the Bananas’ rules. A couple of the rules, that no new inning may start after 1 hour and fifty minutes, and that managers and catchers cannot visit the pitcher’s mound, go to the core of what’s wrong in baseball today. MLB games last well over three hours and drive away the younger fans from the sport.

Some of the other Banana rules are for entertainment purposes only, such as: (1) any foul ball caught by a fan is an out: (2) batters can steal first base on any passed ball or wild pitch; (3) and in extra innings the defense gets only a skeleton crew comprised of a pitcher, catcher, and one fielder.  Interestingly, you don’t win a game at the Savannah ballpark by total runs scored, but rather each team gets a point for each inning the team wins, kind of like match play in tennis.  Seems like the Banana rules are a bit weird, but everyone clearly has fun.

A couple former MLB pitchers come to mind who were also a bit weird and played by their own rules.  Mark Fidrych, nicknamed “The Bird”, pitched for the Tigers in his five-year career (1976-1980).  The Bird’s rookie season captured the attention of everyone in baseball.  Not only did he lead the major leagues with a 2.34 ERA, finish the year with a 19-9 record, and win the 1976 AL Rookie of the Year Award, but he had fun doing it.  Among other things, Fidrych talked to the baseball, carefully groomed (or patted down) the mound before each inning, and refused to let groundskeepers come near his mound during the game in fear they would be entering his sacred ground.  Detroit fans swarmed to the ballpark to see his act, averaging 33,649 fans during his starts in 1976 compared to only 13,843 when another Tigers pitcher got the start.  Due to a “dead arm” that he first experienced in 1977, his career was short-lived.

Bill Lee, a pitcher for the Red Sox (1969-1978) and Expos (1979-1982), displayed a lot of fun antics as well, so much so that he garnered the nickname “Spaceman”.  Off the field he was famous for his unfiltered comments to the press, such as advocating population control.  He once called out an umpire for missing a call during a World Series game, and asked the fans to write letters to the MLB Commissioner demanding that the game be replayed.  On the field Lee popularized the “Leephus pitch”, a variation of the “Euphus pitch”, an extremely slow pitched ball with an arcing trajectory.  After his MLB career, Lee continued to pitch in every league that would take him.  He actually pitched in a game for the Brockton Rox in the Canadian-American Association of Baseball at the age of 63, the oldest pitcher who ever appeared in a professional game.  Lee joined the Bananas earlier this year and hopes to play again next year.

Lee’s most notorious “Leephus” pitch happened to be the turning point of the seventh game of the 1975 World Series between the Reds and the Red Sox.  The Red Sox led 3-0 going into the sixth inning of Game 7 behind Lee’s masterful pitching.  With a runner on base, Tony Perez hit a “Leephus” far into the night and over the Green Monster at Fenway Park, sparking the Reds to a comeback 4-3 win and World Series Championship.  There weren’t many Boston fans amused by Lee’s weirdness that night.

One of my joys in parenting had to be taking my daughters to minor league baseball games.  We traveled through the Midwest not just to find good baseball, but to experience the between innings gimmicks and prizes.  I remember attending a game with my Grand Slammer in Peoria, IL, one summer night in 1996, and seeing her perform “YMCA” with a peanut sales vendor.  It’s always good to have fun at the old ballpark, even if sometimes it’s a bit weird.

Until October,

your Baseball Bench Coach

P.S. Your Coach will be away from the keyboard in September, returning in October for an MLB playoffs preview.

Just Throw Strikes

Every parent of a youth baseball or softball pitcher grimaces when these words are exclaimed by another parent or spectator at a game: “just throw strikes”.  While the words are often meant to be encouraging, the idea that a pitcher always has the physical ability to locate pitches in the strike zone is wrong.  Your body just doesn’t work that way.  Pitchers spend numerous hours of practice on delivery, yet not every game, inning, batter, or pitch goes the way they want. Pitchers at every level either don’t seem to have their usual control in a game, or regrettably, a single pitch goes awry and hits the batter. Pitching is not easy.

About a week ago, I read about one of the great feel good stories of 2022.  You see, Kaiden Shelton, a 13-year old pitcher for the Texas East Little League, threw a pitch that struck a 12-year old Oklahoma batter, Isaiah Jarvis, in the head, knocking off his helmet.  Isaiah fell to the ground, stunned by being struck by the pitch. Those attending the game grew very quiet. Isaiah recovered quickly and trotted to first base; the crowd applauded. Isaiah though saw that the opposing pitcher, Kaiden, was distraught on the mound, sobbing, with his head down.  In a touching display of sportsmanship, Isaiah walked to the mound, put his arms around Kaiden, and assured him that “it was okay”. It certainly was okay; okay to have a kind soul respond to an errant pitch with a compassionate hug of forgiveness.

Years ago, I was struck by the story of Steve Blass, a Pirates pitcher, who seemed to always get the best of my Reds.  During his ten-year career with Pittsburgh (1964-1973), Blass sported a 103-76 won-loss record and a 3.63 ERA.  He was by any measure a very good starting pitcher.  After the 1972 season, Blass just simply lost control of his pitches.  In 1973 he walked 84 batters in 88 innings, and his ERA ballooned to a woeful 9.85.  He retired from baseball shortly thereafter, unable to recover from a condition that has been deemed the “Steve Blass Disease”.  Its bottom line is that for no apparent reason, a talented pitcher sometimes loses his ability to throw a pitch accurately. 

Other pitchers have suffered through the “Steve Blass Disease”, including some big names like Dontrelle Willis of the Marlins and Mark Wohlers of the Braves. A Cardinals pitcher, Rick Ankiel, had the misfortune of being hit with the syndrome on the national stage, the 2000 MLB playoffs.  In Ankiel’s first season in the majors, he came in second to Randy Johnson as the 1999 Rookie of the Year.  In his sophomore season he compiled a 11-7 record and 3.50 ERA for St. Louis, earning him the nod to start the NLDS opener against Houston.  It was a disaster, as he inexplicably threw five wild pitches in the third inning of the game.  In the NLCS against the Mets, Ankiel threw five more wild pitches in the first inning of Game Two.  His pitching form never recovered from these incidents.  After a few years in the minor leagues, he returned to the Cardinals as an outfielder in 2006.  Ankiel became the first player since Babe Ruth to win at least 10 games as a pitcher and hit over 70 home runs.

When the inability to control the direction of thrown baseballs infects an infielder, the illness has another name, the “Steve Sax Syndrome”.  Sax played 14 MLB seasons (1981-1994), mostly as a second baseman for the Dodgers.  His standout season was 1986, when he placed second in the NL with a .332 batting average and won the Silver Slugger Award.  Sax is a five-time NL All-Star, and batted over .300 in three seasons.  Yet, his errant throws from the second base position grabbed the media headlines during his career.  In 1983, for example, he committed 30 errors, mostly on routine throws to first base. Crazily, in 1989, he recovered fully, when he led the AL in fielding percentage while with the Yankees. Another hard hitting second baseman, Chuck Knoblauch, who played for the Twins, Yankees, and Royals (1991-2002), was afflicted with the syndrome.  He recorded 26 throwing errors in 1998.  Knoblauch never fully recovered.

I think of these stories often when batters react to pitches which they believe were thrown at them intentionally. Yes, there are circumstances when it’s pretty clear that the intent of a pitch is to respond to a transgression by the opposing pitcher in that game, that season, or even years before.  But with that aside, how does a batter really know the difference between a brushback pitch and an errant one?  This type of confusion led to an awful scene in June in a series between the Mariners and Angels.  In a Saturday evening game, Seattle pitcher Erik Swanson threw an errant pitch that came close to hitting Angels star, Mike Trout.  It started a series of revenge pitches over the next two days, the end result being an 18 minute all out on-field fight where six players and two coaches were ejected from the Sunday game and suspended.

While I don’t expect an MLB batter struck by an inside pitch to go out and hug the opposing pitcher, I do expect a little more grace and dignity than was exhibited in that June MLB series.  We can all learn a little from Little League play.  Just throwing strikes isn’t that easy.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Baseball Flicks

I am one of those guys who can recall the score of a baseball game played thirty years ago, but forgets almost overnight the plot line of a movie.  While watching the second “Field of Dreams Game” played last Thursday night in Dyersville, Iowa, it occurred to me that there are indeed movies that I do remember well.  Yes, you guessed it, the ones I love all involve baseball.  Here are my top eight baseball movies (and a little added personal touch):

THE ROOKIE.  This 2002 film is the true story of Jim Morris (played by Dennis Quaid) who began his MLB career at age 35.  Morris is a high school science teacher and baseball coach, who is guilted into trying out for an MLB team, the Tampa Bay Rays, by his high school players. Morris turns the heads of the scouts by throwing 98 mph fastballs at the tryout.  Morris plays a little minor league baseball before getting called up one September night in a game in Arlington, Texas, against the Rangers.  His family and hometown friends celebrate his debut, and Morris goes on to pitch two years in the MLB.   When I was 39, I pitched at a Reds baseball fantasy camp in Sarasota, FL.  For a week, I had this image of regaining the juice of my youth. Every former pitcher wants to be a Jim Morris.

BULL DURHAM.  A 1988 movie that tells the story of life in the minor leagues is my second favorite flick.  Crash Davis (Kevin Costner), a veteran minor league catcher who is tasked with grooming an up and coming pitcher, Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), is at the center of the story.  The movie depicts the life of a minor leaguer, such as long bus rides and less than adequate facilities and support.  There are so many touching moments in the film – Davis telling Nuke “not to think”; Davis tipping the opposing hitter with which pitch to expect; Davis calling his brief MLB call up “the 21 greatest days of my life”; and the climactic, yet sad, ending when Davis breaks the minor league record for home runs.  Almost 35 years later, the conditions of baseball in the minors are still in need of drastic improvement.

FIELD OF DREAMS.  Another film (released in 1989) starring Kevin Costner, and this time as a farmer, Ray Kinsella, who builds a baseball field in his cornfield that attracts the ghosts of baseball legends.  Those who appear at the Field of Dreams include Shoeless Joe Jackson, one of the best yet tragic players ever to play the game, Archie “Moonlight” Graham, who played in one MLB game in 1922 but never had the chance to bat, and of course Ray’s dad.  So many great lines are in this movie – “If you build it, they will come” and “Is this Heaven? No, it’s Iowa.”  My favorite scene is when Ray gets the chance to play catch with his Dad.  I fondly recall those evenings in my backyard tossing a baseball with my Dad.

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN.  This 1992 film stars Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, and Rosie O’Donnell in a story about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.  Chicago Cubs owner Phil Wrigley (called Walter Harvey in the movie) formed the League during World War II.  The movie tracks the fortunes of the Rockford Peaches, managed by Hanks’ colorful character, former Cub Jimmy Dugan, and their fun roster of players, including Davis as catcher Dottie Hinson.  Raising three daughters and seeing their successes on the softball diamonds, together with the emotions of playing the game, has always given me a real connection to this story line. 

TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE.  This 2012 movie starring Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, and Justin Timberlake, might be a surprise entry for my top five.  Eastwood plays an aging baseball scout, Gus Lobel, who is tasked with one last search for a star player for his Braves’ number two overall pick in the draft.  While all of the statistical analysis points to top prospect Bo Gentry, Lobel’s feel for the game senses that Gentry has a weak spot as a hitter – the curveball.  I remember being in the high schools stands in St. Louis about twenty years ago when numerous scouts were there to see young Max Scherzer pitch.  Baseball stars are often found by scouts who have a feel for talent, not just numbers.

42. Chadwick Boseman provides a standout performance in one of baseball’s greatest stories, the life of Jackie Robinson, the MLB first black player in the modern era.  The movie is titled after Robinson’s uniform number, 42, which was retired in 1997 for all MLB teams.  It shows quite dramatically the pervasive racial attacks on Jackie as he sought to find his place in the game. One of those scenes shows how Robinson’s Dodger teammate, shortstop Pee Wee Reese, a Southerner, comes to Jackie’s defense in a game at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, by standing with his arm around Robinson’s shoulders.  While the number of black players on the MLB rosters has regrettably declined over the last twenty years, I read this weekend that this summer’s 2022 MLB draft is pointing in a more positive direction.

MONEYBALL. Brad Pitts stars in this 2011 movie based on the 2003 book by Michael Lewis of the same name. The story is a true portrayal of the Oakland Athletics’ 2002 season and the obstacles faced by their general manager, Billy Beane, played by Pitt.  Beane is saddled with his franchise’s limited budget for players, so he devises a sabermetric method to scouting and analyzing players.  His team of undervalued talent takes the big market teams, such as the Yankees and Dodgers, by surprise. The movie is so relevant to the realities of the game today, a constant struggle between small market teams and the big market organizations.  Trade Deadline deals over a week ago demonstrate the problem of the rich getting richer.

THE NATURAL. Robert Redford stars in this 1984 movie about the baseball career of his character, Roy Hobbs, a player with amazing natural baseball talent. My favorite scene features Hobbs in a huge batting slump visiting Wrigley Field and seeing a woman dressed in white, Iris (played by Glenn Close), standing up in the bleachers.  Hobbs unleashes an enormous home run, shattering the clock on the manual scoreboard.  We see today, more than ever, players reaching the MLB with tremendous tools to play the game – power, speed, batting skill, defensive range, etc. I’ve always thought that work ethic separates the good ones and the great ones.

So, how about relaxing a little, taking a seat on the couch, grabbing a bowl of popcorn, and catching one of these flicks, or perhaps one of your favorites?  You won’t be disappointed.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Big Splash

I’ve never been much of a swimmer, and I am especially a terrible diver.  I used to watch my friends dive into the pool with a clean splash, and then there would be me with this sort of dive, sort of belly flop, and a big, hurtful splash. Ouch. As the MLB trade deadline came to a close this past week, several teams attempted some big splashes of their own. While it’s difficult to evaluate the success of the trades now, it’s important to understand why they were made and which teams might benefit the most.

There are a few reasons behind all of the trades before the deadline.  Teams that are out of contention who have players eligible for free agency this year or next are the sellers.  The buyers are the contenders who are looking for a player to take them over the top and win a world championship.  Also important is that MLB this year has added a third wild card team to each league’s postseason format.  The division winners with the two best records get automatic byes. The remaining division winner plays the third wild card, while the #1 and 2 wild cards face off. The wild card rounds are now 3-game series at the home ballpark of the division winner and the #1 wild card.  As such, the top teams in both leagues want to do everything possible to get the two automatic byes. The wild card contenders want to secure the #1 wild card slot.

The New York Yankees, owning the top record in the American League (70-39), jumped into the waters first by trading three minor leaguers to the Kansas City Royals for outfielder, Andrew Benintendi. Benintendi, batting .320 this year and a Gold Glover last season, gives the New Yorkers the left handed bat and outfield defense they needed.  As is often the case, the Yankees didn’t stop there. New York soon after acquired Frankie Montas, starting pitcher, and closer Lou Trivino from the Oakland A’s. Montas has been a standout starter the past few years, garnering a 3.18 ERA with 109 strikeouts in 104.2 innings this season. The Yanks’ starting staff (Gerrit Cole, James Taillon, Nestor Cortes, and now Montas) is primed for a World Series run. And finally, the Yanks shored up their speed and defense by obtaining Harrison Bader, Cardinals.

The Pinstripes’ Big Apple competitors, New York Mets, with the second best record in the National League (70-39), plunged also with the acquisition of Tyler Naquin, from the Reds for two minor leaguers.  Naquin, a former first round draft choice, adds outfield depth to the Mets, together with a little batting punch from the left side of the plate. Against right handed pitching, Naquin is batting .280 in his career with 50 HRs.  The Metropolitans also added to their bullpen by obtaining Mychal Givens, Cubs.  The big news is the splash they didn’t make.  With a huge need at the catching position, the Mets failed in their attempt to obtain Willson Contreras, Cubs.

Out west the Seattle Mariners made a huge splash by catching the most sought after starting pitcher on the trade market, Cincinnati’s Luis Castillo.  Castillo, a two-time All-Star with a 2.86 ERA this season, joins Mariners starters Robbie Ray and Logan Gilbert as Seattle pushes hard for their first playoff appearance since 2001 (current record of 59-51).  The Reds did receive a hefty return, acquiring 3 of the top 5 rated minor league prospects from Seattle.  Another Reds starter, Tyler Mahle, went to the Twins in a Trade Deadline transaction in exchange for top Twins prospects.  Cincinnati is again wading in the water with a hope for future success.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and their best record in the NL (75-33) were next to enter the trade pool in the acquisition of the Cubs’ righthanded reliever, Chris Martin.  Since June 17 Martin has recorded a 3.29 ERA in 13.2 innings.  Martin hopes to be a valuable set-up man in the Dodgers’ bullpen. In return, the Cubbies received Zach McKinstry, an infielder/outfielder who may get some valuable playing time in Chicago. On Trade Deadline Day, the Dodgers added to their outfield depth and pinch hitting corps by acquiring Joey Gallo from the Yankees. While the Dodger Blue didn’t make any earth shattering deals, LA remains poised for a World Series run with a very talented squad.

Houston Astros, second best team in the AL with a record of 70-40, also made a key acquisition in their push to retain a first round bye. The Astros landed Trey Mancini, first baseman/outfielder of the Baltimore Orioles (56-52 record).  Mancini will fill in nicely in the Houston outfield.  The trade is a little discouraging for Baltimore since Mancini was a key veteran for the squad.  Coupled with the Orioles’ trade of their closer, Jorge Lopez, to Minnesota the next day, it’s clear that Baltimore decided to stay in the shallow side of the pool and not push hard for a playoff run this year.  Houston, on the other hand, also obtained the catcher they sorely needed, Christian Vazquez, from the Red Sox.  The Astros are positioned for a Series run.

Two National League playoff contenders, the San Diego Padres (61-50) and Milwaukee Brewers (58-50 and in second place in the NL Central), made Trade Deadline Eve interesting with the Brew Crew’s four-time All-Star closer, Josh Hader, going to the Padres.  Milwaukee receives the Padres’ closer Taylor Rogers in return, along with two key prospects.  I see the Padres winning this trade; Hader is that big time closer you can ride through the playoffs.

The BIG SPLASH occurred early on Trade Deadline Day when the Padres obtained superstar Juan Soto, and first baseman Josh Bell, of the Washington Nationals.  The Nationals received a boatload in return, five prized San Diego prospects!  Later that day, the Padres traded another prospect to the Reds for third baseman, Brandon Drury. It’s clearly a win now scenario for the Padres.  If San Diego wins the World Series this year or next, Trade Deadline 2022 will forever be remembered as their push over the top.

Other NL playoff contenders jumped into the pond.  World Champion Atlanta Braves (64-46) geared up for another title run by obtaining starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi from the Astros, outfielder Robbie Grossman, Tigers, and a key reliever, Raisel lglesias, Angels.  The St. Louis Cardinals (60-48 and in first place in the NL Central) bolstered their starting staff with the acquisition of lefties Jose Quintana, Pirates, and Jordan Montgomery, Yankees.  The Philadelphia Phillies (60-48), contending for a wild card spot, got a top starting pitcher in Noah Syndergaard, Angels, and closer David Robertson, Cubs.

There were many other transactions and lots of rumored ones that fell through. Now it’s onto October!

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

2022 HOF Inductees

I visited the Baseball Hall of Fame (HOF) in Cooperstown, NY, almost twenty years ago.  Yeah, I was that guy who spent parts of three days in the Museum reading all of the plaques and visiting, often twice, the numerous exhibits.  I recall thinking how much an honor it was to be in the Hall since only a handful of players were inducted each year.  Yet, there was a part of baseball history that was clearly missing, the Negro Leagues and the early days of the game. Since then, baseball has tried to make amends with the creation of its Golden Days Era and Early Baseball Era Committees.  Last Sunday, Cooperstown welcomed seven honorees into the halls of HOF.  Let’s recognize the inductees (in alphabetical order):

Bud Fowler (Early Baseball Era Committee). He was born “John W. Jackson” in 1858, but was nicknamed “Bud” since that’s the name he called other players. Bud’s roots were actually in Cooperstown where he excelled as a youth baseball player. Fowler, who was black, got his start professionally on an all-white team in New Castle, PA, when he was 14 years old. He played for many teams comprised of mostly white players, often leaving the teams due to rampant racism. Fowler finally found his way into the Negro Leagues in 1895, starring for the Page Fence Giants. He was indeed a visionary, imagining the Negro Leagues long before it was formed.

Gil Hodges (Golden Days Era Committee). If you are a Dodgers fan, you remember Gil as your first baseman for most of 18 seasons in the late 1940s through the early 1960s. Hodges, an 8-time All-Star, led the Dodgers to two World Series championships (1955 and 1959) and six NL pennants. He excelled at the plate (hitting 4 home runs in a game in 1950) and on the field (winning three Gold Gloves). Other baseball fans mostly remember Hodges for doing the impossible, managing the “Miracle Mets” to a world championship in 1969 over the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles. Prior to the ’69 season, the Mets had never won more than 66 games in any season.

Jim Kaat (Golden Days Era Committee). Longetivity is the word that best describes Kaat. A left handed pitcher, he played in 25 MLB seasons for five teams and spanning four decades (1959-1983). His best years were the first fifteen, as he took the mound as a starter every four days for the Senators (who became the Twins). 1966 was his season to remember – Kaat led the American League with 25 wins and 19 complete games, and helped the Twins win the AL. Unfortunately, his Twins ran into a buzzsaw in the World Series, the Dodgers and their star lefty, all-time best, Sandy Koufax. Kaat will forever be known as one of the greatest fielding pitchers, winning 16 Gold Gloves! After his playing days, Jim also starred as a broadcaster.

Minnie Minoso (Golden Days Era Committee).  The Minoso family and the City of Chicago waited much too long for this induction.  Nicknamed the “Cuban Comet” and “Mr. White Sox”, Minnie started in the Negro Leagues in 1946 and last played in an MLB game in 1980. As a Cleveland Indian in 1948, Minoso broke the AL color line as the first Afro-Latino.  He was the first black White Sox player in 1951, and played in the All-Star Game that same year. Minoso was a speedster, often leading the American League in triples and stolen bases.  Many say that Willie Mays and Minoso were the two key players to bring speed to baseball offense.  Chicagoans know him as the leader of the “Go-Go” White Sox of the 1950s and 1960s.  After an absence from the game, Mimoso returned as a pinch-hitter for the Sox in 1980 at the age of 54.

Tony Oliva (Golden Days Era Committee).  Oliva starred as a right fielder and designated hitter for the Twins in his 15-year MLB career.  Tony was a pure hitter, winning the AL batting championship in three seasons (1964, 1965, and 1971) and leading the league in hits in five seasons. An eight-time All-Star, Oliva paved the way for other Cuban players in the game.  One of the great stories of the HOF induction ceremonies last weekend was Oliva reuniting with his brother, Juan Carlos.  The Twins and Senator Amy Klobuchar arranged for Juan Carlos, who lives in Cuba, to obtain a visa so he could travel to Cooperstown.  The brothers had not seen each other in the U.S. since 2009.

Buck O’Neil (Early Baseball Era Committee). O’Neill starred as a first baseman for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro American Leagues (NAL). In 1946 he led the NAL with a .353 batting average. Two years later, in 1948, he became player manager of the Monarchs, leading them to NAL championships in 1953 and 1955. After his retirement he became the leading advocate for NAL’s place in baseball history, playing a central role in the establishment of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, MO. Buck was the first African American coach in the MLB. The Hall of Fame’s Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award, established in 2008, is a testament to his place in the game of baseball.

David Ortiz (First Ballot Hall of Famer). Affectionately known as “Big Papi”, Ortiz’ career started off slowly, playing for six seasons with the Twins. From the moment he donned a Red Sox uniform in 2003, his place in baseball as one of the great DHs and clutch hitters became clear.  David had ten straight seasons of 100 + RBIs and was in the top 5 of MVP voting from 2003-2007.  In 2004 Big Papi helped his Red Sox break the “Curse of the Zambino” (the 1918 trade of Babe Ruth to the Yankees) by garnering 3 HRs, 11 RBIs and two walk-off hits in Boston’s seven-game, comeback win over New York in the ALCS.  The Red Sox went on to win the 2004 World Series, its first world championship in decades.  During his career Ortiz recorded 11 walk-off home runs in the regular season and two in the playoffs.  His colorful personality helped him launch an MLB commentator role after his retirement from baseball.

It's always good to remember.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Raise the Jolly Roger

Like so many baseball fans, my wife grew up watching ballgames on WGN-TV Chicago with her family.  For her though an allegiance with the Cubs did not begin but rather an admiration for one of the greatest players of all time, the late Roberto Clemente.  She asked her parents to take her to Chicago or St. Louis to see the incredible Clemente play in person, but unfortunately before they could do so Clemente’s life was taken from us.  On New Year’s Eve 1972, the “Great One” died in a plane crash while delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.  Since then, the Pirates have continued to be her team, and so this past weekend we spent a wonderful baseball weekend in Pittsburgh.

Our first stop was a no-brainer, the Roberto Clemente Museum!  The Museum, founded in 2007 by a photographer, Duane Rieder, is located in the former Engine House No. 25 in the Lawrenceville section of town.  It contains literally thousands of Clemente memorabilia, such as professional sports photography, family photos, his baseball stuff (uniforms, gloves, and bats), and even some seats from Forbes Field, Clemente’s ballpark for most of his career.  Our guide told many stories of Clemente’s humanitarian ways and affinity to teaching kids how to play the game. My favorite piece was a photo of Roberto’s last at-bat in Game 5 of the 1972 NLCS in Cincinnati, a game that I attended. The Museum is a can’t miss visit on a baseball trip to Pittsburgh.

That evening we ventured to PNC Park for the first game of a three-game series between the Pirates and the Miami Marlins.  Pittsburgh’s first professional baseball team, the Pittsburgh Allegheny, joined the American Association in 1881 and then the National League in 1887.  After the team signed a player from the Phillies in 1890, the Philadelphia newspaper headlined the story as Pittsburgh “pirating” their team. The name Pirates stuck with the ballclub for the 1891 season and forever since.  Now often you also hear them called the “Bucs” or the ”Buccos” (a buccaneer is a pirate).  The Pirates have won five World Series championships and nine National League pennants in franchise history.

PNC Park, which opened during the 2001 regular season, is strikingly beautiful from the outside.  It sits along the Allegheny River with a view of the downtown skyline. PNC is modeled after the old Forbes Field in that new “retro-classic” style we see throughout the MLB.  This evening the Clemente Bridge taking fans from downtown across the river to the ballpark was closed, so we were rerouted across the Warhol Bridge.  We did though get to see the Willie Stargell statue outside the left field gate, appropriately the position he manned, and a statue outside the main gate we entered for Honus Wagner (the old-time Pirate nicknamed “The Flying Dutchman”). There are two other statues, Clemente of course, and Bill Mazeroski, whose walk-off home run in the 1960 World Series is the most famous hit in Pirates history.

The Pirates’ opponent on this night, the Miami Marlins, have a much shorter baseball history (founded in 1991 as the Florida Marlins) but already have two world championships of their own, 1997 and 2003.  Managed by Don Mattingly, a 14-year player with the Yankees and Dodgers and now managing his second team after a five year stint with the Dodgers,  Miami’s 2022 team is built around pitching, speed, and defense.  Tonight was no exception as the Marlins’ pitchers dominated the Bucs. Pittsburgh only had two hits in an 8-1 loss. With a Pirates’ victory comes a great tradition, the “Raise the Jolly Roger” flag.  This symbolizes the flying of a flag on a pirate ship about to attack, or in baseball vernacular, chalk one up in the win column. We would have to wait until the next evening to see it.

The next day we were back to PNC, including a pre-game tour of the ballpark.  I highly recommend taking tours of MLB ballparks (smile), and this one certainly didn’t disappoint. Ballpark Digest rates PNC Park as #1 among MLB venues. Just as our tour was to begin, a driving rainstorm hit the ballpark. Our tour guide handled it adeptly and kept us indoors for much of the tour. We visited the legacy theater where the Pirates display many of their “firsts”, including the first all black starting lineup in 1971. The final stop on the tour was on the warning track down the left field line where we watched the Pirates warm up for about thirty minutes.  We then did a mini tour of our own before the crowd entered the gates.

The second game of the series featured the Pirates’ Jose Quintana on the mound.  Quintana is on the downside of his career after starring many years for the White Sox and Cubs.  He is, however, having a good 2022 season, coming into the game with a 3.99 ERA.  Quintana pitched seven, masterful shutout innings and the Bucs led 1-0 going into the ninth inning. In came the Pirates’ All-Star relief pitcher David Bednar to close it out. Pirates win! We watched gleefully as the Pirates mascot, Pete the Parrot, “Raised the Jolly Roger”!

With the series tied 1-1, we had to come back the next afternoon for the rubber game of the series, right?  I once again donned my new Pirates cap and headed to the ballpark, this time with our niece and her family along. We were in our third seating section of the series (Section 120 on Friday; Section 217 on Saturday; and now Section 316).  On this day our seats were directly in the sun, so we escaped to the lower level for shade. I know it’s a cliché, but I can safely say that there’s not a bad seat in this ballpark.  The Marlins’ All-Star, Sandy Alcantara, one of the great young pitchers in the game, dominated the game early with 10 strikeouts in six innings. Down 4-2 in the ninth, the Pirates came back to send the game into extras Miami won in ten innings, 6-5.

While the Pirates were able to “Raise the Jolly Roger” in just one of the three games in the series, I can easily waive it for the entire weekend.  It was a huge success!

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Doubleheaders

I love doubleheaders!  I have such fond memories of going to Crosley Field with my Dad and watching in his words, “two games for the price of one”.  One time around Father’s Day we saw Giants’ pitchers Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry face off against the Reds’ Jim Maloney and Sammy Ellis in two terrific games.  As I got older, my buddies and I would enjoy many Friday nights at Riverfront Stadium taking in “twi-night doubleheaders”, where the first game would start around 5:00 p.m. and the second would end late in the evening.  Ernie Banks, Mr. Cub, said it so aptly, “Let’s Play Two!”

There are many types of doubleheaders in MLB history – the “classic” back to back games with the first one starting in early afternoon; the “twi-nighters”; the “seven inning” doubleheader games (2020 and 2021) in response to the pandemic; and the modern day “day/night” doubleheaders where owners can get two gate revenues in one day.  We’ve also seen a handful of “home and home” doubleheaders where the Yankees and Mets on three occasions have played in each other’s park on the same day due to rainouts earlier in the season.  Crazily, three tripleheaders are recorded in MLB history, all in the early years (1890, 1896, and 1920) and long before the players’ union was formed.  The White Sox played the most doubleheaders in a season – 44 of them in 1943. The 1962 Mets would just as soon forget the doubleheader concept; that year they played 30 doubleheaders and were swept in 17 and split 10 of them.

For many years, MLB placed numerous, classic doubleheaders on teams’ schedules.  At the peak of doubleheader play, in 1959, about a quarter of games played were part of a doubleheader.  In 1979, that declined to around 10% of games, but still a sizable number.  Over the last forty years, scheduled doubleheaders have become almost extinct.  Play on the field is one reason, as starting pitchers are no longer on a four-day rotation, but rather, five.  Much more significantly is the revenue impact.  Team management cannot justify one gate and two games.  Playing 81 home games means 81 times the turnstiles should be clicking.

As a result of the players’ lockout and the season beginning one week late, the 2022 season marks the return of scheduled doubleheaders.  There are actually 31 doubleheaders on the schedule – 26 day/night ones and 5 of the “classic” variety.  More than half of them have already been played, and 65% have resulted in a split (each team winning one game).  Doubleheaders certainly take a toll on the players and lineup management, which is somewhat lightened by the rule change in 2012 that team rosters may be expanded by one player for each game of the doubleheader.  Remarkably, the last week of the season in early October features three doubleheaders!

This past week in Cleveland the Guardians and the White Sox faced off in a day/night doubleheader.  Even before the games, this one seemed destined for a split since the Guardians pitched their ace, Shane Bieber, in the first one, and the White Sox countered with theirs, Dylan Cease, but in the night cap.  Gosh, I miss those days when the number one’s went head to head.  The doubleheader played out according to script – Bieber throwing a complete game in Cleveland’s 4-1 opening win and Cease pitching six shutout innings in Chicago’s 7-0 victory in Game 2.  It was still fun to witness; there’s just never enough baseball!

The 2022 slate of scheduled doubleheaders will certainly be an aberration going forward.  Next season we are sure to return to ground zero.  I’ll have that same feeling as in 1973 when my parents and I arrived in the fourth inning of Game One of a scheduled doubleheader between the Reds and Padres.  We missed seeing San Diego score 3 runs in the first inning of the first game, and as it turned out the only runs scored all afternoon.  You see, the rains came as the fifth inning ended. Fortunately, for the Padres, the first game was considered complete and a 3-0 San Diego win.  Unfortunately, for my family, the second game of course was also washed out.  On that day, I saw 2 innings for the price of one game!  I don’t think that’s what Ernie Banks had in mind with his “Let’s Play Two!”

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Everyone Has a Team

Choosing my favorite MLB team was easy as a kid.  I grew up in Cincinnati, my family members were all Reds fans, and the ballpark was just thirty minutes away.  More than that, I had a transistor radio to listen to all of the Reds games.  I loved hearing the words “Marty and Joe are on the air” on WLW-Radio before each broadcast.  Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with Dave “Yiddy” Armbruster, who for 37 seasons has been the producer of Reds on Radio games and the host/contributor of Reds pre-game and post-game shows.  Join us for a fun interview.

What is your favorite memory of working with the late Reds broadcaster, Joe Nuxhall? No matter where he was, in the Reds clubhouse, on the air, or just out and about, he talked about pitching.  Nolan Ryan even learned a circle changeup from Nuxie.

Background: Nolan Ryan pitched for 27 years spanning four decades (1966-1993).  He holds MLB career records for strikeouts (5,714), batting average allowed (.204), no-hitters (7), and one-hitters (12, tied with Bob Feller).  Ryan was known for an overpowering fastball (clocked at 100+ mph) and a wicked curveball.  Put those together with Nuxie’s circle change (a changeup you throw by forming a circle with your thumb and forefinger off the seams of the baseball) and you have a Hall of Fame career.

What stands out to you about retired Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman? He never backed down from anyone.  Marty loved a good confrontation, and he was most always right.

Background: Marty Brennaman was the play-by-play voice of the Reds Radio Network from 1974 to 2019. Marty captured Reds fans with his engaging personality and often opinionated style.  The latter got him into some trouble at times. NL President Bart Giamatti called Brennaman to the league office for inciting the Cincinnati crowd to cause a delay in a 1988 game after an altercation between home plate umpire Dave Pallone and Reds manager Pete Rose. In 2008 during a game at Wrigley Field, Marty made disparaging comments about Cubs fans, creating ill will that Chicago would never forget.

What was the best interview the Radio Team did?  There were many memorable Star of the Game post-game shows, but I would choose a pre-game interview with Michael Jordan.

Background: The 1994-1995 MLB strike was the eighth work stoppage in baseball history.  During the strike the Reds Radio Network sought ways to fill its airwaves and began to broadcast some minor league games.  It just so happened that 1994 was also the year that NBA legend Michael Jordan took some time off his Hall of Fame basketball career to dabble into professional baseball. Jordan played for the White Sox Double A affiliate, Birmingham Barons, an opponent of the Reds’ Double A team, the Chattanooga Lookouts.  Nuxhall called one of Jordan’s three home runs that year in a game between the Barons and the Lookouts. Prior to the next game, Michael entertained the Reds radio listening audience.

Do you have a fun story about traveling with Marty and Joe? The night we broke into a minor league ballpark in Birmingham and couldn’t find a way out.  Joe got stuck hopping the fence.

Background: At age 15, Joe Nuxhall was the youngest player ever to appear in an MLB game.  Called upon to play on June 10, 1944, due to a World War II player shortage, he pitched 2/3 of an inning in a Reds game.  Immediately following the game, Nuxhall was assigned to the Birmingham Barons in the Southern League (at the time a Reds’ affiliate). At age 23, Joe returned to the Reds’ mound as a starting pitcher, appearing in two NL All-Star games in a storied career. Nuxhall had fond memories of his stay in Birmingham, so in 1994 when the Radio Team visited there Joe brought along Marty and Yiddy for an impromptu tour of the ballpark.

How does the Radio Team tackle rain delays? I actually despise them.

Background: I recall fondly sitting on the front porch with my Dad in the 1960s and 1970s during rain delays of Reds games. Together, we listened to Nuxhall regale the radio audience with tales of the past.  The Reds took rain delays to the next level in the 1990s by introducing the “Banana Phone” where Reds fans could call into the radio station and get on the air with comments about the team.  During this era the Reds were the only team in baseball taking calls from their fans during rain delays. Sometimes the calls got a little rude, ending the tradition a few years ago.

Who has been the Radio Team’s favorite Reds manager? Marty and Joe loved Lou Piniella.  He was such a good guy.

Background: Lou Piniella, an outfielder for 16 MLB seasons with four teams, was a baseball lifer, also managing five teams during a 25-year managerial career.  Nicknamed “Sweet Lou” not only for his batting swing but also sarcastically for his demeanor as a player and manager, he was a big part of winning baseball.  As a Yankee outfielder, he won two World Series championships in 1977 and 1978.  He managed the Reds to its 1990 world championship, the Cubs to two division titles in 2007 and 2008, and the Seattle Mariners to four postseason appearances. Lou was a dream interview for radio fans, describing play on the field and his team in a very transparent fashion.

Which Reds player is most memorable to you?  Eric Davis. For a couple years he might have been the best player ever.

Background: In an injury-shortened career, Eric Davis spent eight seasons with the Reds (1984-1991, 1996) and a handful of others with the Dodgers and Tigers.  Davis was one of those rare five tool players – speed, fielding, batting average, slugging power, and throwing accuracy.  In 1987, he became the first player in MLB history to hit at least 30 HRs and steal 50 bases in the same season. From 1986 to 1990 he averaged 30 HRs and 40 SBs.  In the underdog Reds four game sweep of powerhouse Oakland in the 1990 World Series, Davis got it all started in the first inning of Game 1 with a home run off A’s ace, Dave Stewart.  The Reds never looked back.

What has been your favorite Reds moment since you’ve been a producer on the Radio Team?   Tom Browning’s perfect game. There was a two hour rain delay before the game, and not a huge crowd stayed to see it.  It was amazing.

Background: Tom Browning pitched the 12th perfect game in MLB history on September 16, 1988, a rainy Friday night at Riverfront Stadium.  He threw 70 strikes out of 102 pitches that night, and crazily did not run the count to three balls on any hitter. Browning was a standout starter for the Reds, compiling 123 wins in 11 seasons.  Although his perfect game was an absolute gem, he might be better known for two other incidents.  In the 1990 World Series, he left his Reds team in the late innings of Game 2 to attend to his pregnant wife in the hospital.  He was called back to the game via the Reds Radio Network, but stayed with his wife.  In 1993, he also left the Reds dugout during a game without permission, this time to visit a rooftop across the street from Wrigley Field.

This has been a difficult year for Reds fans as Cincinnati has spent the season in last place in the NL Central.  Yiddy closed the interview with these words: “Everything is better when the Reds are winning.”  While Armbruster continues each day to produce the best radio broadcasts as possible, I check the scores each night with the hope that the Reds will turn it around.  You see, everyone has a team.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

P.S.  A special thanks for arranging this interview goes out to Bob D’Agnillo, my buddy on the wiffle ball fields of my old neighborhood and friend for over 50 years.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

I just had to go to the game.  Although both of my favorite teams, the Reds and the Cubs, were mired in last and fourth place respectively in the NL Central, I couldn’t resist going to Wrigley Field on a beautiful night for baseball.  The first game ever between these teams was on April 19, 1890, as the then Chicago Colts defeated the Reds, 5-4.  Since then, the Cubs hold a slim 1,188-1,165 advantage over Cincinnati, but maintain a healthy lead on their Wrigley home turf, 645-539.  Yes, this would be just another game of literally thousands played between the two teams, but I couldn’t resist.  Allow me to take you out to the ballgame.

Pre-game fun around the ballpark has plenty of options. I chose Murphy’s Bleachers, a restaurant and bar across the street from the centerfield bleacher gates. Murphy’s has been a ballpark area staple for over 80 years.  It started as Ernie’s Bleachers, selling hot dogs and beer by the pail post prohibition.  It was also the home of the Bleacher Bums during the 1960s, and remains so today.  Murphy’s opened the first rooftop during the 1984 playoffs where fans could pay to watch the game from its roof and enjoy some food and drink.  Today, there are sixteen rooftop businesses with over 2,500 seats outside the ballpark.  On this night I ordered tater tots as an appetizer and a cold, draft Goose Island Green Line beer (I highly recommend both).

It was time to go to the game. I decided to enter the ballpark through the Marquee Gate at Clark and Addison.  It’s always fun to watch the fans take photos in front of the historic Marquee sign, the second most photographed spot in Chicago (next to the Bean). The sign was installed in 1934 as an advertising sign.  Its first color was fern green, a color that did not sit well with the other Wrigley Field residents at the time, the NFL Bears (those are Packer colors!).  Indeed, a year or two after installation, the Cubs painted the sign a dark blue.  In the mid-1960s, the sign was painted its color today, a bright red.  The sign now serves as a welcoming invite to the thousands of fans entering the gate.  I offered my electronic ticket (everything is electronic now) and breezed through security.  I was in the ballpark!

Prior to reaching my seat, I stopped at the Marquee Grill nestled behind home plate and at the top of the lower grandstand.  Dinner tonight would be a grilled hot dog with onions, one of the best tastes of Chicago.  The Marquee Grill is the site of the first concession stand in professional sports.  You see, the Cubs owner in the early days of the ballpark, Charlie Weeghman, was a restauranteur.  He witnessed that his patrons’ views were often blocked by vendors in the crowd with carts of food and drink.  Weeghman thought the ballpark could do better than that, and invented today’s concession stands.  I took a ramp to the upper grandstand and found my seat, Section 314, Row 6, Seat 15, one of the best viewing spots in the ballpark.  Wrigley Field was built in an era of “jewel box” ballparks (straight up) that feature two-tier grandstands supported by steel structures.  You are right on top of the action in Section 314!

As I watched batting practice, my mind wondered to favorite moments of Cubs vs. Reds baseball at Wrigley. Interestingly, my top three each involve Reds’ legend Pete Rose. An early memory was watching from home, circa 1969.  Rose batted with two out in the top of the ninth and the tying and winning runs on base.  Phil Regan, the Cubs reliever, threw a two-strike pitch that dropped a foot as Rose swung and missed. I recall my Dad jumping out of his chair saying that the ball had been doctored.  Years later, in May 1978, I attended a game at Wrigley where Rose, playing third base, snagged a line drive sure to be a double. He then pounded the ball to the turf, emphasizing the third out.  I learned some new names for Pete in one of the historic Wrigley bathrooms between innings.  Then, of course, on September 8, 1985, I, and much of the country, witnessed Rose tie Ty Cobb’s hit record of 4,191, with a fifth inning single.

The starting pitchers featured two young hurlers with tons of potential.  Lefthander Justin Steele took the ball for the Cubbies.  Steele, drafted by Chicago in the fifth round of the 2014 draft, made his way through the minor league system before an MLB debut last April.  This season he has shown some real flashes, and tonight was no exception, throwing six innings and getting the win.  His mound opponent, Hunter Greene, debuted this season after rocketing through the Reds system (he was drafted second overall in 2017).  In his second start this year he set an MLB record by throwing 39 pitches with a velocity clocked of at least 100 mph.  It was fun tonight watching the scoreboard light up at 100! Greene gave up just two hits in this outing, but they were big ones, coming after a hit batsman and two walks, resulting in 3 runs.

While both teams are indeed struggling, each has a very promising position player.  For the Reds, that is Jonathan India, the 2021 NL Rookie of the Year.  India was the Reds’ fifth overall selection in the 2018 draft.  On this night he flashed the glove at second base, making a couple of key plays. At the plate he just had one hit.  India was clearly overshadowed by Cubs rookie sensation, Christopher Morel, who jumped from Double A-Tennessee in May straight to the big leagues.  Morel hit a home run in his first career at bat on May 17 vs. Pittsburgh, and hasn’t stopped there. Christopher homered tonight and began a tear where he hit HRs in three consecutive games this past week.  But that’s not the highlight on this night.  From his centerfield position, Morel threw out a Reds runner at the plate with an absolute rocket in the fifth inning.

The Cubs took a 7-1 lead into the seventh inning stretch as the fans stood to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”.  The tradition began with Harry Caray’s arrival in Chicago in the early 1970s as a broadcaster for the White Sox.  The Southsiders’ owner, Bill Veeck, Jr., tricked Caray into singing the song one night in 1976 on the public address system.  Harry was embarrassed; the fans loved it.  Game after game the fans implored Harry to sing.  When Caray signed with WGN TV and Radio in 1982 to be a broadcaster for the Cubs, he brought the tradition with him to Wrigley.  Since his passing in 1998, the Wrigley crowd has been treated to guest celebrity singers, some very good (Bill Murray and Cookie Monster) and others not so much (Sharon and Ozzie Osbourne, Kid Rock, and Mike Ditka).  On this night, Luke Richardson, the new coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, took the mike and belted out a nice rendition of the song.

The Cubs won this epic encounter, 8-3.  Cubbies fans gleefully sang “Go Cubs Go” and watched the “W” flag raised above the manual scoreboard in centerfield, both traditions after a Chicago home win at Wrigley Field. Join me next time at the game!

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Immaculate Inning

When a pitcher strikes out all three batters in an inning and uses just nine pitches, he has accomplished an incredible feat. It’s called an immaculate inning.  Little league pitchers do it all the time.  Dominating, young pitchers are often a mismatch for less experienced hitters who have never seen a super quick fastball or perish the thought, a curveball.   The early years of baseball though turn into high school and summer leagues, and the hitters catch up. Immaculate innings become few and far between.

In over 150 years of major league baseball, amazingly there have been only 108 immaculate innings. Indeed, there have been only 98 pitchers to have done so (seven pitchers have accomplished the feat more than once in their careers).  The World Series has seen only one immaculate inning. Kansas City’s Danny Jackson pitched a 3 batters up, 9 strikes, and 3 outs, seventh inning in Game 5 of the 1985 World Series against the Cardinals. While by far the most common immaculate inning is when a pitcher starts the half inning with a strike out, it is still an official immaculate inning when a relief pitcher comes in with runners on base and retires the side with nine strikes.  In 2014, Tampa’s Brad Boxberger came into an inning with the bases loaded and did just that.

No pitcher in MLB history has ever thrown two immaculate innings in the same game.  Yet, less than two weeks ago we witnessed the history books spinning in Texas.  Astros’ pitchers Phil Maton and Luis Garcia both threw immaculate innings in the same June 15 game against the Rangers, the first time this ever happened.  There’s another kicker to the story – the same three batters in the Rangers’ lineup struck out in both immaculate innnings!

Max Scherzer and Sandy Koufax, great pitchers and among my personal all-time favorites, are two of only three pitchers who pitched an immaculate inning on three occasions (Chris Sale being the third).  Scherzer, affectionately known as “Mad Max” for his competitive nature, may be the most dominant pitcher in this era of baseball.  He is an 8-time All-Star, 4-time season games winner, and 3-time season strikeout leader.  Pitching for five teams in his fifteen year career to date, he received the Cy Young Award in both leagues (2013 with the Tigers, and 2016-2017 with the Nationals).  In 2019, Max became a World champion, as he carried the Nats to their ever World Series title with his dominance on the mound.

No pitcher was as dominant on the mound as the Dodgers’ Koufax during a six-year stretch, 1961-1966. During those years, Sandy’s accomplishments include 6-time All-Star, 5-time NL ERA leader (1962-1966), 4-time MLB strikeout leader (1961, 1963, 1965, 1966), 3-time Cy Young winner (1963, 1965, 1966), and 2-time World Series MVP (1963, 1965).  During three of the years he won the NL Triple Crown of pitching, the leader in wins, strikeouts, and ERA. Koufax was the first MLB pitcher to throw four no-hitters and the eighth in history to record a perfect game. Unfortunately, his career ended much too early, age 30, as he experienced arthritis in his left elbow.  In 1972, at age 36, he became the youngest entrant ever into the Hall of Fame.  My guess is that Scherzer will be joining him five years after Max’s career comes to a close.

This past February I toured Dodger Stadium with a dear friend.  We saw the Koufax memorabilia showcased on the tour route – his first contract and all of his awards.  We were four months early for the unveiling of the Koufax statue that now honors Sandy outside of the ballpark.  Our tour guide mentioned along the way that Koufax, now age 86, often comes to Dodger Stadium and looks fit to pitch today.  I’m sure Sandy still envisions, like every pitcher, dominating hitters while on the mound, maybe even throwing an immaculate inning, or perhaps three.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Say It Ain't Joe

“We look forward to 1970 with a great deal of enthusiasm, and I am sure you will like our new manager, Sparky Anderson.” This passage closed a letter written by Bob Howsam, then general manager of the Reds, to me on October 20, 1969. The letter was a very kind response to my letter of October 8 voicing the opinion that I didn’t like that the Reds had fired manager Dave Bristol after the 1969 season. I was 10 years old at that time. So I missed that one, big time, as Sparky went on to become one of the winningest managers in baseball history. Being a baseball manager typically only has one ending – you get fired.  This season we’ve seen the early firings of two managers who had in previous posts won a world championship for their team. Say it ain’t Joe!

The Phillies fired manager Joe Girardi after the team’s 22-29 start to the 2022 regular season.  Girardi was in his third season as the Philadelphia skipper, coming to the team in 2020 with a great resume.  Joe was a former major league catcher, playing for 15 seasons on four MLB teams (1989-2003) and winning three World Series championships with the Yankees.  His managerial career started in 2006 with the Florida Marlins, leading a team with the lowest payroll in baseball to playoff contention.  Girardi received the NL Manager of the Year award that season, and unbelievably was fired after it.  The Yankees were the lucky ones, as they soon hired Joe to skipper a team that was a playoff contender for 10 years (2008 to 2017) and won the World Series in 2009.  Girardi’s Phillies came into the 2022 season with five 2021 All-Stars and high hopes of winning the NL East.  A dreadful bullpen got in the way and GM Dave Dombrowski gave Joe an early exit.  Some team will soon benefit, as Joe remains one of baseball’s best with a .545 winning percentage.

Another firing of a not so ordinary Joe has been in the news lately, the dismissal of Angels manager Joe Maddon.  Maddon actually began coaching in the MLB with the Angels in 1994.  He received his first managing gig with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2006.  Joe managed the Rays to the AL pennant in 2008 and received the AL Manager of the Year award.  He brought his act to Chicago in 2015, taking the Cubs to the 2015 NLCS in a second Manager of the Year performance (this time, NL).  In 2016, Maddon led the Cubs to their first world championship in 108 years.  He was fired after a disappointing 2019 season, and returned to his Angels roots as manager in 2020.  After a surprising 27-17 run out of the gate this season, LA lost 12 straight and Joe lost his job.  His next step is uncertain, but my guess is that some GM will be willing to bet on a manager with a .532 winning percentage.

The firings of the successful and experienced Joe’s before the Memorial Day mark of the season were surprising.  They were not, however, the earliest firings in recent history.  In 2018, the Reds dismissed skipper Bryan Price after just eighteen games.  Their 3-15 start was their worst one since 1931 (until, of course this season when they matched it).  The Tigers management in 2002 acted even more quickly.  Phil Garner, a major leaguer for 16 seasons, managed the Brewers for eight seasons prior to helming Detroit in 2000.  After an 0-6 start to the 2002 season, Phil was given the heave-ho.  In 2005, Garner rebounded and managed the Astros to their first World Series.  You just never know.

Hirings and firings marked the managerial career of one of the most controversial skippers in MLB history, Billy Martin.  Martin’s playing career spanned from 1950 to 1961 on 7 MLB teams.  He helmed six different MLB teams in his 20 years of managing, including five separate stints with the Yankees.  Billy’s Yankees had a winning record in all five of his stops with New York, but each time he was fired or resigned under fire due to a dispute with Yankee owner George Steinbrenner.  In 1976 and 1977, Martin led the Bronx Bombers to AL pennants; he captured his only World Series championship in 1977.  Midway through the 1978 season he was forced to resign when he said this about Yankees star player, Reggie Jackson, and Steinbrenner:  “one’s a born liar, and the other’s convicted.”  Shortly thereafter, the Yankees announced that Martin would return as manager someday.  He managed the New Yorkers four times during the next four seasons, all for less than one year.

Tony LaRussa, the second winningest, all-time manager, himself has had two separate times when he has managed his current team, the White Sox.  Four decades though separate his tenures (1979-1986 and 2021-present).  Tony became manager of the Sox during the 1979 season, and led them to a division championship in 1983.  He was fired in 1986 at the recommendation of GM Ken Harrelson, a decision owner Jerry Reinsdorf regretted since that time. Three weeks after his 1986 firing, the A’s brought him to Oakland.  Tony’s Athletics won three AL pennants and one World Series (1989).  LaRussa then landed in St. Louis, as his Cardinals took world titles in 2006 and 2011.  He retired after the 2011 season, only to be brought back to the dugout by Sox owner Reinsdorf beginning last season.  Tony has been in the news most recently for some of his on-field strategy, most principally his decision to intentionally walk a Dodgers hitter with a 1-2 count preceding a 3-run HR to the next batter.  In a recent press conference after the game, he retorted to Chicago sportswriters present: “Is there some question about whether that was a good move or not?”

Everyone indeed has an opinion on baseball managers.  In Bob Howsam’s 1969 letter to me, he stated:  “We appreciate your interest in expressing your views.  I am aware that we do not all share the same opinions and when it comes to sports this is even more true.  Everyone has a right to his opinions.”  Those words are so true today, 50+ years later. 

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Give Me a Hug, Bro!

I had the perfect big brother growing up.  Since he was seven years older than me, I could lean on him for advice about school, dating, and really just about everything.  He didn’t play as much baseball as I did, but he too enjoyed the game.  We used to debate about which was the better Reds team, his 1961 NL-pennant winners or my 1970 Big Red Machine.  It was probably the only argument we ever had that I won.  Every once in a while, he would come to one of my baseball games.  I remember throwing a no-hitter once when he was there.  Afterwards, he hugged me.  It was one of those few times in life that we embraced.  Guys just didn’t do that back then, even brothers.

MLB has a long history of brothers in baseball.  During an April matchup this season between the Cubs and the Braves in Atlanta, the Contreras brothers, both catchers, met as opponents.  David Ross, Willson’s manager, and Brian Snitker, William’s manager, agreed that the Contreras brothers would exchange lineup cards at home plate before the game. The Contreras brothers shared a long embrace before heading to their respective dugouts.  After signing with Chicago in 2009, Willson Contreras made his MLB debut on June 19, 2016, with a home run on the first pitch.  It certainly was a harbinger of good things to come – World Series champion that year and an All-Star Game starter in 2018 and 2019.  Little brother William Contreras signed with the Braves in 2015 and made Atlanta’s opening day roster in 2020.  The Contreras brothers hope to be teammates on an NL All-Star squad someday, maybe even this year.

A trio of Molina brothers – Yadier, Bengie and Jose – have dominated the baseball landscape for many years behind the plate.  They have appeared in a combined seven World Series, winning five (Bengie and Jose as teammates with the Angels in 2002; Jose with the Yankees in 2009; and Yadier with St. Louis, 2006 and 2011).  All three of them have been known for their stalwart defense, handling of pitchers, and calling a game.  Yadier Molina is the best of the three, considered by many as one of the greatest defensive catchers of all time. Yadi is currently the longest-tenured player in the MLB with one team; he started his career with the Cardinals in 2004. His older brothers, Bengie Molina and Jose Molina, made their own marks, principally as backstops for the Angels (1998-2007).

There have also been some famous baseball brothers starring as hitters at the plate.  It all starts with two famous Braves, the Aaron brothers, Hank and Tommie.  Hank Aaron is regarded as one of the top five players ever to play the game.  Mostly known for breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record in 1974, his career statistics are eye-popping – 3,771 hits, 755 home runs, 2,297 RBIs, and a lifetime batting average of .305.  Hammerin’ Hank holds the All-Star record for appearing on 25 game rosters.  After his playing career and until his death early last year, Aaron was one of the great civil rights activists in our country.  Younger brother Tommie Aaron, also an outfielder with the Braves but for just 10 seasons, is of course lesser known.  When the Braves appeared in the 1969 NLCS, the Aaron brothers were the first siblings to appear in a league championship as teammates.

Another all-time great outfielder, Joe DiMaggio of the Yankees, had a couple brothers in the game, Vince and Dom.  Joe holds the record, set in 1941, of 56 straight games with a hit.  He played his entire 13-year career with New York, an AL All-Star in each season.  Known as the Yankee Clipper, he won three AL MVP awards in his short career, as well as nine World Championships. His older brother Vince DiMaggio and younger brother Dom DiMaggio were also major league centerfielders.  Dom, known as the “Little Professor” because of his eyeglasses and small stature, played for the Yankees’ bitter rivals, the Red Sox.  Starring with Boston in a ten-year career, Dom’s 34-game hitting streak in 1949 remains the top Red Sox streak.  Streaks tended to run in the family.

Three other sets of brothers, mostly heavy hitting infielders headlined by a Hall of Famer in each pair, are noteworthy.  George Brett, the Kansas City Royals’ all-time best player ever, is one of five players in MLB history to garner 3,000 hits (3,154), 300 HRs (317), and a career batting average of over .300 (.305).  His older brother, Ken Brett, was a pitcher for 14 years for 10 MLB teams.  Ken himself was known for his hitting prowess. Another third baseman, Ken Boyer of the Cardinals, was an NL All-Star for eleven seasons, an NL MVP, and a 5-time Gold Glover.  His younger brother, Clete Boyer, also manned the hot corner for 16 seasons, mostly with the Yankees and Braves.  The Alomar brothers, Robbie and Sandy Jr., sons of former MLB second baseman Sandy Alomar Sr., had productive MLB careers.  Robbie Alomar was an All-Star for 12 seasons and won more Gold Gloves (10) than any second baseman ever.  His big brother, Sandy Alomar Jr., starred as a catcher for the Indians and played in six All-Star games.

My favorite brother groupings are on the mound, mainly because of their colorful stories.  Phil Niekro and younger brother Joe Niekro, both famous knuckle ball pitchers, are the winningest combination with 539 wins between them. Phil, starring mostly with the Braves, owns 318 of them.  He remains the last MLB pitcher to win and lose 20 games in the same season (21-20 in 1979).  In that same season, Joe attained 21 victories in his own right.  His big seasons, 20+ wins in 1979 and 1980, were both with the Astros. The second winningest combination were the Perry brothers (529 wins).  Gaylord Perry, the first pitcher in MLB history to win the Cy Young award in two leagues (1972 with the Indians and 1978 with the Padres) was the second piece of the Marichal-Perry era in Giants baseball.  He is probably more famous for his spitball, a pitch that he perfected and even bragged about in his autobiography, “Me and the Spitter”.  His older brother, Jim Perry, also had a standout career, winning 215 games, mostly for the Twins.

Another famous brother, Pedro Martinez, joined Gaylord Perry as a winner of the Cy Young Award in both leagues (1997 with the Montreal Expos, and 1999 and 2000 with the Red Sox).  Pedro’s career statistics are remarkable – 219 wins with only 100 losses; an ERA of 2.93; and 3,154 strikeouts.  He won the Triple Crown of pitching in 1999 – won-loss record (23-4), ERA (2.07), and strikeouts (313).  His lesser known big brother, Ramon Martinez, had a successful 14-year career.  In 1990 with the Dodgers, Ramon won 20 games, struck out 18 hitters in one game, and finished second in the NL Cy Young balloting.  Speaking of compiling wins in a season, there’s the Dean brothers, Dizzy and Paul, both of Cardinals fame in the 1930s. Dizzy Dean is the last NL pitcher to win 30 games in a season (1934), while Paul Dean that same year won 19. In the St. Louis World Series win over the Tigers in seven games in 1934, the Dean brothers won all four Cardinal victories and recorded a combined 1.43 ERA.

Oh brother, the list of famous brother combinations in baseball can go on and on.  Unfortunately, my baseball brother story ended way too early in life; my brother passed when he was just 27.  I think of him and miss him, virtually every day. When the Contreras brothers embraced at home plate earlier this season, I teared.  Give me a hug, Bro!

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach