Runs and Bases - the 2000's Part 1

[SWC75]

BARRY BOMBS

Baseball went on its merry way after the golden year of 1998. McGwire and Sosa waged another great battle in 1999 in which Big Mac again prevailed, 65 home runs to 63. They were the only players with 50 home runs that year but 11 more had 40+. In 2000, the injured McGwire dipped to 32 shots in 89 games while Sosa “slipped” to 50 in 156 games. But it finally won him a home run title. He was the only player with 50 homers but 15 others had 40+. This was the year that the all-time highest combined major league slugging percentage of .438 was achieved. In 2001, Alex Rodriguez, now playing for the Texas Rangers, led the AL with 52 homers. In the NL, Luis Gonzalez of the Arizona Diamondbacks had a Brady Anderson-type season with 57 home runs and became the hero of the World Series, getting the hit that finally beat the Yankees, who were going for their fourth straight championship. But he was topped by Sosa who had his greatest season, hitting .328 with 64 home runs, 160RBIs and 146 runs scored in 160 games. But even Sammy was not the big story. Barry Bonds, who had never hit 50 home runs before, suddenly hit an astonishing 73 blasts, breaking McGwire’s record, which had only lasted three years.

Bonds’ overall numbers were not as good as Sosa: .328BA 73HR 137RBI 129runs. He produced 601 bases, (breaking Babe Ruth’s record for slugging percentage with .863), but ‘only’ 193 runs while Sosa produced ‘only’ 541 bases but 242 runs. The big reason Bonds was named MVP was, of course that he set the home run record. He produced more bases than Sosa because he was walked 177 times, the most in history to that point. Sosa had 116 walks of his own, the most he ever had. Both men were being more selective than they had ever been before. On this season, Sosa actually had more intentional walks than Bonds, 37-35. The Giants actually scored more runs than the Cubs, 799-777. Bonds thus produced 24.2% of his team’s runs while Sosa produced 31.1% of his team’s runs. I think the reason for Bond’s lesser output of runs is the huge amount of walks he drew. That’s counter- intuitive- getting on base is supposed to be the key to scoring runs. But walks take the bat out of your hands and Bonds, especially at this point in his career, was more dangerous at the plate than he was on base.

Opposing pitchers must have taken notice as his walks grew to enormous proportions in the following years. They walked Bonds 198 times the next year to set another record. That was the year he hit .370 and had a record on base percentage of .582. He also hit 46 home runs in 143 games He drove in 110 runs and scored 117, thus producing 181 runs in those 143 games. His intentional walks increased from 35 to 67. In 2003 he only played 130 games but was intentionally walked 61 times out of 148 bases on balls. He hit 45 home runs, drove in 90 runs and scor4ed 111, producing 156 runs in those 130 games. . Then came his last big year when he hit .362 with another 45 home runs, 101 RBIs and 129 runs scored, producing 185 runs in 147 games. That year he blew the roof off his record for on base percentage with .609, (61% of the time he got on base!) because he blew the roof off his record for walks with a ridiculous 232. 120 of those walks were intentional. Pitchers were using intentional walks, (and very careful pitching), against Bonds to reduce his production, there by proving that walks are not always the same in their impact on the game. They can be used by the offense to score runs but they can be used by the defense to prevent them, too.

Those walks made it obvious who the National League pitchers were most afraid of. The Bonds story is famous now: he was a great player, perhaps the best in the game, but was jealous of the attention McGwire and Sosa got for their record rivalry in 1998: he knew he was a better player than either of them. He decided to start using steroids so he could put up huge home run numbers as well. He did but paid a price: people noticed his appearance changing. He had started as a 185 pound rookie was probably close to 240 by the end of his career. His head actually seemed to change shape and some said that that some unseen part of his body shrunk. He started missing games, (370 in his last 9 years). Knee surgery ended his 2005 season after 14 games. He came back in 2006-2007 to hit enough homers to barely catch Hank Aaron, a player who never took steroids and was 180 pounds his entire career, for the career home run crown, (762 to 755 for Aaron).

I remember reading that Mickey Mantle lived life as he did, full of booze, women good times, because he never expected to live past the age of 40 since the males in his family, including his own father, tended to die at that stage due to Hodgkin’s disease. Ironically, the disease skipped a generation and Mickey died as the result of his lifestyle at the age of 64 but one of his sons, Billy Mantle did contract the disease and died from it and alcoholism. Mickey said that if he’d known he was going to live as long as he didn’t. He would have taken better care of himself Bobby Bonds, Barry’s father dies of lung cancer and a brain tumor at age 57 in 2003. He’d been ill for several years. I’ve always wondered if Barry had the same outlook Mickey did: that, like his father, he wasn’t going to live that long so he might as well do what he wanted. If that meant risking tumors from steroids in exchange for breaking the home run records.

I’ve always felt thatthere3 was another factor besides the steroids that helped Bonds break those records: he was famous for wearing all kinds of ‘armor’ at the plate:
http://c8.alamy.com/comp/FF7H93/fil...onds-walks-to-the-plate-during-the-FF7H93.jpg

All those pads and shields would allow him to crowd the plate and put the fat part of the bat on a pitch on the outside corner. I think this would have had as strong an impact on his numbers as some extra muscles. By comparison, here is Hank Arron at the plate:
http://media.gettyimages.com/photos...h=9LhR7TNDlEBk0iEChgZF6QLv2H3x5Xy0LM6MkQ7We5g=

It was suggested I check how often they were hit by pitches to see if they were crowding the plate: Bonds was hit by a pitch 106 times in his career, Aaron 32 times. Other players have been hit more than Barry:, (the record is 287), but with Barry being so protected, what would be the point of throwing at him? Also, all those muscles would probably come in most handy swinging at an inside pitch. But the armor still allows him to get to those outside pitch and that certainly helped his numbers.

Selectivity is also a huge factor. Ted Williams made a famous chart of his batting average when he swung at pitches in a certain sector:
https://nationalsreview.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/ted-williams-hitting-zones.jpg

Bonds, during his best years, basically refused to swing at anything not in his wheelhouse. So went he swung, he made good contact more than any normal batter would. Let’s look at the same things we looked at with McGwire and Sosa: the percentage of non-intentional walks and strikeouts of the plate appearances minus intentional walks and the percentage of hits that were home runs in Barry’s career:

1986 13.1% walks 21.2% strikeouts 17.4% home runs
1987 8.4% walks 14.5% strikeouts 17.4% home runs
1988 9.8% walks 13.7% strikeouts 15.8% home runs
1989 10.8% walks 14.2% strikeouts 13.2% home runs
1990 12.9% walks 13.7% strikeouts 21.2% home runs
1991 13.5% walks 12.0% strikeouts 15.8 % home runs
1992 16.4% walks 11.9% strikeouts 23.1% home runs
1993 13.2% walks 12.5% strikeouts 25.4% home runs
1994 12.3% walks 9.4% strikeouts 30.3% home runs
1995 16.0% walks 13.5% strikeouts 22.1% home runs
1996 18.8% walks 18.8% strikeouts 26.4% home runs
1997 16.9% walks 13.3% strikeouts 25.8% home runs
1998 15.1% walks 13.8% strikeouts 22.2% home runs
1999 15.1% walks 14.6% strikeouts 36.6% home runs
2000 16.2% walks 13.2% strikeouts 33.3% home runs
2001 22.6% walks 14.8% strikeouts 46.8% home runs
2002 23.9% walks 8.6% strikeouts 30.9% home runs
2003 17.9% walks 11.9% strikeouts 33.8% home runs
2004 22.5% walks 8.5% strikeouts 33.3% home runs
2005 12.2% walks 12.2% strikeouts 41.2% home runs (only 14 games)
2006 16.9% walks 11.2% strikeouts 26.3% home runs
2007 21.0% walks 12.4% strikeouts 29.8% home runs

His power output increased in 1993accompanied by a reduction in walks: he was getting more aggressive but not striking out any more. His walks then increased over the years but had levelled off by 1999 when he had a sharp increase in his home run rate: that’s got to be taking steroids to get some of McGwire and Sosa’s glory. But in 2001, when he jumped from 49 to 73 home runs, his walks skyrocketed, even not counting the intentional walks. He didn’t retain that rate of hitting home runs in subsequent years, even though his walks remained high. Were the walks the result of even greater discrimination in what he swung at, which produced the higher home run rate? Or were they a reaction to the higher home run rate and an attempt to neutralize Bonds by trying to not throw anything he could hit? If so, it partially worked in the following years, because Bonds never hit home runs at that rate, (virtually the same as McGwire’s from 1998-2001) again. Or maybe Bonds increased his intake of steroids in 2001 and then having set the record, reduced it afterwards. I don’t really have an answer for that one.

 

[SWC75]

ROID RAGE

Baseball players looking for magical ways to enhance their achievements is not new in baseball. Wikipedia:

“Players have attempted to gain chemical advantages in baseball since the earliest days of the sport. In 1889, for example, pitcher Pud Galvin became the first baseball player to be widely known for his use of performance-enhancing substances.[6] Galvin was a user and vocal proponent of the Brown-Séquard Elixir, a testosterone supplement derived from the testicles of live animals such as dogs and guinea pigs.

The book The Baseball Hall of Shame's Warped Record Book, written by Bruce Nash, Bob Smith, Allan Zullo, and Lola Tipton, includes an account of Babe Ruth administering to himself an injection of an extract from sheep testicles. The experimental concoction allegedly proved ineffective, making Ruth ill and leading the Yankees to attribute his absence from the lineup to "a bellyache".

During World War II, both the Allied and Axis powers systematically provided amphetamines to their troops, in order to improve soldiers' endurance and mental focus. After the end of the war, many of those returning troops attended college, and when they did, they applied their knowledge of the benefits of amphetamine use first to college sports, and then to professional sports, including professional baseball.

According to writer Zev Chafets, Mickey Mantle's fade during his 1961 home run chase with Roger Maris was the indirect result of an attempt by Mantle to gain a substance-based edge. Chafets alleges that Mantle was hampered by an abscess created by a botched injection of a chemical cocktail administered by a "quack" doctor, Max Jacobsen. According to Chafets, the injection included steroids and amphetamines, among other substances.

In his autobiography I Had a Hammer, which was co-written with Lonnie Wheeler and published in 1992, outfielder Hank Aaron wrote that he accepted an amphetamine pill from an unnamed teammate and taken it before a game during the 1968 season, after becoming frustrated about his lack of offensive performance. Aaron described it as "a stupid thing to do", observing that the pill made him feel like he "was having a heart attack"

Former pitcher Tom House, drafted in 1967 and active in MLB from 1971-1978, has admitted to using "steroids they wouldn't give to horses" during his playing career. According to House, the use of performance-enhancing drugs was widespread at that time. He estimates that "six or seven" pitchers on every team were at least experimental users of steroids or human growth hormone, and says that after losses, players would frequently joke that they'd been "out-milligrammed" rather than beaten.]

Third baseman Mike Schmidt, an active player from 1972-1989, admitted to Murray Chass in 2006 that he had used amphetamines "a couple [of] times". In his book Clearing the Bases, he said that amphetamines "were widely available in major-league clubhouses" during his playing career,[12] and that "amphetamine use in baseball is both far more common and has been going on a lot longer than steroid abuse".

Relief pitcher Goose Gossage, active from 1972-1994, also admitted to using amphetamines during his playing career, in a 2013 interview with Ken Davidoff. In the same interview, Gossage voiced the opinion that amphetamines are not "a performance-enhancing drug", though he admitted that using them was illegal at the time.”

There’s nothing wrong with getting bigger and stronger. There’s nothing wrong with hitting home runs and breaking records. Indeed that’s what brought the fans back after the 1994 strike. They liked it. Substances are not banned to protect the record book or the Hall of Fame. They are banned because of the potential physical side effects of using them, especially in the amounts players tend to use when not under medical supervision. Players who violate a ban, (even when there was not testing) are cheating and gaining an illicit advantage over players who follow the rules. But the bigger problem is that they are risking their own health.

Steroids were not banned by baseball until 1991: anyone taking them before that may have been endangering their health but they were not violating the rules. Baseball didn’t start testing for them until 2003 so they must not have been considered a major violation until then. I’ve already described how I believe that the impact of steroids on the offensive explosion of the 1990’s and early 2o00’s is at least somewhat exaggerated: the general trend was going to be toward offense anyway as the new parks were hitter’s parks, pitchers didn’t pitch inside as much, players were taking legal supplements and working and, above all other things, the owners juiced the ball for the 1994 season to help the game survive the strike they had forced. But because that wasn’t generally acknowledged, people looked for another cause for the big hitting and settled on steroids, which caused more players to seek out the stuff and begin using it in hopes of putting up big numbers of their own. But the list of players who acknowledged using steroids in the Mitchell Report included many players who did not put up big number, proving that you can’t get talent out of a needle. Barry Bonds might become Barry Bonds + with steroids but Marvin Benard is still Marvin Benard. Sadly, even non-baseball players began using the stuff to make themselves look more impressive or in hopes of becoming professional athletes, assuming that that’s what baseball players were doing to hit all those home runs.

The first thing we need is for the owners to admit what they did so people will realize that those home runs weren't just hit with needles. Not that that will ever happen. Then we need the players who used steroids admit it and tell us what they took and when and in what amount so we can trace the actual impact of it on their production. Not that they will even remember that. Without that, we don’t know really what the specific impact of what substances was. I suspect if we ever did find this out, the temptation to use them would subside, especially if the side-effects were heavily publicized. But it seems a vain hope.

The good feeling created by the McGwire-Sosa battles of the late 90’s started to turn when Barry Bonds topped them both. Bonds was unpopular due to his perceived arrogance. The press didn’t like him and used every opportunity to criticize him. He may have been as bad as they said: I don’t know. But when Bonds took the home run record from McGwire, people began to pay more attention to claims that the big numbers were being put up because of illegal drugs. They had not wanted to believe that when Big Mac and Sammy were making headlines.

In 2003, the US Attorney in San Francisco began investigating Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO), and found that baseball players Barry Bonds, Benito Santiago, Jeremy Giambi, Bobby Estalella, Armando Rios were “customers”. Jose Canseco came out with his book “Juiced” in 2005, naming “several other players, including Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Ivan Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez, as steroid users.”

Congress naturally had to get into the act and held hearings . They subpoenaed Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro, Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa, Frank Thomas, Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire. Giambi didn’t testify because he was being called to testify in the BALCO scandal. Palmiero, Schilling, Sosa and Thomas denied using steroids, Shilling and Thomas issuing strong statements against steroid abuse. Canseco bragged about it and McGwire simply said that “I’m not here to discuss the past”. Bonds “was never invited to attend because, according to the committee's leaders, his presence would have overshadowed the substance of the hearing”. (Washington Post)

More from the Washington Post:
The tone of the day was set by Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), whose previous career was as a Hall of Fame pitcher in the 1950s and '60s.Apparently referring to modern sluggers like McGwire and Bonds, whose physiques expanded and whose home run totals began skyrocketing in their mid- to late-thirties, Bunning told the panel: "When I played with Henry Aaron, Willie Mays and Ted Williams, they didn't put on 40 pounds . . . and they didn't hit more home runs in their late thirties as they did in their late twenties. What's happening in baseball is not natural, and it's not right." Bunning went a step beyond those who say the records of steroid-users should be marked by an asterisk, arguing that the records should be thrown out of the book. "If they started in 1992 or '93 illegally using steroids," Bunning said, "wipe all their records out. Take them away. They don't deserve them."
http://i0.wp.com/usatftw.files.word...0_games_for_steroids_8453993.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1

The attitude of the public turned on their former heroes as if they were the Black Sox, especially after McGwire later admitted steroid use and Palmiero tested positive, despite his emotional denials. Commissioner Selig authorized a study by former Senator George Mitchell to determine the extent of steroid use in baseball. The Player’s association had concerns about confidentiality.

...while Senator Mitchell pledges in his memo that he will honor any player request for confidentiality in his report, he does not pledge, because he cannot pledge, that any information you provide will actually remain confidential and not be disclosed without your consent. For example, Senator Mitchell cannot promise that information you disclose will not be given to a federal or state prosecutor, a Congressional committee, or perhaps turned over in a private lawsuit in response to a request or a subpoena. (Wikipedia)

Only two active players allowed themselves to be interviewed for the report. Mitchel got most of his information from sources like Kirk Radomski, a former batboy and clubhouse employee for the New York Mets, Brian McNamee a former strength coach for the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays. And Larry Starr, who was a trainer for 30 years with the Cincinnati Reds (1972-1992) and the Florida Marlins (1993-2002). (Wikipedia)

Mitchell’s report came up with a list of 89 players, (out of 750), alleged to have used PEDs, (“performance enhancing drugs”).
List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The list is more remarkable for the number of relatively unknown and marginal players who used steroids and failed to rise above that level. It seems that PEDs were less a source of home runs than a source of false hope. “Mitchell reported that during the random testing in 2003, 5 to 7 percent of players tested positive for steroid use.” That seems more of a concern than an epidemic. But that wasn’t the reaction to the report.

The day after the report was released, then-President of the United States George W. Bush, a former co-owner of the Texas Rangers, stated that "we can jump to this conclusion: that steroids have sullied the game." He said he had no prior knowledge or awareness of player steroid use. He added, "My hope is that this report is a part of putting the steroid era of baseball behind us." (Wikipedia)

Baseball tightened up its drug testing rules after the Mitchell report. Again, from Wikipedia:

Before the Mitchell Report came out, MLB had one unannounced mandatory test each year for every player and random tests for selective players during the season and the off-season. Each drug test examined each player for steroids, steroid precursors, and designer steroids. If caught, suspensions without pay occurred. The first positive tests resulted in a suspension for ten days, the second for thirty days, the third for sixty days and the fourth positive test resulted in a one-year suspension.

After George Mitchell’s report came out, MLB markedly increased testing and punishments. Now baseball tests unannounced twice a year for all players and random testing still occurs for selective players. MLB also tests for more substances. They test for seven different kinds of abusive drugs, 47 different kinds of steroids and thirty different kinds of stimulants. One of the 47 different kinds of steroids is Human Growth Hormone, known as HGH. HGH is a substance popular amongst the league that was never tested for before the Mitchell Report because no reliable test existed. Along with the increase of substances tested for came an increase in suspensions without pay. The first positive test now results in a fifty-game suspension, the second is one hundred games, and the third positive now results in a lifetime suspension from the MLB.

On March 28, 2014 the players and owners announced that the penalties for a positive test would be increased to an 80-game suspension for a first time offense. Then escalate to an 162-game suspension for the second offense, and a lifetime ban from the sport for the third. Players who are suspended for the season, will not be allowed to participate in the post season. These suspensions do not allow the player to be paid while suspended. This is the strictest policy against doping that the MLB has had.

These new penalties are much harsher than the previous ones. The new steroid policy finally brings MLB closer in line with international rules.

Thus began what has hopefully been called “The Post-Steroid Era” in major league baseball.

 

[SWC75]

RUNS AND BASES

2000 National League

Runs Produced
Todd Helton COL 243
Jeff Bagwell HOU 237
Jeff Cirillo COL 215
Jeff Kent SF 206
Brian Giles PIT 199
Richard Hilgado HOU 196
Jim Edmonds STL 195
Sammy Sosa CHI 194
Chipper Jones ATL 193
Andruw Jones ATL 190

Bases Produced
Todd Helton COL 513
Gary Sheffield LA 488
Sammy Sosa CHI 481
Jeff Bagwell HOU 479
Barry Bonds SF 458
Brian Giles PIT 452
Jeff Kent SF 452
Bobby Abreu PHI 447
Vladimir Guerrero MON 446
Chipper Jones ATL 437

2000 American League

Runs Produced
Alex Rodriguez SEA 225
Mike Sweeney KC 220
Frank Thomas CHI 215
Carlos Delgado TOR 211
Edgar Martinez SEA 208
Johnny Damon KC 208
Jason Giambi OAK 202
Bernie Williams NY 199
Magglio Ordonez CHI 196
Darin Erstad ANA 196

Bases Produced
Carlos Delgado TOR 501
Frank Thomas CHI 477
Jason Giambi OAK 469
Troy Glaus ANA 466
Darin Erstad ANA 458
Alex Rodriguez SEA 451
Johnny Damon KC 435
Edgar Martinez SEA 420
Magglio Ordonez CHI 420
Jim Thome CLE 415

2001 National League

Runs Produced
Sammy Sosa CHI 242
Todd Helton COL 229
Jeff Bagwell HOU 217
Luis Gonzalez ARI 213
Albert Pujols STL 205
Lance Berkman HOU 202
Shawn Green LA 197
Bobby Abreu PHI 197
Cliff Floyd FLA 195
Barry Bonds SF 193

Bases Produced
Barry Bonds SF 601
Sammy Sosa CHI 541
Luis Gonzalez ARI 520
Todd Helton COL 507
Shawn Green LA 462
Bobby Abreu PHI 461
Jeff Bagwell HOU 458
Lance Berkman HOU 457
Chipper Jones ATL 453
Rich Aurilla SF 443

2001 American League

Runs Produced
Bret Boone SEA 222
Alex Rodriguez TEX 216
Juan Gonzalez TEX 202
Roberto Alomar CLE 193
Jason Giambi OAK 191
Miguel Tejada OAK 189
Ichiro Suzuki SEA 188
Mike Cameron SEA 184
Carlos Beltran KC 183
Magglio Ordonez CHI 179

Bases Produced
Alex Rodriguez TEX 486
Jason Giambi OAK 474
Rafael Palmiero TEX 440
Jim Thome CLE 439
Troy Glaus ANA 429
Corey Koskie MIN 424
Roberto Alomar CLE 421
Magglio Ordonez CHI 411
Bret Boone SEA 405
Manny Ramirez BOS 403

2002 National League

Runs Produced
Albert Pujols STL 211
Lance Berkman HOU 192
Todd Helton COL 188
Shawn Green LA 182
Barry Bonds SF 181
Sammy Sosa CHI 181
Jose Vidro MON 180
Vladimir Guerrero MON 178
Pat Burrell PHI 175
Larry Walker COL 173
Jeff Kent SF 173

Bases Produced
Barry Bonds SF 529
Vladimir Guerrero MON 488
Brian Giles PIT 459
Lance Berkman HOU 449
Sammy Sosa CHI 435
Bobby Abreu PHI 433
Shawn Green LA 426
Todd Helton COL 423
Jeff Kent SF 409
Pat Burrell PHI 409

2002 American League

Runs Produced
Magglio Ordonez CHI 213
Alex Rodriguez TEX 210
Miguel Tejada OAK 205
Jason Giambi NY 201
Nomar Garciaparra BOS 197
Alfonso Soriano NY 191
Carlos Beltran KC 190
Garrett Anderson ANA 187
Bernie Williams NY 185
Derek Jeter NY 181

Bases Produced
Alex Rodriguez TEX 485
Jim Thome CLE 448
Jason Giambi NY 446
Alfonso Soriano NY 445
Carlos Beltran KC 425
Magglio Ordonez CHI 412
Bernie Williams NY 393
Nomar Garciaparra BOS 381
Miguel Tejada OAK 381
Carlos Delgado TOR 380

2003 National League

Runs Produced
Gary Sheffield ATL 219
Todd Helton COL 219
Albert Pujols STL 218
Preston Wilson COL 199
Jim Thome PHI 195
Edgar Renteria STL 183
Chipper Jones ATL 182
Andruw Jones ATL 181
Bobby Abreu PHI 180
Lance Berkman HOU 178

Bases Produced
Albert Pujols STL 478
Todd Helton COL 478
Gary Sheffield ATL 452
Barry Bonds SF 447
Jim Thome PHI 442
Richie Sexson MIL 432
Jeff Bagwell HOU 416
Luis Gonzalez ARZ 407
Bobby Abreu PHI 401
Scott Rolen STL 390

2003 American League

Runs Produced
Carlos Delgado TOR 220
Vernon Wells TOR 202
Nomar Garciaparra BOS 197
Alex Rodriguez NY 195
Bret Boone SEA 193
Manny Ramirez BOS 184
Carlos Lee CHI 182
Miguel Tejada OAK 177
Carlos Beltran KC 176
Hideki Matsui NY 172

Bases Produced
Alex Rodriguez TEX 468
Carlos Delgado TOR 447
Manny Ramirez BOS 434
Alfonso Soriano NY 431
Vernon Wells TOR 419
Brett Boone SEA 417
Jason Giambi NY 413
Aubrey Huff TB 408
Frank Thomas CHI 407
Nomar Garciaparra BOS 403

2004 National League

Runs Produced
Albert Pujols STL 210
Scott Rolen STL 199
Bobby Abreu PHI 193
Vinnie Castella COL 189
Barry Bonds SF 185
J. D. Drew ATL 180
Miguel Cabrera FLA 180
Lance Berkman HOU 180
Todd Helton COL 179
Adrian Beltre LA 177

Bases Produced
Barry Bonds SF 541
Bobby Abreu PHI 479
Albert Pujols STL 478
Todd Helton COL 469
Lance Berkman HOU 444
Adam Dunn CIN 437
Adrian Beltre LA 436
Jim Edmunds STL 429
J. D. Drew ATL 425
Moises Alou CHI 406

2004 American League

Runs Produced
Miguel Tejada BAL 223
Vladimir Guerrero ANA 211
Gary Sheffield NY 202
Johnny Damon BOS 197
Manny Ramirez BOS 195
David Ortiz BOS 192
Michael Young TEX 191
Melvin Mora BAL 188
Hideki Matsui NY 186
Hank Blalock TEX 185

Bases Produced
Vladimir Guerrero ANA 433
Manny Ramirez BOS 432
David Ortiz BOS 426
Alex Rodriguez NY 416
Ichiro Suzuki SEA 405
Gary Sheffield NY 403
Miguel Tejada BAL 401
Hideki Matsui NY 396
Johnny Damon BOS 391
Michael Young TEX 389

Cumulative Historical Run Production Top 25
(10 points for finishing 1st, 9 for 2nd etc.)

Honus Wagner (1897-1917) 137
Ty Cobb (1905-28) 126
Cap Anson (1871-97) 119
Stan Musial (1941-63) 119
Lou Gehrig (1923-39) 111

Babe Ruth (1914-35) 109
Hank Aaron (1954-76) 105
Willie Mays (1951-73) 100
Sam Crawford (1899-1917) 96
Rogers Hornsby (1915-37) 89

Ted Williams (1939-60) 89
Mel Ott (1926-47) 85
Mickey Mantle (1951-68) 82
Tris Speaker (1907-28) 81
Barry Bonds (1986-2007) 80

Joe Medwick (1932-48) 79
Mike Schmidt (1972-89) 79
Frank Robinson (1956-76) 78
Joe DiMaggio (1936-51) 77
Nap Lajoie (1896-1916) 77

King Kelly (1878-93) 76
Hugh Duffy (1888-1906) 75
Eddie Collins (1906-30) 74
Dan Brouthers (1879-1904) 73
Jimmie Foxx (1925-45) 72

Comment: Barry Bonds is not yet retired as of the end of 2004 but that was his last big year due to injuries and he’s unlikely to gain any more points. Thus he winds up 15th on the list, 57 points behind Honus Wagner. Nobody else cracked the top 25. Jeff Bagwell wound up with 62 points. Frank Thomas is at 61 and not quite done yet: he’ll go on to 2008 and has a couple of good years left. Todd Helton was the most productive run producer in the period 200-2004 with 38 points. Albert Pujols had 34.


Cumulative Historical Base Production
(same)

Barry Bonds(1986-2007) 135
Ty Cobb (1905-28) 129
Hank Aaron (1954-76) 127
Babe Ruth(1914-35) 125
Stan Musial (1941-63) 121

Lou Gehrig (1923-39) 120
Willie Mays(1951-73) 118
Ted Williams(1939-60) 115
Honus Wagner (1897-1917) 112
Tris Speaker(1907-28) 110

Mel Ott (1926-47) 107
Rogers Hornsby (1915-37) 98
Jimmie Foxx (1925-45) 96
Mickey Mantle(1951-68) 96
Ricky Henderson (1979-2003) 94

Mike Schmidt(1972-89) 94
Cap Anson (1871-97) 91
Billy Hamilton (1888-1901) 89
Eddie Collins (1906-30) 89
Harry Stovey1880-93) 88

Sam Crawford (1899-1917) 86
Dan Brouthers (1879-1904) 83
Ed Delahanty (1888-1903) 79
Frank Robinson (1956-76) 79
Carl Yastremski (1961-83) 76

Comment: Wow! Barry Bonds generated 43 of a possible 50 points in base production from 2000-2004 to rise all the way to the top of the standings, passing Mike Schmidt, Rickey Henderson, Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Foxx, Rogers Hornsby, Mel Ott, Tris Speaker, Honus Wagner, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Lou Gehrig, Stan Musial, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Ty Cobb to take 1st place!. This is an incredible achievement 130+ years into a sport, facing greater competition than players of earlier generations. He’s the only player in the top 14 who played after 1976. The next closest player of his generation is Frank Thomas, who has 71 points and could get more after 2004 but won’t get anywhere near Bonds. But he used steroids- and so did many of those players he was competing for those top ten positons. Bonds led the National League in base production no less than 9 times.

Why did he do much better in base production than run production, (where he was great but not close to #1)? I think the difference is the walk. Baseball statisticians view the walk as always being a plus for the hitter, yet it’s often used as a weapon by the pitcher- either through intentional walks, (Bonds had 688 in his career- the most in history, including a ridiculous 120 in 2004- and led the NL 12 times) and “careful” walks where they start out pitching to him but refuse to give him anything to hit and he winds up on 1st base anyway. Such a strategy is a sign of great respect, (fear, actually), but it can be effective in preventing bases from turning into runs.

 

[SWC75]

THE PLAYERS

JASON GIAMBI was a bad guy turned good guy. He built a career on steroids and, after being caught and apologizing, prove he could hit without them, (we hope). After playing for Long Beach State and representing the US on the 1992 Olympic team, Giambi was signed by the Athletics. He made the big club in 1995 and became their regular first baseman. He put up some huge numbers in Oakland, really getting on a roll at the end of the decade: .295-27-110 in 1998; .315-33-123 in 1999; .333-43-137 in 2000; .342-38-120 in 2001. He then left the team to sign with the Yankees, precipitating the “Moneyball” Era in Oakland, at least according to the film of that name. (Actually the Moneyball concepts had been pioneered by Billy Beane’s predecessor, Sandy Alderson before that. Alderson made some of the moves attributed to Beane. And the 2001 team had a higher on base percentage than the 2002 did.)

The onslaught continued in New York with a .314-41-122 year in 2002. His power numbers remained excellent the next year as he hit 42 home runs and drove in 107 runs but his batting average mysteriously fell to .250. He reported feeling fatigued. He was tested for several diseases and infections but what they found was a benign tumor in his pituitary gland. He refused to discuss the tumor or even confirm its location. At this point he had already testified in the BALCO case and there was speculation that the tumor could have been related to steroid use. It was a lost season, as Jason only played in 80 games and batted .208 with 12 home runs. Feelings were mixed. He was victim to fans because he had the tumor, (which was successful treated), but also a perpetrator because he was using steroids, which he finally admitted to Congress early the next year.

But Jason didn’t just fade away. He recovered to .371-32-87 in 2005, winning Comeback Player of the Year, and .253-37-113 in 2006. A foot injury limited him to 83 games in 2007 in which he hit .236 with 14 home runs but he made another comeback the next year, hitting .247 with 32 home runs.

He was now 37 and the injuries were piling up as they tend to for older player. He played for another six seasons but, after playing in 102 games in 2009, he never again hit triple digits. He retired in 2014 having hit .277 with 441 homers lifetime, productive numbers but nothing exceptional in his era. That and the fact that he admitted using steroids, even if he “came clean”, will keep him out of the Hall of Fame.

If we accept that the notion that he did not use steroids to make his comeback, he at least proved that you don’t need them to be productive in baseball if you have the natural talent for it. What is interesting is that he did not lose his power: he lost his average. He went from a perennial .300 hitter to the mdi .200 range. Like many sluggers of the era, he was a selective hitter. He over 100 times in seven seasons, with a high of 137. That continues to be an under-rated factor in evaluating the numbers put up in this period. Jason also had a clutch reputation. He was known for his walk-off home runs, including a rare Grand Slam walk off and he was the oldest player ever to hit a walk-off home run at age 42. Like Jose Canseco, he had a brother (Jeremy) who was much less successful than he was, (52 home runs in a 6 year career).

TOOD HELTON hit .316 with 369 home runs lifetime. In his peak year, 2000, he won the NL batting title with a .372 average, hit 59 doubles and 42 home runs and drove in 147 runs while scoring 138. He had several other years with close to those numbers. He won 4 silver bats and 3 Gold Gloves for his work at first base. He was not accused of using steroids, (one broadcaster described him as being “on the juice”, but retracted it , saying he meant Creatine and other dietary supplements). He spent his entire career with one team and became “the face of the franchise”. Sure sounds like a Hall-of Famer, doesn’t it?

But, like Giambi, he may never get in. He didn’t need steroids because he played in Colorado, where the ball travels 15% farther. Other players have but up big numbers there, too, but they haven’t been taken seriously in MVP voting because of where they play- and how they play when they aren’t there. in his career, Helton hit .345 with 227 homers in 1141 home games, (32 per 162 games). On the road he hit .287 with 142 homers in 1106 games, (21 per 162 games.) If he’d played all 2,247 games of his career in an average stadium, (as represented by his road numbers, he’d be a .287 hitter with 288 home runs. Those are almost the exact numbers of Bobby Abreu.

Helton was further held back by back problems that robbed him of much of his power in the last decade of his career. He never hit more than 20 home runs from 2005 onward. He hit 251 home runs in his first 1135 games and 118 in his last 1112 games. So he probably would have bene a 500 home run man if he hadn’t hurt his back. Would that have put him in the Hall of Fame? I don’t know. It still says “Colorado on his jersey. Will they ever have a Hall of Famer out there?


Atlanta had one in CHIPPER JONES. He came in at the same time as (the unrelated) ANDRUW JONES, force the rest of baseball to “keep up with the Joneses”, which was hard to do.

The first big splash was made by Andruw, (yep, that’s how it’s spelled), who came up as a teenaged center field sensation in 1996. He grew up on the island of Curacao, off the coast of Venezuela, where his father Henry had been the best baseball player there anyone could remember. At 13 Andruw was hitting 400 foot home runs and looked like an adult playing the field. “Andruw’s first big break came when he was spotted by Giovanni Viceisza, a businessman who watched a lot of baseball in his travels around the Caribbean basin. Viceisza doubled as a part-time scout for the Atlanta Braves.” (jockbio.com) Viceisza alerted the braves, who sent scout Paul Snyder to look at him. Snyder timed the 15 year old Jones at 6.73 in the 60 yards dash – with his 46 year old father right behind him. The Braves could not sign him until he turned 16 and sweated it out until then, hoping nobody else would discover the young Phenom. Jones hit .336 for Danville of the Appalachian League in 27 games and immediately was list one of the 10 ten prospect in all of baseball. The next year he was the Minor League Player of the Year, dominating the South Atlantic League at the age of 18, hitting .277 but with 41 doubles, 25 home runs 56 steals, 100 RBIs and 104 runs scored. It had bene 30 years since a player so young hit that many home runs. His one problem would plague him throughout his career: breaking pitches. He struck out 122 times.

He started 1996 with Durham in the Carolina League, moved up to Greenville in the Southern League, then Richmond in the IL and finally the braves, who wound up in the World Series. He’s probably the only player who began a season in the Carolina League and wound up in the World Series. For the year he hit .316 with 39 home runs, 33 steals, 106 RBIs and 126 runs scored. He became the youngest player to hit a home run in the World Series, breaking a record that had bene held by Mickey Mantle. But everyone talked about his defense comparing him to Willie Mays.

He didn’t turn out to be Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays but he had a very productive career. He played 17 seasons, hitting 434 home runs, driving in 100 runs five times with a high of 129 and scoring 100 four times with a high of 122. He reached the 50 home run plateau, with a high of 51 in 2005. He won ten gold gloves in a row in center field. He had the most put-outs of any Braves center fielder since Sam Jethroe in 1952 and led the league with 20 outfield assists in 1998. But he only hit .254 lifetime and struck out 1,748 times, 129 times per every 162 games.

As his career progressed, there were complaints. Some felt he didn’t go all out in playing the game. He seemed to have a “relaxed” playing style. He put on weight over he years, going form 170 pounds to 210. Towards the end of his Gold Glove run some players felt he was getting them more based on reputation than actual achievement. His production declined sharply in 2007, hitting .222 with 26 home runs two years after hitting .263 with 51 homers. He then opted for free agency and played five more injury plagued years for the Dodgers, Rangers, White Sox, and Yankees. He never did play on a championship team, having missed the Braves 1995 title. He wound up trying to review his career in Japan, by now a designated hitter. He officially retired in February 2016.

Chipper had already begun his career when Andruw made his spectacular rise. He’d had a cup of coffee with the ’93 braves, spent 1994 nursing an ACL tear. His real debut was with those 1995 braves for whom he hit .265 with 23 homers. He had a big year in 1996, hitting .300 for the first time at .309 with 30 homers, 110RBIs, (the first of 8 straight 100 RBI years) and 114 runs scored, (the first of 6 straight such years).

But after the World Series, Andruw was the guy everyone was talking about. The quiet Chipper just concentrated on getting better and better. He stuck out 99 times his first full year but his strikeouts declined through his career. He walked as many as 126 times in a season, He hit .300 ten times, with a high of .364 in 2008 at the age of 36. He was National league MVP in 1999 with .319BA 45HR 110RBI and 116 runs scored. It was his only season with 40+ homers. He wasn’t fast but stole as many as 25 bases early in his career. He never won a Gold Glove at third base. But he performed steadily at a high level through his career and wound up with a .303 lifetime batting average, with 468 home runs in 19 years, all with the Braves.


VLADIMIR GUERRERO came up the same time as Andruw Jones and they were lauded as the next great superstars of the game. He was compared to Roberto Clemente because of his powerful arm, which he loved to show off. He had the same capacity as Clemente for swinging aggressively at anything he thought he could hit and yet hitting for high average. But he had more power than Clemente. It just seemed to be a question of how great he could be.

He was born in the Dominican Republic so poor he drank from puddles. When he got to Montreal he was so shy due to the language barrier and his lack of education that he rarely talked to anyone and lived in an apartment with his mother. But on the baseball field he was a fish in water and gloried in his own abilities. He hit over .300 for a dozen years in a row from 1997-2008 and hit .318 lifetime. Also hit at least 25 home runs twelve times. His best years were 1999, when he hit .316-42-131, 2000, when he hit .345-44-123, 2002, when he hit .336-39-111 and also stole 40 bases and 2004 when he hit .337-39-126 and had a career high 124 runs scored. Those were numbers Clemente, perhaps because he was stuck in Forbes Field in Ford Frick’s 1960’s, (say that three times, real quick) never obtained.

Guerrero jumped to the Angels in 2004 because they had become the first major league team with an Hispanic owner. Injuries began to pile up late in the decade and his performance declined- but not a lot. As late has 2010 he hit .300-29-115 for the Rangers. He retired a year later with his .318 lifetime batting average, 449 home runs and 181 steals. He averaged 34 homers, 113 RBIs and 100 runs scored per 162 games. He wasn’t accused of using PEDs and didn’t make other negative headlines. He was well-liked, even if he kept to himself. He invested some of his baseball earnings in a baseball academy back in his home country.

Why isn’t he more famous? These explanations don’t really cover it but here goes: He played in an era of big numbers. He never led the league in batting average, homers or RBis and in runs scored only once. Despite his fearsome throwing arm, he never won a Gold Glove. He played for the Expos, the Angels, the Ranger and Orioles, none of whom won a championship when he played for them. He only played 16 years, not 19-20 and didn’t get to 3000 hits or 500 home runs. He didn’t play in Boston or New York. You’re right. It’s not enough. Why isn’t he more famous?


Maybe it was because of ALBERT PUJOLS, who was also from the Dominican Republic and became the most productive hitter of the decade, (since Barry Bonds tailed off in mid-decade). He also had a difficult childhood, due to an alcoholic father who was a baseball pitcher. Young Albert “often had to take his father home when his father got drunk following the games. Growing up, Pujols practiced baseball using limes for balls and a milk carton for a glove.” (Wikipedia). The family emigrated to New York City but, after witnessing a shooting, moved to Missouri, where Albert wound up being drafted by the Cardinals, where he eventually replaced Mark McGwire at first base.

He had one of the greatest rookie years any player ever had, hitting .329 with 47 doubles, 37 homers, 130RBIs and 112 runs scored. That became a typical season for Albert. In the first ten years of his career he hit between .312 and .359 with between 33 and 51 doubles, between 32 and 47 home runs, between 103 and 137RBIs and between 99 and 137 runs scored.

Even after he began to decline, he was able to hit as many as 40 homers in 2015 and has 110RBIs as of this writing in 2016, (137 games). His batting average did suffer and he hasn’t hit .300 since 2010. He starred for the Cardinals 2006 and 2011 champions. Even with the decline in his batting average, he’s still at .309 lifetime and has 589 home runs and counting. Per 162 games he’s averaged 40 home runs and 121RBI’s, the definition of a “big gun” in the center of your line-up.

He’s a big guy, (6-3 240), and he was, like Mike Piazza, a low draft pick (#402). The nature of the times led people to question how he became so productive. There was even an article in Sports Illustrated in which he told fans “You can trust me”.

The secret to his consistency seems to have been: consistency. “Pujols's swing has been praised for its consistency. "It's the same swing every time", former teammate Lance Berkman once said. "He has the ability to repeat his swing over and over and over, which leads to him being very consistent", Cardinals' video coordinator Chad Blair said. Sports Illustrated writer Daniel G. Habib described the swing as "quick" and "quiet." Pujols uses a 32.5-ounce bat against right-handed pitchers, but he uses a 33-ounce bat against left-handers to avoid trying to pull the ball when he swings. He has credited his hitting ability partly to guessing what pitchers will do: “I can tell right away from the first pitch if they're going to pitch to me or not with men on base. I need to be aggressive and make sure I look for my pitch and be ready. If it's there, be ready to swing. If it's not there, take it. There's just something there in my mind and you know right away the situation will dictate the situation you're in.” (Wikipedia)


Or maybe it was because of DAVID ORTIZ, still another Dominican slugger. Ortiz had a slow start to his career due to wrist and knee injuries. In six seasons with the Twins, he played 455 games and hit .266 with 58 home runs. He wasn’t much of a fielder, mostly DHing. The Twins released him when they couldn’t find anyone who wanted him in a trade. It seemed the end of an unremarkable career. Then the Red Sox took a chance on him.

He started out as a bench player, pinch-hitting and occasionally batting as the DH. Then Grady Little decided he might be better than Jeremy Giambi. He was right. “Big Papi “ became a modern Babe Ruth for the Red Sox- a legendary slugger who came through over and over again the clutch. A huge, guy carrying a lot of weight but a big smile to go with it. He helped bring the Red Sox not one but three championships, (the name number Ruth won with the team), after 86 years of futility. He became the most popular player in baseball.

Ortiz hit 8 home runs in July 2003 and 11 in August. He wound up hitting .288-31-101, with much more to come. In the Sox breakthrough year of 2004, he hit .301-41-139, then topped that with .300-47-148 in ’05 and .287-54-137 in ’06. He never hit that many home runs again but in their second championship year of 2007, Ortiz hit only 35 homers with 117RBis but batted .332. A wrist injury slowed him in 2008 and he got off to a terrible start in 2009. In the first 34 games he hit .206 and had no homers in 178 at bats. He was 33 years old by now. Was he beginning to lose it? He eventually broke out of his =slump but hit only .238 with 28 homers.

He’d been critical of PED users but in 2009 it was revealed that he’d tested positive in 2003. “Ortiz held a press conference before a game at Yankee Stadium and denied ever buying or using steroids and suggested the positive test might have been due to his use of supplements and vitamins at the time. When asked which supplements he had been taking, Ortiz said he did not know.” People forgave him for any transgression and it was virtually forgotten, quite a contrast to Barry Bonds, who was disliked and became the symbol of the steroids era.

He also made a strong comeback on the field. He hit 32 homers with 101 RBIs in 2010, then .309-29-96 in 2011. He tore his Achilles tendon in 2012 and only played 90 games but hit .318 with 23 homers. The next year came the Boston Marathon bombings and it was Ortiz who spoke for the Red Sox and gave an uncensored but honest statement: “"This is our () city, and no one is going to dictate our freedom. Stay strong." Big Papi was the symbol of “Boston Strong”. He hit .309-30-103 in 137 games and led the Red Sox to a third championship. He hit .295-17-60 in 82 post season games for his career, including 20 for 44, (.455) in the World Series with 3 homers and 14 RBIs in 14 games.

But he wasn’t done. In 2014 he hit 35 homers with 104 RBIs, then 37 with 108 in 2015. As of this writing he’s hitting .318-33.114 with a league high 45 doubles in 2016. He’s announced his retirement, despite those numbers, telling a bewildered Mike Trout “You don’t have my feet” to explain it. Lifetime he has hit .286 with 536 home runs, (tied with Mickey Mantle), and 1,752 RBIs. Per 162 games he hit 36 homers with 119 RBIs.


Another great hitter who was primarily a DH was Seattle’s EDGAR MARTINEZ. He was not a Dominican. His family was from Puerto Rico but he was born in New York. He was still a third baseman when he won his first batting title with a .343 average in 1992 but became the first DH batting champion with .356 three years later. He batted over .300 eleven times in his career, including over.320 eight times. His lifetime batting average was .312. He wasn’t the slugger that Pujols and Ortiz were but he hit 309 home runs, with a high of 37 in 2000 and 514 doubles with a high of 52, (twice). He retired in 2004.

He was a part-time player his first three of 18 years. He didn’t play in the field after 1995. He played his entire career with the mariners. These things were not helpful in getting him recognition outside of Seattle, where they named a street after him. He’s never gotten more than 43% of the vote in Hall of Fame elections, (75% is needed).

But the New York Yankees know who Edgar Martinez was. In 1995 Martinez hit .571 (12 for 21) against them in the playoffs and was on base 18 times in 5 games, driving in 10 runs and scoring 6. In game four he hit a 3 three run homer to tie a game and a grand slam to break it open. Then in game 5, he hit the game-winning double in the 11th inning. I’ll bet his home town would vote for him.


As good as he was, Martinez never created the excitement of ICHIRO SUZUKI, who came over from Japan. Nintendo, a Japanese company, bought the Mariners in 1992 and so the franchise was a natural entrée into major league baseball for the Japanese star. He turned 27 that year but had been playing with the Orix Blue Waves since the age of 18, for whom he’d hit a cumulative .353 with a high of .385.

Unlike most of the stars of this era, Suzuki, or Ichiro, as everybody called him, was not a slugger, which caused some people to under-rate him. I remember Colin Cowherd making the ridiculous, (and attention grabbing) statement that Suzuki’s presence in the line-up ”was proof that the Mariners don’t have a commitment to winning”. Well, in his first season in Seattle, they won 116 games, breaking the 1998 Yankee’s American League record and tying the 1908 Cubs’ major league record. He was major reason why. He hit .350 with 34 doubles, 8 triples and 8homers and stole 56 bases. He drove in 69 runs, a good total for a lead-off man. More importantly for a lead-off man he scored 127 runs. He also was superb in the field, with a strong and accurate throwing arm. He won the first of 10 straight gold gloves that year and was named both AL MVP and rookie of the year.

Basically, he did everything but hit home runs and did everything else better than most of the home run hitter did it. And he was as consistent as a metronome, hitting over .300 ten years in a row, with a high of .372. He scored over 100 runs eight times. He played over 160 games 8 times and over 150 another 5 times.

He’s still playing at the age of 42, now for the Marlins. His combined numbers for an incredible 25 season career in Japan and the US are a .324 (literally) lifetime batting average with 4,305 hits, (more than Pete Rose), of which 918 were for extra bases and 2,053 runs scored. He’s already in the Japanese Hall of Fame and entrance into Cooperstown seems inevitable as well. Unless Colin Cowherd is doing the voting.


CARLOS DELGADO came north from Puerto Rico to star for the Toronto Blues Jays, (and their Syracuse farm team), and later the New York Mets, which gives him a special place in my heart. He was a big, handsome, proud guy who hit with power and thought with power, too.

Wikipedia: “Delgado was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico to Carlos "Cao" Delgado and Carmen Digna Hérnandez. He grew up in the El Prado section of Aguadilla.There, he attended elementary school alongside his three siblings.[2] Both his father, "Don Cao", and his grandfather, Asdrúbal "Pingolo" Delgado, were well-known figures in the town. Carlos has said that this made him feel "protected", but that it also demanded that he had to behave properly. Carlos attended Agustín Stahl Middle School and José de Diego High School, from which he graduated in 1989. Delgado has expressed his strong feelings of pride in being an Aguadillano, noting everything he holds dear is found in the municipality, and his off-season house is located there. He developed friendships with several of the town's inhabitants, with whom he began playing baseball in the little leagues.”

He broke in to the majors with a bang in 1994, hitting 8 home runs in April. He slumped badly after that and wound up the season in Syracuse, which was allowed to keep him through the end of the season, including the playoffs due to the strike. The (Sky)Chiefs also had him at the beginning of the enxt season. Carlos played a total of 175 games in Syracuse during which he hit .318 with 41 homers and 132RBI. His bat led Syracuse to the finals of the 1994 Governor’s Cup and he was on the last Chiefs team to win a post season game.

He finally stuck in Toronto in 1996 and played for them for the next 9 seasons. After a year with the Marlins, the Mets, who had almost signed him out of high school, finally got his services for the 2006 season and he led their renaissance. From 2006-2008 they had the best team in the National League but couldn’t seem to close the deal, losing to the Cardinals in the 2006 playoffs and being caught by the Phillies in the final games of the season the next two years. But it was hardly Carlos’ fault. He hit 100 home runs in those three years and drove in 316. His average output from the 1996 season through 2008 was .282-35-112. He wasn’t a .300 hitter normally but did reach that mark three times with an surprising high of .344 in 2000. He hit over 40 homers three times with a high of 44 and had 134, 137 and 145 RBIs in those seasons.

In 2009 he became the first player to hit a home run into the Pepsi Porch at Citi Field. “Eight days later on May 18, the Mets announced that Delgado had a bone spur and a torn labrum in his hip, and he would have to undergo surgery.[22] The Mets reported the next day that the surgery was successful and Delgado would be out for approximately ten weeks, which would delay his quest for 500 home runs.” (Wikipedia). He never got there. He was never able to come back that season. “In February 2010, Delgado underwent another hip operation, this time to reconstruct the labrum on his right hip; he also underwent a micro-fracture procedure on his hip socket. Although Delgado had reportedly received interest from Major League clubs (including the Mets and Florida Marlins), he felt pain in his hip and decided to undergo the second surgery to be better prepared for the coming season.” the Red Sox signed him to a minor league contract. But the best he could do for Pawtucket was to hit three singles in 13 at bats. He announced his retirement early the next year, winding up with 473 home runs, a total that would have put him in the Hall of Fame in a different generation.

Delgado was a social activist who protested the use of the island of Vieques in his native Puerto Rico for bomb testing and also the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. “Delgado protested the war by silently staying in the dugout during the playing of "God Bless America" during the seventh inning stretch. Delgado does not make a public show of his beliefs, and even his teammates were not aware of his views until a story was published in July 2004 in the Toronto Star. Delgado was quoted as saying "It's a very terrible thing that happened on September 11. It's (also) a terrible thing that happened in Afghanistan and Iraq, ... I just feel so sad for the families that lost relatives and loved ones in the war. But I think it's the stupidest war ever." The story was the subject of a media frenzy, mostly in New York, where on July 21, 2004, as was anticipated, Delgado was booed by Yankee fans for his passive protest during a game at Yankee Stadium.[36] Delgado had explained that the playing of "God Bless America" had come to be equated with a war in which he didn't believe. In a New York Times interview, Delgado said this is what he believed in, and "It takes a man to stand up for what he believes." (Wikipedia)

That’s how I’ll remember Carlos Delgado- as a man.