This Day in Baseball History: September 9th, 1965

Army cut. Yeah.

On September 9, 1965:

Bob Hendley throws a one-hitter and loses.


Bob Hendley began his major-league career in 1961, and he spent the first few seasons of his career as a middling swing-man for the Milwaukee Braves. After a slightly disappointing 1963 season, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants as part of the deal that brought Felipe Alou to the Braves. Hendley didn't pitch particularly well for the Giants either and was traded to the Chicago Cubs midway through the 1965 season. He pitched a little better for the Cubs, but Hendley would be out of baseball after the 1967 season.

The 1965 season was Hendley's worst as a professional. For the season, he was only 4-4, but he had a rather large 5.96 ERA (62 ERA+), and his 1.21 K/BB ratio was the second-lowest of his career. He started the season, as mentioned above, with the San Francisco Giants, but he only pitched in 8 games and made only 2 starts and had a 12.60 ERA. At the end of May, he was sent to the Cubs where he improved slightly. Hendley made 18 appearances (10 starts) with a 4.36 ERA, and he made two amazing starts against the league's best.

On September 9, his Cubs met Sandy Koufax's Los Angeles Dodgers. Hendley's line was impressive -- 8 IP, 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 BB, and 3 K --, but it wasn't good enough. Why? Well, Koufax through the then-record 4th no-hitter of his career -- a perfect game with 14 punch-outs. The game lasted a whole hour and 43 minutes. Five days later, the two matched up again, but this time, Hendley knocked out Koufax. A complete game masterpiece, Hendley's line (1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 7 K) wasn't as impressive as his previous start, but Koufax's was worse (6 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 3 K).


Trivia Time
How did that run score in the September 9th game?

Yesterday's Answer --> False. Stuffy McInnis, Jack Morris, Schang, Joe Bush, Lonnie Smith, and Dave Stewart accomplished the feat.

This Day in Baseball History: September 8th, 1916

He doesn't look like a guy to mess with.

On September 8, 1916:

Wally Schang hits home runs from both sides of the plate.


Wally Schang belongs in the Hall of Very Good as he was one of the preeminent catchers of the WWI-Interwar years. Beginning his career in 1913, he played the first four years of his career in Philadelphia as part of Connie Mack's legendary teams, but when Mack started selling them off when money was tight, he was one of the last to go. When he did, the A's sent him to the Boston Red Sox, with whom he began his prime. After excellent 1919 and 1920 seasons, the Red Sox sent him to the New York Yankees, who held on to him for 5 seasons before sending him to the St. Louis Browns. By that point, Schang's career was largely over, but he remained fairly productive for a few more seasons in a limited role.

Schang, however, was not a home run hitter. Even when he played in the Live Ball Era, he didn't hit many home runs, and he maxed out at 8 in 1926. Ten years earlier, he was the first to accomplish something fairly impressive with, you guessed it, the home run. Schang was a bit unusual in that he was a switch-hitter, and on September 9th, 1916, he became the first to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in one game. He wound up hitting a career-best (at that point) 7 home runs that season.

The thing is that this wasn't even the coolest thing about that game. You see, the weather was frightful and oh so not delightful, but 23 people had no place to go so they let it rain, let it rain, let it rain. And so did the Shibe Park groundscrew and the umpires. In an absolute downpour, the Athletics knocked off the Yankees, 8-2, in front of 23 people. 23!

Trivia Time
True or False. Schang is the only player to win a World Series with 3 different franchises.

Wednesday's Answer --> Rico Petrocelli with 40 in 1969.


Apparently, it's fun for professors to give you 100 pages to read for most classes early in the semester. Thus, it's been slow around here, but I'm going to start getting back into it bit by bit with one, maybe two, posts a day as I try to get homework and some other exciting things done.

This Day in Baseball History: September 2nd, 1955

Slight build, big power.

On September 2, 1955:

Ernie Banks belts home run number 40 on the season.


Ernie Banks began his playing career with the Kansas City Monarchs in 1950, but he would become the Chicago Cubs first African-American player in 1953. As a 22-year old that season, he didn't play much. A season later, he played in 154 games while hitting .275/.326/.427 with 19 home runs and 79 RBI as he finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting to Wally Moon. Mr. Cub really introduced himself to the baseball world in 1955. Hitting .295/.345/.596 is impressive for anyone, let alone a shortstop, but he also broke records.

Vern Stephens set the home run mark for shortstops with 39 in 1948, and his following 1950 season of 30 home runs was second on the list. Actually, his 1948 season of 29 was also 3rd, and you know what, his 1945 season of 24 home runs was tied for fourth with Joe Cronin's 1940. But Ernie Banks was about to take the spot of premier power-hitting shortstop. Banks' 1955 season was the first for a shortstop to hit 40+ home runs (his 40th was hit on September 2nd -- oddly enough, it was against Moon's Cardinals) as he eventually hit 44. Of course, the modern record belongs to Alex Rodriguez with 57, but by the time Banks was done in 1971, he had the top 5 home run-hitting seasons by a shortstop with his highest being 47 in 1958. Banks would switch to first permanently in 1961 with his best power years behind him.

As I said, Alex Rodriguez now holds the record for most home runs by a shortstop, and he is still the only shortstop to eclipse the 50-homer mark (twice). He holds 6 of the top 10 spots, and Ernie Banks holds the other four and the 11th spot. Rich Aurilia pops in at 14 (Stephens is 13th), and then Miguel Tejada, Bill Hall, Nomar Garciaparra, Barry Larkin, and Cal Ripken fall in line. Hanley Ramirez is 21st with 33 last season but only has 19 this season, but he probably has the best shot among current shortstops to overtake A-Rod.


Trivia Time
I deliberately left out the guy who is 12th on the list. Who is he and how many did he hit?

Yesterday's Answer --> Griffey (56 HR), Buhner (40), Sorrento (31), Martinez (28), Rodriguez (23), Davis (20), Wilson (15), Cruz (12), Cora (11)

Walker Cooper

He and his brother were extremely productive for about 3 or 4 seasons. What other brothers have been so productive at the same time and/or for the same team?

Because I still find this blog to be a learning experience for me, I still run across a lot of names that I don't know, and while writing the previous post, I ran across a few of them. The one I noticed (or that intrigued me) the most was Walker Cooper because a) he's a catcher and b) he hit 30+ homers in a season. Consequently, I wanted to find out more. And thus:

William Walker Cooper was born in Atherton, Missouri on January 8th, 1915. Before the 1935 season, the home state St. Louis Cardinals signed the strong young man (6'3", 210 lbs.), but because St. Louis had a notoriously good farm system (Branch Rickey was one of the first to actually utilize the farm system in a similar manner to today's teams), he had trouble reaching the major leagues. He spent six years in the minors until finally getting his chance in 1941, but a broken collarbone limited his playing time.

The following season (1942) began a long streak of success for the young backstop. He made his first All-Star team, and his stats were impressive enough to earn him an 11th place finish in the MVP voting. Mort Cooper, however, finished first. To make things worse, Mort was Walker's brother, and they played on the same team. Mort finished the season with a 22-7 record and 1.78 ERA in the first of three consecutive dominant seasons. The two teamed up to help the Cardinals win the '42 World Series over defending champion New York Yankees. Walker improved his stats the next season and finished 2nd in the MVP voting (Mort finished 5th), but the Cardinals lost the World Series rematch against the Yankees. 1944 was another fine season as the Cooper brothers finished 8th and 9th in the MVP voting (Walker was 8th), and when the Cardinals made their 3rd consecutive World Series, they beat the crosstown St. Louis Browns.

Cooper left for the Navy in 1945 and missed most of the season, and when he returned, he and the Cardinals had a disagreement over compensation. The Cardinals sold him to the Giants. 1946 was an okay season, but he really knocked it out of the park (a career-high 35 times) in 1947. He remained productive for the next few seasons, but he never stayed in one place for too long, playing in New York, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee. By 1952, Cooper was no longer so durable, but he stuck around for 6 more seasons until he retired in 1957. At the time he retired, his daughter married Don Blasingame, and he remarked, "When you have a daughter old enough to marry a player, it's time to retire."


Cool Fact I Couldn't Find a Place For -- Walker Cooper holds the record (along with Dave Kingman and Dave Winfield) with a grand slam for 5 different teams.

This Day in Baseball History: September 1st, 1947

Williard Marshall.

On September 1, 1947:

The New York Giants hit their 183rd, 184th, and 185th home runs of the season.


So we all know what player has hit the most home runs in a single-season -- Barry Bonds with 73 --, but who knows what team has the most home runs in a single-season (answer a little later)? From 1936-1947, the New York Yankees held that claim with 184 home runs hit during their 1936 season, but oddly enough, that did not include any contribution from Babe Ruth. Lou Gehrig (49 home runs), however, had a huge impact on that total. Joe DiMaggio (29) and Bill Dickey (22) were the only other two Yankees to eclipse 20 home runs, but the rest of the starting lineup, with the exception of Jake Powell (7), hit double-digits. They were also the beneficiaries of 6 home runs by pitchers, including 5 from Red Ruffing.

But the New York Giants took the Yankees down in 1947, and they did it quickly. With a month left in the season, they used 3 more home runs to officially claim to have the most powerful lineup in baseball history to that point. Willie Mays was still 4 years away from his entrance into baseball, so he wasn't part of the offensive explosion. Johnny Mize led the way with a career-high 51 home runs. Following him were a couple of 30+ homer guys in Williard Marshall (36) and Walker Cooper (35), and young Bobby Thomson would add 29 in his breakout season. Buddy Kerr was the only starter to fail to hit double-digits (coincidentally, like Powell, with 7), and they also (like the Yankees) received 6 home runs from pitchers, with 4 from Clint Hartung. The Giants went on to hit 221 home runs for the season.

Okay, so what's your guess for team with the most home runs in a season? Well, the 2004 Houston Astros hit 247, but that's only the most for an NL team. The winner is the 1997 Seattle Mariners with 264. Ken Griffey Jr., of course, leads the list with 56 round-trippers. Oddly, neither team holds the record for most home runs at home or on the road. The 1996 Colorado Rockies, not surprisingly, hold the record with 149 home runs, and the 2001 San Francisco Giants, behind Bonds' 73 (37 at home, 36 on the road), hold the away record with 138.


Trivia Time
Put these players in order from most home runs to fewest for the 1997 Seattle Mariners -- Griffey, Edgar Martinez, Alex Rodriguez, Dan Wilson, Paul Sorrento, Russ Davis, Jay Buhner, Joey Cora, and Jose Cruz. Good luck.

Yesterday's Answer -- She was indeed talking about Pete Rose.

This Day in Baseball History: August 31st, 1969

Nothing like a good kiss from a buxom blonde to get the old stick going, huh?

On August 31, 1969:

Morganna uses her magic powers to get Clete Boyer back on track.


Nerd Alert. In Arthurian legend, Morganna is a sorceress that is expelled from court by Guinevere for having an affair. Pissed, she plots against Guinevere while continuing to hone her magical craft under Merlin, and she also attempts to kill Arthur (her brother) a few times. In the end, however, she brings Arthur to Avalon where she heals him so that he can return in the future in Britain's greatest need (some say Winston Churchill was that man during WWII).

Anyway, Morganna Roberts (from Louisville, Kentucky -- woohoo!) was a relatively popular entertainer. Known for her extremely large breasts, she appeared in Playboy a few times, and she even made an appearance in the movie Kingpin. In reference to her legendary tatas, she once quipped that Dolly Parton was "flat-chested". She, however, was more known for her baseball escapades. She frequently came on to the field during games to plant a kiss on an unsuspecting player, and consequently, she received the nickname "Kissing Bandit". She kissed (or at least tried to kiss) George Brett, Nolan Ryan, Cal Ripken, Jr., Johnny Bench, steve Garvey, and Don Mattingly among others. After each instance, she was arrested for disorderly conduct.

On August 31, 1969, Clete Boyer became another recipient of her advances, and it came just in time. Mired in a 1-for-17 slump, Boyer needed something ... anything ... to get him going, and Morganna ran on to the field to give him a kiss. Boyer followed that up with a sheepish grin and an RBI single. Two hits later, he had a nice night. Over his next 15 at-bats, he laced 8 hits.


Trivia Time
Morganna noted, "My career began with a bet and his ended with one" in reference to her first kiss. Who did she kiss?

Tuesday's Answer --> Allman Brothers Band

This Day in Baseball History: August 25th, 1952

He had 4 no-hitters in the minors.

On August 25, 1952:

Virgil Trucks throws a no-hitter.


Virgil Trucks began his career in 1941 as a 24-year old, but he received his first piece of major playing time in 1942. He won 30 games over the next 2 seasons before losing essentially 2 seasons to World War II, but he came back stronger than before. Over the course of the next 4 seasons, he had double-digit wins in each season leading up to his very impressive 1949 season in which he went 19-10 with a 2.81 ERA and league-leading 152 strikeouts. After losing most of 1950 with arm injuries, he responded with a solid 1951 season.

1952 was an up-and-down year for Trucks. On the one hand, he lost 19 games with an ERA close to 4. On the other, he accomplished a feat that only Johnny Van Der Meer, Allie Reynolds, and Nolan Reynolds have done in the history of baseball -- throw 2 no-hitters in the same season. On May 15th, he dismantled the Washington Senators for a 1-0 victory. Three months later on August 25th, he threw his second no-hitter, another 1-0 win, this time against the defending American League champion New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. But the 19 losses loomed larger than the 2 no-hitters, and Trucks was sent to the St. Louis Browns.

The Tigers regretted that. Trucks won 20 games the next season on his way to a 5th place voting in the MVP race. The Browns traded him to the White Sox mid-way through the 1953 season to the Chicago White Sox, and the White Sox didn't regret their decision. He won 15 of his 20 for them, and he went on to win 19 and 13 games over the next two seasons. After the 1955 season, the Tigers traded for him, and they lived to regret that decision. Now 39, he was no longer able to hold up for an entire season.


Trivia Time
Virgil Trucks nephew is Butch Trucks, who is the founder of what band?

Yesterday's Answer --> Put names on the back of uniforms.

This Day in Baseball History: August 24th, 1952

Lost his leg in World War II when an artillery piece crushed it.

On August 24, 1952:

The fans finally get a say.


Bill Veeck was one of the most imaginative men in baseball, and his ideas brought people to the ballpark. His love of baseball came from his father, who was President of the Cubs when the young Veeck was growing up, and he probably learned some business from his old man as well. Veeck once argued, "All I ever said is that you can draw more people with a losing team, plus bread and circuses, than with a losing team and a long, still silence," and you know what, he was right.

Veeck became the owner of the Cleveland Indians in 1946. As his first enterprise, he immediately put team games on the radio to draw interest to the team. A year later, he signed Larry Doby to be the first African-American player in the American League, and he signed Satchel Paige as well. But Veeck also had a zany side. He hired Max Patkin, a clown, to coach third. The American League, as always, was furious that Veeck would even think of trying something so out of the ordinary, but Veeck only cared about what the fans thought (they paid the bills). And the fans loved it.

Veeck, however, was not one to really settle down. A divorce forced him to sell the Indians, and after remarrying, he bought the broken-down St. Louis Browns. The worse of the two St. Louis teams, Veeck knew that the city wasn't big enough for both the Browns and the Cardinals, and consequently, he began trying to drive the Cardinals out of town. He hired Rogers Hornsby to be the manager and Dizzy Dean to be the announcer to bring more Cardinals fans to the Browns. When the Cardinals owner was convicted of tax evasion, he thought he had won, but when Anheiser-Busch bought the team, he was up a creek. He immediately began looking to move the Browns to Baltimore, but the league voted against him. Veeck ultimately realized that the owners simply didn't like him, and therefore, he sold the team, which eventually did move to Baltimore to become the Orioles.

But before he left, he created his legacy. The most famous stunt was hiring Eddie Gaedel to bat. But on August 24, 1952, he, several front office personnel, and a thousand fans sat behind home plate with signs saying "yes" or "no". They used those signs to determine managerial decisions, and whaddayaknow, the Browns won 5-3 to snap a 3-game losing streak. Do you think Royals fans would like this idea for managerial and general managerial (?) decisions?


Trivia Time
When Bill Veeck became the owner of the Chicago White Sox, he started something now standard for 25 of 30 teams. What was he the first to do?

Yesterday's Answer --> With 3 40+-homer seasons in his first 4 years, Mathews propelled himself over Elliot during the 1956 season.

Cano v. Pedroia

Sorry Yankees fan. Cano's really good, but Might Mite is still just a biiiit better.

Joel Sherman asked a few baseball executives, "Who would you rather have for the next 5 seasons -- Cano or Pedroia?". All of them responded, "Pedroia". Mike Avisa, then, took a little bit of a closer look and stated that Cano was the better player. Sorry, but Pedroia is the better player.

First off, even though the executives were right, they were wrong. Both Sherman and Avisa correctly point out that the executives are stereotyping Cano a bit. Latin American players are often made out to be lazy and stubborn, and when that happens, it is almost impossible for them to shrug that off. Even if he was lazy last season, a) he hasn't been this season and b) does it really matter how lazy he is if he still produces (I know theoretically it does, but in practicality?)? So, we can drop that argument, and let's look at the stats.

Avisa points out a few things in the last paragraph (BA, SLG, OPS, XBH, and VORP) that show Cano to be the better offensive player this season. And you know what, Cano is the better offensive player this season. The thing is that it's not by much. Cano is only 1.5 runs better offensively than Pedroia, which is a difference, but let's continue a bit further.

But what about for their career trends? Cano was worth 20 runs on offense in 2006 and 15 in 2007 before dropping to -10 last season, and he's now worth 14. I'm not sure he's really worth 20 a season, and he's not as bad as -10. I'd put him around 15-17 for a season. Pedroia was worth 14 in 2007 before his MVP season was worth 29.5 last season, and this season, he's worth 12.4 as of now. Like Cano, his 2008 season isn't really indicative of how he'll probably play, but I'd put him in the 14-16 run range. Cano, more power, is the offensive player over Pedroia, who is better at getting on-base, but it's not really that big of a difference.

Where the big difference is comes on defense. Avisa and Sherman say they don't buy this year's UZR ratings, which is just fine. But again, let's look at the trends. For 3 of the past 4 seasons (other than what appears to be a fluky 2007 where he was really, really good), Cano has been consistently a little below average. To be fair, I think we can put him around -2 or -3 runs. Pedroia, on the other hand, has been consistently above-average. I'd put him around +9 for a season. That's a whole win better defensively, and that's much more than the 2 runs Cano is worth on offense. Even if Pedroia is only +5 on defense, the difference between the two defensively is still more than what it is offensively. Yes, maybe Cano has eliminated botching routine plays, but that's why his UZR is -3.3 instead of -8.0.

Add on that Pedroia is a whole year younger, and it's even more clear who you want.

As for the mental makeup, would you rather have a guy with zero makeup questions or a guy with a history of them? You do have to ask this question. Again, maybe Cano has turned the corner, but the earlier concerns are still concerns. But this is still the least important element of the entire evaluation.

Therefore, let's make a quick summary. Cano is better offensively because of his ability to hit for power, but adding in Pedroia's ability to get on-base a lot more, Cano is only slightly more valuable offensively. For the future, Cano could learn to be more patient, but it's also likely that Pedroia could hit for a bit more power. I'm not sure the difference in offensive value changes. On defense, Pedroia is simply (and substantially) the better defender, and I'm not sure how that is really going to change. Add in Pedroia's age and lack of character concerns (icing on the cake), and he's the better player. Sorry.

But let's look big picture. The two really aren't that different in terms of value. They are two of the best second basemen in the MLB, and we don't really know what the future holds. But if you ask me today based on what I've seen, I'll take Pedroia. He's a 4-win player over a 3.5-win player. Again, not much of a difference. Is it shocking that all 7 said, "Pedroia"? Sure. Do you expect the voting to be a bit more even? Well, if Pedroia's the better player, then, honestly, yes all of them should say, "Pedroia", even if it's close.

Final word -- even in Cano's "bounce-back" season and Pedroia's "disappointing" season, Pedroia is still the more valuable player (4.1 to 3.0) by a whole win. Does Cano's VORP outweigh that?

This Day in Baseball History: August 23rd, 1952

Bob Elliot.

On August 23, 1952:

Bob Elliot and Bobby Hofman get thrown out in the same at-bat.


Bob Elliot was a third baseman/outfielder mainly for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Braves, but as his career wound down in 1952, he was a member of the New York Giants. Elliot was actually a pretty good player for his 15 seasons with a .289/.375/.440 line (124 OPS+), and for a time he set the National League record for most home runs as a third baseman with 170 (Eddie Mathews began his career in 1952 and would take the record away from him). Elliot would make 5 All-Star teams and win 1 MVP Award (1947).

Bobby Hofman wasn't so successful. Hofman played 7 major-league seasons from 1952-1957 (and a bit in 1949) for the New York Giants, but he never played in more than 100 games or had more than 232 at-bats in a season. He, however, was a league-average hitter (99 OPS+), but he never could crack the starting lineup for a prolonged period of time. In fact, what he might have been most known for is that he was the nephew of Solly Hofman, who helped the Cubs win World Series in 1907 and 1908.

Anyway, the two (Elliot and Hoffman) ended up intertwined in an interesting situation on August 23rd, 1952. Bobby Elliot started the game, but during an at-bat, he argued a called second strike. The umpire, not amused, threw him out of the game. Bobby Hofman came in to replace Elliot and finish his at-bat. On the next pitch, the umpire called Hofman out on strikes, and Hoffman, not amused, argued the call. The umpire, in turn, threw him out as well. Davey Williams had to come in and finish the game. Here's guessing he kept his mouth shut.


Trivia Time
In what season did Mathews pass Elliot on the HR list for third basemen?

Yesterday's Answer --> Mike Sweeney with 5 in 5,601 at-bats.