Runs and Bases: The 1990's Part 2

[SWC75]

THE COMEBACK

Everyone loves a happy ending and it appeared in the late 1990’s as if baseball had found one for the millennium. The strike was over and we haven’t had one since. It appears that both sides came to their senses and realized that the game was awash in money and that closing down the sport trying to horde it was pointless and unnecessary. Salaries have continued to soar. No check had bounced and no team has gone out of business. Despite heavy competition from other sports, baseball remains a significant part of the American sporting scene. Attendance is higher than it ever was before. New talent flows into the game every year. Despite fears that free agency would allow richer clubs to dominate the sport, the game has never been more balanced. Ironically the late 90’s featured the closest thing to a dynasty we’ve had in the free agency era: the Yankees won three straight World Series and four in five years from 1996-2000. But the only other back to back champions of the free agency era were the 1977-78 Yankees and the 1992-93 Blue Jays. Twenty of baseball’s 30 teams have won championships since free agency, 12 since the end of the strike.

But baseball fans were initially reluctant to come back, some swearing they would never attend or even watch another game. To bring them back, baseball used a combination of sentimentality and excitement.


THE STREAK

The most respected player in the game was Cal Ripken Jr. He was a baseball lifer, son of Orioles coach Cal Sr. and teammates with his brother Billy Ripken. He was a great player, winning a Rookie of the Year award and two MVPs as well as a World Series Ring. He appearing in an amazing 19 All-Star games in his career. He had over 3,000 hits and 400 home runs and won two Gold Gloves. (He might have won more but at 6-4 200 he didn’t fit people’s image of a shortstop). It helped that he went against the modern trend and played his entire career with one team. And, no it didn’t hurt that he was white.

But his great claim to fame was that, like a good American worker, he showed up for work every day. He started an epic consecutive games streak early in his career, which for a long time was even a consecutive INNING streak,( 8,243 from 1982-1987), and was approaching the legendary number of 2,130 consecutive games that Lou Gehrig had played in before he came down with ALS. Actually, Gehrig’s streak had already been topped by Japanese player Sachio Kinugasa, in 1987, (he wound up with 2,215 consecutive games played), but few people in this country knew or cared about that.

As Ripken approached the Gehrig record, (it had been determined that his participation in the strike didn’t end his streak, as no games were played during the strike and thus he didn’t miss any games), people started to suggest that maybe he shouldn’t break the record, since Gehrig’s streak was broken by illness. I remember Larry King suggesting with a sentimental smile that Ripken should stop at 2,129 to honor Gehrig. What he was missing is that these streaks begin not because the player decides to set a record: they begin because a player decides he has to be there for his team, even if he was tired, hurt or not feeling well. To skip a game simply to maintain a record would contradict that ethic and not do honor to either Ripken or Gehrig.

All objections were forgotten in a nationally televised game full of all-star tributes to Cal that gave America the warm and fuzzy feeling the game needed to get them thinking favorably about baseball again:

 

[SWC75]

THE GREAT RACE

Then came the excitement. The home run pace didn’t slacked from 1994, although record-breaking was again postponed as the strike bled into the 1995 season. Still, Albert Belle became the 12th player to hit 50 home runs in a season with exactly that number. He did it in 143 games, which over 162 games would come to 57 home runs. But Mark McGwire emerged from a long stretch of injuries that had held him back to hit 39 homers in only 104 games, a 61 homer pace. He didn’t so much get better in the late 90’s as he simply became healthier, although he did say that getting the chance to observe the game and other hitters during the years when he couldn’t play much, (27 games in 1993, 47 the next year), helped him. Jay Buhner hit 40 homers in 126 games, a 51 homer rate. Juan Gonzalez hit 27 in 90 games, a 49 homer rate. Mike Piazza had the highest rate the National League with 32 in 112 games, (46).

1996 was a full season and McGwire celebrated by hitting 52 home runs in 130 games, (a rate of 65 per 162 games, pointing toward what would happen in a couple of years). Brady Anderson improbably rose from 16 home runs in 143 games in 1995, (18 per 162) to 50 in 149 games, (54 per 162). He’d never hit more than 21 and fell the next year to 18 in 151 games (19 per 162). People are still trying to figure out what happened there. Ken Griffey Jr. hit 49 homers in 140 games, (57 per 162). Juan Gonzalez hit 47 in 134 games (also 57). Belle hit 48 in 158 games (49). Andres Galarraga led the NL with 47 in 159 games but a new force was on the horizon: Sammy Sosa, who hit 40 in 124 games (52 per 162).

To this point, Roger Maris’ home run record had lasted 36 years and nobody had actually hit more than 52 home runs in that time, so it had never been seriously challenged. Batters would get hot early and be ahead of Maris’ pace, (Roger had been asked to try to hit for a better average in 1961 and didn’t have a home run in the first 11 games- then they told him to go back to hitting home runs), but they would always fade and wind up well short. But in 1997, Mark McGwire got off on a roll that made people wonder if Maris’ record would finally go down. He hit 11 home runs in April and another 8 in May, 10 more in June and two more before the All-Star break for a total of 31. Then he hit three more in two days, 7/15-16 to get to 34.

But there were rumors that the Athletics were trying to unload his contract. Perhaps because of that, he didn’t hit another the rest of the month. He was finally traded on July 31st to the St. Louis Cardinals, where his old manager Tony LaRussa was now employed. #35 didn’t come until August 8th. He hit 24 homers in the final seven weeks of the season. He was ninth in the American league with 34 home runs and ninth in the National League with 24 home runs but #1 in the majors with 58 home runs in 156 games (60 over 162 games). McGwire hadn’t yet caught Maris but if he’d somehow been able to play 162 games a year, he would have had consecutive years of 61, 65 and 60 and it seemed inevitable that he would catch Maris.

But others were also knocking on the door. Sammy Sosa wasn’t one of them: he did play 162 games but could muster a measly 36 home runs. But Ken Griffey Jr. belted 56 in 157 games, (58 per 162). Juan Gone hit 42 in 133 (51). Larry Walker hit 49 in 153 games ((52) while batting a whopping .366.

1998 was the year. Griffey again hit 56 home runs, this time in 161 games. Albert Belle hit 49 in 163 games, (I’ve never understood how or why they can count stats in partial game: The White Sox had an 80-82 record but Belle played 163 games? ). Jose Canseco hit 46 in 151 games (49 per 162), Juan Gone had 45 in 154 games (47). A new name, Manny Ramirez, had replaced Belle in Cleveland. He hit 45 in 150 games (49). Another, Greg Vaughn hit 50 in 158 games for the Padres, (51). Nobody cared. All eyes were on McGwire.

Mark again hit 11 home runs in April. Then he had a monstrous May with 16 homers to bring him to 27. He “cooled off” to 10 in June but still had an amazing 37 homers halfway through the season. But something even more amazing had happened. Sammy Sosa re-emerged in a very big way. Sammy had hit 6 homers in April and 7 more in May and was 14 short of McGwire as the month of June began. But in June, he “busted out all over” to hit a record 20 home runs in one month. He hit two on June 1st, one on the third, One each from the 5th to the 8th, , one on the 13th, three on the 15th, one on the 17th, two on the 19th, two more on the 20th and one on the 21st, 24th, 25th and 30th. That gave Sammy 33 home runs, just 3 short of “Big Mac”.

Neither McGwire or Sosa hit another prior to the All-Star break. Baseball geared up for an incredible race in the second half of the season. I think most people wanted McGwire to win it, possibly because he was white and American while Sosa was black and from the Dominican Republic but more likely because McGwire had been knocking on the door for the last several years while Sosa seemed an interloper. Also the much larger McGwire was hitting some of the longest home runs seen since heyday of Ruth and Mantle. Sosa was more or a line-drive hitter and his shots were not as majestic, although they got there fast. McGwire seemed like Paul Bunyan, or maybe John Henry:

Paul Bunyan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Henry (folklore) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


McGwire was more of a folk hero. Sosa was more the “steam-powered jackhammer”. But any thought of rooting for one guy and against the other fell away when people saw Sammy’s big smile and good nature and the fact that McGwire seemed to like him as much as everyone else did. Here is a blow by blow of their daily rivalry, documented on the nightly news, not just sports reports and, in the late going by constant TV cut-ins to check their at bats. Here is, literally a blow by blow of what we saw that summer, 18 years ago.

7/9 Sosa hits #34
7/10 Sosa hits #35.
7/11 McGwire hits #38
7/12 McGwire hits #39 and #40
7/17 Sosa hits #36 but McGwire hits #41 and #42
7/20 McGwire hits #43
7/22 Sosa hits #37
7/26 Sosa hits #38 but McGwire hits #44.
7/27 Sosa hits #39 and #40
7/28 Sosa hits #41 but McGwire hits #45
7/31 Sosa hits #42
8/5 Sosa hits #43
8/8 Sosa hits #44 but McGwire hits #46 – in the same game
8/10 Sosa hits #45 and #46 to catch McGwire
8/11 McGwire takes the lead again with #47
8/16 Sosa ties it up again with #47
8/19 In Chicago, Sosa took the lead with a 5th inning home run, (#48) but McGwire took it back with homers in the 8th and 10th innings to tie and then win the game, 8-6. He now had 49 home runs.
8/20 In New York. McGwire hit #50 and #51 off the Mets.
8/21 Sosa hit #49
8/22 McGwire hit #52
8/23 Sosa hit #50 and #51 but McGwire hit #53
8/26 Sosa hit #52 but McGwire hit #54
8/28 Sosa hit #53
8/30 Sosa hit #54 but McGwire hit #55
8/31 Sosa tied it again with #55
9/1 McGwire hit #56 and #57
9/2 Sosa hit #56 but McGwire hit #58 and #59
9/4 Sosa hit #57
9/5 Sosa hit #58 but McGwire hit #60

It was obvious by now that Maris’ record was finally going down after 37 years. And the Cubs were scheduled for a series in St. Louis. I remember the Labor Day storm of 1998 hit and my yard was full of downed tree limbs. I had to spend a weekend with a saw and axe and some clippers trying to tame that jungle but I had a radio and earphones on and every time McGwire or Sosa came to the plate, I rushed inside to see what would happen. I even kept the TV on so I wouldn’t have to fumble with the remote when their turn came. On 9/7, McGwire hit a home run in the first inning to tie Maris’ record. Neither player could add to their total in the remainder of that game, although they each got an additional hit. McGwire had made contact with the Maris family and they were his guests for these games. (Roger had, of course, finished his career in St. Louis). #61 had gone a McGwiresque 430 feet. I, like everyone else, hoped #62 would be something special- maybe a majestic 500 footer. It turned out to be his shortest home run of the season but nobody cared:


That was September 8, 1998, one of those days you never forget. I remember the feeling it game me, a feeling I wouldn’t have again until American Pharoah won the Triple Crown in 2015- also after 37 years. I’d not just seen a great achievement- I’d seen history. I was not quite 8 years old and not yet a baseball fan when Roger Maris hit his 61st home run in 1961. For all intents, this was a record that had been in place all my life. I felt like I was living in a new world. The sight of all the downed limbs and the people working to clear them seemed symbolic.

But the great race wasn’t over:
9/11 Sosa hits #59
9/12 Sosa hits #60
9/13 Sosa hits #61 and #62 to tie McGwire again.
9/15 McGwire again takes the lead with #63
9/16 Sosa ties it up again with #63.
9/18 McGwire takes the lead back with #64
9/20 and he extends it with #65.
9/23 Sosa ties it up again with #64 and #65
9/25 Sosa takes the lead for a few minutes with #66 in the top of the fourth in Houston but McGwire ties it up again in the bottom of the fifth in S. Louis. Nobody knew it but Sammy was finally done. Big Mac wasn’t.
9/26 Closing it out with a flourish, McGwire hits #67 and #68…
9/27 and #69 and #70.

Big Mac hits 70th home run

Neither baseball nor any other sport had ever seen anything like it and they’ve never seen anything like it since. It’s hard to image how any other sport could produce such a day-to-day spectacle.

Buck O’Neill, in Ken Burns 1994 documentary “Baseball” said ““When Babe Ruth hit the ball, it had a distinct sound. I had never heard that sound before, and the next time I heard it, I’m in Washington in the clubhouse and I raced out, it was Josh hitting the ball. The next time I heard it was right here in Kansas City. I was coming out of the Stadium Club, and I heard it again. Who was hitting that ball? Bo Jackson.”

The Ultimate Ball Field Sound

In 1998, he was asked if he heard that same sound when Mark McGwire hit the ball. He said he did not.

 

[SWC75]

A DEFINITION OF EXCELLENCE

Balance is a fine thing but a sport needs a definition of excellence. People aren’t just curious about what will happen. They want to marvel at it. People might resent a dynasty’s success but it gives them something to focus on: to beat the best. A great season is wonderful but people respect it more if you repeat it. If somebody new wins every year, that’s nice but it seems to send a message that a sport is mired in mediocrity, (even if others might see it as elevated by competiveness). Baseball emerged from this apparent mediocrity in the late 90’s. After having no repeat champions for twenty years, we had a team with three straight titles- and four in five years.

And that team was baseball’s traditional powerhouse, the New York Yankees. The Yankees had themselves been wandering through the woods. They’d spent over a decade out of the playoffs from 1982-1993. There were no playoffs in 1994 due to the strike but the Yankees had the best record in the American League. George Steinbrenner had been suspended from running the team for paying a gambler to dig up dirt on Dave Winfield. He was reinstated in 1993 but his baseball people had been given an opportunity to build a team through the minor leagues and Steinbrenner, even after he returned, didn’t interfere with their work as much as he had previously and the result was one of the great teams in baseball history.

That team was initially famous for being a team without stars, although, of course, as time passed and wins and numbers built up we have come to look at them as a star- studded team. What was meant at the time was that the Yankees didn’t have anyone hitting 50-60-70 home runs. What they did have was a line-up of 9 straight batters that could hurt you, 9 guys who could field their positon, guys on the bench who could start for other teams, a solid pitching rotation and the best closer of all time in the bullpen. This was always the template for Yankee greatness. You’d think that the Hall of Fame would be full of guys who played all or most of their career with the Yankees but there aren’t really that many, considering all their success. It starts with Ruth who was later joined by Gehrig, Lazzeri and Combs and the pitchers Hoyt and Pennock. Then in the 30’s came Dickey and DiMaggio and the pitchers Gomez and Ruffing. In the 50’s it was Mantle, Berra, Ford and Rizzuto. In the 70’s they had Jackson, who is ateelast as famous for his tenure with the A’s and Gossage in the bullpen. The Yankees never had entire line-ups of Hall of Famers. What they could do was fill out a 25 man roster better than anybody else.

It’s interesting to contrast the Yankees with the team they lost to in the 1995 playoffs: the Seattle Mariners, a team loaded with stars. They had the greatest talent in the game, Ken Griffey Jr. Jay Buhner, a guy who hit 40+ home runs three years in a row, the unrelated but similarly productive Edgar Martinez, who hit .312 lifetime with over 300 homers and Tino Martinez, who the next year replaced Don Mattingly with the Yankees and put up Mattingly-like numbers, a good-looking rookie named Alex Rodriguez and Hall-of-Famer Randy Johnson on the mound, going 18-2. Everybody thought THIS would be the dynasty that dominated baseball in the coming years. But all those stars couldn’t match a team that could put an above average player at every positon. That’s the way of baseball: Why weren’t the Cubs a dynasty with Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Ferguson Jenkins? They were arguably as good a quartet as any baseball team has had. But the 25 man roster wasn’t good enough to carry them to a championship. Neither was the Mariners’.

The Yankees also had great chemistry, probably because so many of their key players came up through the minor leagues together: Jeter, Williams, Posada, Pettie, Rivera. You can’t get that if you constantly trade prospects for veteran players. They also did something the old Yankees were famous for: recycling other team’s stars late in their careers as role-players: Wade Boggs, Tony Fernandez, Danny Tartabull, Ruben Sierra, David Justice, Jose Canseco and, in a touch that must have pleased Steinbrenner, ex-Mets Dwight Gooden, David Cone and Darryl Strawberry . I was asked to compare the 1998 Yankees to the 1q986 Mets and jokingly replied “The 1998 Yankees ARE the 1986 Mets”. They weren’t of course: unlike the Mets, they sustained excellence.

The Yankees were a very efficient and opportunistic team. Every time my Mets played them I knew that every mistake the Mets made would be taken advantage of and that the Yankees would give the Mets nothing to take advantage of. Finally, the Yankees of the late 90’s won because they knew they were going to win. If things didn’t go their way, that was temporary: an anomaly. If they lost they woke up the next day knowing that they were going to win that day’s game. They were the Yankees and you weren’t. It was an arrogant attitude that caused other teams to resent them but it was a big reason they won so many games and championships and you had to admire that. (I saw the same quality in last year’s Royals: let’s see if they can sustain it.) They key to life isn’t so much avoiding adversity: it’s how you react to it. That’s also the key to baseball. The 1998 Yankees, maybe the best team ever, lost 50 times, as many as Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne, who retired that year, had lost in 25 years. But they never let any of those defeats erode their confidence that the next game was theirs. That’s a great team.

After not getting a chance to win a championship in 1994 due to the strike and being beaten by the Mariners in 1995, the Yankees went 92-70 in 1996 and won the AL East. They then beat the Rangers 3-1 and the Orioles 4-1 before facing the defending champion Braves in the World Series. People had been waiting for the Braves dynasty to begin because they had the best pitching staff in years with Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Steve Avery, (who at one time was regarded as their ace), and Mark Wohlers, who had a 100MPH fastball, 100 strikeouts in 77 innings and 39 saves in the bullpen. They also had the Jones boys: dazzling center fielder Andrew Jones and outstanding third baseman Chipper Jones As well as Fred McGriff at first, Javier Lopez catching, and Ryan Klesko, Marquis Grissom and Jermaine Dye in the outfield. The Braves had swept the Dodgers 3-0 and beaten the Cardinals 4-3 in a series where they had won the last three games by a total score of 32-1. The Braves picked up where they had left off against the Yankees, winning the first two games 12-1 and 4-0. That’s an absurd 48-2 run against the top teams in the game! After the Yankees finally broke through with a 5-2 win in game 3, the Braves took a 6-0 lead in the fourth game. They seemed unstoppable.

But momentum is a strange thing. It can change suddenly and not turn back. The Yankees rallied for three runs in the 6th, two of them coming on an error by Dye. Then Bobby Cox elected to bring in Wohlers in the 8th for a two inning save that would give the Braves a 3-1 lead. A dribbler that wouldn’t go foul, a line drive single and a fielder’s choice brought up catcher Jim Leyritz, who hit a Wohlers slider over the left field fence to tie the game. The Yankees never looked back. They won that game 8-6 in 10 innings, the next one 1-0 behind Andy Petitte over Smoltz and the title game 3-2, back in Yankee Stadium, Jimmy Key beating Greg Maddux. I remember seeing Wade Boggs riding around the big ballpark of a police horse, imagining what that sight must have looked like to Red Sox fans. A while plater, at the ESPYs, I was amazed to see the Yankees voted “team of the year” in sports over the 72-10 Chicago Bulls. Two years later, they became what the Bulls were.

In 1997, they actually had a better record than in 1997, 96-66 but they lost the “division series” 2-3 to the Indians. They got off to a lousy start the next year, They started with two games in Anaheim, which they lost by a total of 3-14. They then traveled to Oakland, where they lost again 3-7. They final broke through with their first win, 9-7 in ten innings and moved on to Seattle, where they got beat 0-8. They stood at 1-4 and had been outscored 15-35. I remember hearing speculation about just when George Steinbrenner, who loved to fire coaches, would fire Joe Torre.

Then the Yankees:
- Won the last two games of that series, 13-7 and 4-3 to win that series
- Came home to sweep a three game series form the A’s
- Won a single game against Anaheim.
- Beat the Tigers twice in Detroit to extend their winning streak to 8 before losing the finale of a three game series.
- Swept a 3 game series in Toronto.
- Swept a two game series from the Tigers back home.
- Split a 2 game series from the Blue Jays.
- Swept a two game series form the Mariners.
- Swept a three game series in Kansans City.
- Swept a 2 game series in Texas
- Won 2 of 3 in Minnesota.
- Beat the Royals in a single game at home.
- Split a two game series with the Rangers.
- Won 2 of 3 from the Twins
- Swept the Orioles in 3 games.
- Won 2 of 3 in Boston.
- Beat the White Sox 2 of 3 in Chicago.
- Split 4 games with the Red Sox at home.
- Swept two from the White Sox at home.
- Swept two from the Devil Rays.
- Swept the Marlins in three games
- Won 2 of 3 in Montreal.
- Beat Cleveland in a single game at home.
- Lost two of 3 in Baltimore. To this point they had won or tied a major league record 23 consecutive series, winning 46 of 56 games.
- They went through an 8-6 stretch. Then they won 10 games in a row to go to 65-20. They had a 3-5 stretch, won 6 of 7, lost, won three in a row, lost, won three in a row, lost, then won 9 in a row to go 60 games over .500 at 89-29. Then they lost and won three in a row. It’s hard to get going full blast when you’ve blown away the competition and a stretch of genuine mediocrity followed in which the Bronx Bombers lost 18 of 33 games. Then gearing up for the playoffs, they closed the regular season with seven straight wins to finish with a 114-48 record, most wins since the 1906 Cubs had gone 116-36. Joe Torre was not fired.

In the post season, they did something the 06 Cubs could not do- and they did it three times. They beat the Texas Rangers in the Division Series, 3-0. Then they met the team that had eliminated them the year before, the Cleveland Indians. The Yankees won the opener. 7-2 but lost the next two games, 1-4 and 1-6. Were the Yankees on the ropes? No, they won the last three games of the series and then swept the surprising San Diego Padres in the World Series to finish at 11-2 in the post season and 125-50 overall, the best record anybody has ever had.
Then they did it again. Well, not quite. In 1999 they only went 98-64 in the regular season but again swept through the playoffs, this time going 11-1 and sweeping the once-intimidating Braves in the World Series. The wheels seemed to have come off late in the 2000 season; On September 13 they were 84-59 and had a 9 game lead in the AL East. They then lost 14 of their last 18 regular season games, including by scores of 1-11, 4-15, 3-16, 4-15, and consecutive games of 1-11, 1-12, 2-13 and 1-9. Had they forgotten how to play baseball? Would Torre be fired?

No. The Yankees put it back together for the playoffs. They beat the Athletics 3-2 and the Mariners 4-2 before disposing of my Mets 4-1 to win their third straight World Series, only the fourth time that had been done in baseball history. The Yankees won four straight from 1936-39 and five straight from 1949-53 but those teams only had one post season series to win. The Athletics won three straight from 1972-75 and had two post season series to win each year for a total of 6. The 1998-2000 Yankees had to win nine post season series to win their championships, as many as the 1936-39 and 1949-53 Yankees combined.

George Steinbrenner went back to his old habit of making headlines with major free agent signings, such as Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez, that made their payroll top-heavy, thinned out the roster and also aged it. The Yankees kept pounding out the wins, winning a total of 9 straight AL East titles, hitting the hundred win mark in 2002, 2003 and 2004. They made it back to the World Series in 2001 and 2003 but were no longer invincible. They seemed to finally slipping when they went 89-73 and finished 3rd in2008 but then came roaring back to go 103-59 and win their 27th World Series in 2009. They continued to win at least 95 games a year through 2012. From 1996-2012 the Yankees averaged 97 wins a year, won 13 divisional titles, made the playoffs in every year but one and won 5 World Series.

But by then, baseball had returned to its trend of the free agency era: different winners each year, (15 years in a row as of this writing. We lack that definition of excellence, the team that everybody wants to beat. Maybe we can get along without it.

 

[SWC75]

RUNS AND BASES

1995 National League

Runs Produced
Dante Bichette COL 190
Barry Bonds SF 180
Craig Biggio HOU 178
Mark Grace CHI 173
Sammy Sosa CHI 169
Andres Galarraga COL 164
Tony Gwynn SD 163
Reggie Sanders CIN 162
Larry Walker COL 161
Eric Karros LA 156

Bases Produced
Barry Bonds SF 443
Dante Bichette COL 394
Reggie Sanders CIN 385
Craig Biggio HOU 380
Sammy Sosa CHI 374
Larry Walker COL 365
Eric Karros LA 360
Barry Larkin CIN 356
Mark Grace CHI 356
Ken Caminiti SD 351

1995 American League

Runs Produced
Edgar Martinez SEA 205
Albert Belle CLE 197
Jim Edmunds CAL 194
Mo Vaughn BOS 185
John Valentin BOS 183
Tim Salmon CAL 182
Frank Thomas CHI 173
Tino Martinez SEA 172
Jay Buhner SEA 167
Carlos Baerga CLE 162

Bases Produced
Albert Belle CLE 455
Edgar Martinez SEA 441
Frank Thomas CHI 438
Tim Salmon CAL 415
Mo Vaughn BOS 395
Rafael Palmiero BAL 388
Chuck Knoblauch MIN 386
John Valentin BOS 378
Tony Phillips CAL 367
Brady Anderson BAL 359

1996 National League

Runs Produced
Ellis Burks, COL 230
Dante Bichette COL 224
Andres Galarraga COL 222
Barry Bonds SF 209
Jeff Bagwell HOU 200
Ken Caminiti SD 199
Gary Sheffield FLA 196
Bernard Gilkey NY 195
Chipper Jones ATL 194
Steve Finley SD 191

Bases Produced
Barry Bonds SF 509
Ellis Burks COL 485
Gary Sheffield FLA 482
Jeff Bagwell HOU 480
Andres Galarraga COL 434
Ken Caminiti SD 428
Steve Finley SD 426
Barry Larkin CIN 425
Chipper Jones ATL 418
Dante Bichette COL 412

1996 American League

Runs Produced
Alex Rodriguez SEA 228
Albert Belle CLE 224
Mo Vaughn BOS 217
Ken Griffey Jr. SEA 216
Rafael Palmiero BAL 213
Frank Thomas CHI 204
Paul Molitor MIN 203
Jay Buhner SEA 201
Jim Thome CLE 200
Edgar Martinez SEA 198

Bases Produced
Albert Belle CLE 485
Mo Vaughn BOS 467
Brady Anderson BAL 466
Alex Rodriguez SEA 453
Rafael Palmiero BAL 445
Frank Thomas CHI 440
Ken Griffey Jr. SEA 436
Jim Thome CLE 434
Mark McGwire OAK 425
Edgar Martinez SEA 423

1997 National League

Runs Produced
Larry Walker COL 224
Andres Galarraga COL 219
Craig Biggio HOU 205
Jeff Bagwell HOU 201
Tony Gwynn SD 199
Chipper Jones ATL 190
Mike Piazza LA 188
Barry Bonds SF 184
Jeff Kent SF 182
Moises Alou FLA 180

Bases Produced
Larry Walker COL 520
Jeff Bagwell HOU 493
Barry Bonds SF 493
Craig Biggio HOU 441
Mike Piazza LA 429
Andres Galarraga COL 420
Raoul Mondesi LA 409
Ray Lankford STL 388
Chipper Jones ATL 382
Vinnie Castilla COL 381

1997 American League

Runs Produced
Ken Griffey Jr. SEA 216
Frank Thomas CHI 200
Tino Martinez NY 193
Tim Salmon CAL 191
Nomar Garciaparra BOS 190
Tony Clark DET 190
Bernie Williams NY 186
Paul O’Neill NY 185
Edgar Martinez SEA 184
Juan Gonzalez TEX 176

Bases Produced
Ken Griffey Jr. SEA 484
Frank Thomas CHI 434
Nomar Garciaparra BOS 422
Edgar Martinez SEA 421
Tino Martinez SEA 421
Rusty Greer TEX 411
Jim Thome CLE 408
Tim Salmon CAL 405
Chuck Knoblach MIN 397
Jay Buhner NY 392

1998 National League

Runs Produced
Sammy Sosa, CHI 226
Mark McGwire STL 207
Vinnie Castilla COL 206
Barry Bonds SF 205
Jeff Bagwell HOU 201
Scott Rolen PHI 199
Derek Bell HOU 197
Dante Bichette COL 197
Chipper Jones ATL 196
Jeff Kent SF 191

Bases Produced
Mark McGwire STL 546
Sammy Sosa BAL 507
Barry Bonds SF 494
Chipper Jones ATL 441
Craig Biggio HOU 439
Moises Alou HOU 435
Greg Vaughn SD 432
Jeff Bagwell HOU 429
Scott Rolen PHI 427
Vinnie Castilla COL 425

1998 American League

Runs Produced
Juan Gonzalez TEX 222
Albert Belle CLE 216
Ken Griffey Jr SEA 210
Manny Ramirez CLE 208
Alex Rodriguez SEA 205
Rusty Greer TEX 199
Nomar Garciaparra BOS 198
Derek Jeter NY 192
Frank Thomas CHI 189
Paul O’Neill NY 187

Bases Produced
Albert Belle CLE 486
Ken Griffey Jr. SEA 483
Alex Rodriguez SEA 475
Rafael Palmiero BAL 440
Juan Gonzalez TEX 430
Manny Ramirez CLE 423
Mo Vaughn BOS 421
Shaun Green TOR 406
Jose Offerman KC 400
Nomar Garciaparra BOS 398

1999 National League

Runs Produced
Jeff Bagwell HOU 227
Jay Bell ARZ 206
Matt Williams ARZ 205
Edgardo Alfonso NY 204
Dante Bichette COL 203
Mark McGwire STL 200
Luis Gonzalez ARZ 197
Brian Jordan ATL 192
Todd Helton COL 192
Sammy Sosa CHI 192

Bases Produced
Jeff Bagwell HOU 511
Chipper Jones ATL 510
Mark McGwire STL 496
Sammy Sosa CHI 482
Bobby Abreu PHI 436
Vladimir Guerrero MON 435
Brian Giles PIT 421
Jay Bell ARZ 417
Todd Helton COL 414
Luis Gonzalez ARZ 412

1999 American League

Runs Produced
Manny Ramirez CLE 252
Roberto Alomar CLE 234
Shawn Green TOR 215
Derek Jeter NY 212
Ken Griffey Jr. SEA 209
Bernie Williams NY 206
Jason Giambi OAK 205
Juan Gonzalez TEX 203
Carlos Delgado TOR 203
Carlos Beltran KC 198

Bases Produced
Ken Griffey Jr. SEA 464
Derek Jeter NY 456
Rafael Palmiero TEX 455
Albert Belle CLE 448
Shawn Green TOR 447
Manny Ramirez CLE 444
Roberto Alomar CLE 436
Bernie Williams NY 426
Jason Giambi OAK 424
Carlos Delgado TOR 414

Cumulative Run Production Ranking Top 25
(10 points for first in a league, 9 for second, 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
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
Sherry Magee (1904-19) 68

Comment: There was no movement in the top 25. The last player to enter it was Mike Schmidt, who retired a decade before this. But Barry Bonds is at 67 points and he’s far from done so expect him to crash it the next time around. The next highest still active player is Frank Thomas at 53 points. Mark McGwire? A piker at 20 points and he’d just about done. Sammy Sosa? 17 points but with several strong years left. Still, he’s unlikely to make up 51 points and crack the top 25. And when Barry is done Jimmie Foxx with 72 points would be the one on the bubble.

Cumulative Base Production Rankings
(same)

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

Barry Bonds(1986-2007) 92
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

Comments: Barry Bonds has crashed the party with 92 points. Ken Griffey Jr. is the closest active player with 58 points. Frank Thomas has 51. Mark McGwire has 38 points and Sammy Sosa 22. But the real base production star of the late 90’s was Albert Belle with 43 points.

 

[SWC75]

THE PLAYERS

MARK MCGWIRE and SAMMY SOSA are forever linked together.

Both were accused of using steroids with considerable evidence, especially on McGwire’s side. Both denied it, at least initially.

McGwire admitted using Andro (Androstenedione), an over the counter supplement not yet banned by baseball at the time, (1998), although it had been banned by the IOC and the NFL. It was later reclassified as an anabolic steroid in 2004 and banned by baseball at that time. In 2005 Jose Canseco said, in his book, “Juiced” that he began injecting McGwire with steroids back in the 1980’s. Mark declined to answer questions at the Senate hearing in 2005.

“On January 11, 2010, McGwire admitted to using steroids on and off for a decade and said, "I wish I had never touched steroids. It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era."[30] He admitted using them in the 1989/90 offseason and then after he was injured in 1993. He admitted using them on occasion throughout the 1990s, including during the 1998 season. McGwire said that he used steroids to recover from injuries…According to McGwire, he took steroids for health reasons rather than to improve performance; however, a drug dealer who claimed to have provided steroids to McGwire asserted that his use was to improve his size and strength, rather than to just maintain his health.” (Wikipedia)

In 2009 the New York Times reported that Sosa was on a list of players who tested positive for steroids in 2003. They gave no source. Sosa had told Congress in 2005 "To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs. I have never injected myself or had anyone inject me with anything. I have not broken the laws of the United States or the laws of the Dominican Republic. I have been tested as recently as 2004, and I am clean." He had said he’s waiting patiently to get into the Hall of Fame. He may have to wait a while. He’s never gotten more than 12.5% of the vote.

Mark McGwire has always been a big, strong guy. He just got bigger and stronger. Sammy Sosa, (like Barry Bonds), was not skinny but not bulky either. That certainly changed. Here they are as rookies:

http://www.djshouseofcards-comics.com/images/baseball_cardx/McGwire580.jpeg

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2011/0709/chi_sosa_07_340.jpg

Here they near the end of their careers:

http://cr4.globalspec.com/PostImages/201112/mcqwire_675F8DF3-B8A9-D454-D0E9FACDE76DA9BE.jpg

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2009/0617/mlb_g_sosa1_200.jpg

Baseball Reference.com is a little strange. It gives two weights for some players. It says Sammy Sosa was 6-0 165 on his main player page but on his bullpen page it lists him as 6-0 220. I suspect the first is his weight as a rookie and the latter at the end of his career. Mark McGwire is listed as 6-5 215 on his player page and 6-5 225 on his bullpen page. I remember sportscasters describing him at the height of his career as being the size of an NFL lineman, which would be a good deal more than 225.

So they got bigger and stronger and hit more home runs. But let’s look at their numbers to see if they might tell us anything else. Here are Sosa’s walks per plate appearance, (minus intentional walks on both sides of the equation- I’m trying to measure how selective the batter is being), his strikeouts per plate appearance and the percentage of his hits that were home runs for each year of his career:
(All stats are from Baseball Reference.com)

Here are the numbers for Sammy Sosa:
1989 4.5% walks 23.4% strikeouts 8.5% home runs
1990 5.0% walks 26.1% strikeouts 12.1% home runs
1991 3.6% walks 29.2% strikeouts 15.6% home runs
1992 6.2% walks 21.7% strikeouts 11.7% home runs
1993 5.0% walks 21.3% strikeouts 21.2% home runs
1994 5.3% walks 20.1% strikeouts 19.5% home runs
1995 7.6% walks 21.7% strikeouts 23.8% home runs
1996 5.2% walks 25.2% strikeouts 29.4% home runs
1997 5.3% walks 25.4% strikeouts 22.4% home runs
1998 8.3% walks 24.2% strikeouts 33.3% home runs
1999 9.9% walks 24.3% strikeouts 35.0% home runs
2000 10.4% walks 24.5% strikeouts 25.9% home runs
2001 11.7% walks 22.7% strikeouts 33.9% home runs
2002 13.5% walks 22.1% strikeouts 30.6% home runs
2003 9.1% walks 24.7% strikeouts 27.8% home runs
2004 9.7% walks 24.9% strikeouts 28.9% home runs
2005 8.6% walks 20.0% strikeouts 16.7% home runs
2006 Did not play
2007 6.9% walks 24.8% strikeouts 20.2% home runs

Sammy’s home run percentage nearly doubled in 1993 and had a jump in 1996, (he had no particular jump in 1994, when everybody else did). But his great years were 1998-2002, which also featured a significant increase in walk percentage. He was becoming stronger but he was also becoming more selective, which means he was swinging at pitches more in his wheel house. However his strikeouts remained very high, although they did go down a bit. I’m guess that’s due a refusal to “give in to the pitcher” with two strikes by choking up on the bat and protecting the plate. He saw every pitch as a potential home run. Even considering his rather obvious use of steroids, his feat of hitting over 60 home runs three times and 292 of them in five seasons is remarkable. A lot of guys have taken steroids but they haven’t done that. He also went from a .257 lifetime hitter through 1997 to hitting .306 through those five seasons, so he was hitting the ball cleanly more often. He became a stronger hitter, but also a better one.

Here are the same numbers for Mark McGwire:
1986 6.9% walks 31.0% strikeouts 30.0% home runs
1987 10.0% walks 20.6% strikeouts 30.4% home runs
1988 11.4% walks 18.5% strikeouts 22.4% home runs
1989 13.4% walks 16.2% strikeouts 29.2% home runs
1990 15.8% walks 18.1% strikeouts 31.7% home runs
1991 15.5% walks 19.9% strikeouts 22.7% home runs
1992 14.0% walks 18.8% strikeouts 33.6% home runs
1993 15.7% walks 18.6% strikeouts 32.1% home runs
1994 21.5% walks 23.3% strikeouts 26.4% home runs
1995 19.9% walks 17.2% strikeouts 44.8% home runs
1996 18.8% walks 18.0% strikeouts 39.3% home runs
1997 13.3% walks 22.3% strikeouts 39.2% home runs
1998 20.5% walks 23.7% strikeouts 46.1% home runs
1999 17.5% walks 22.0% strikeouts 44.8% home runs
2000 20.7% walks 21.3% strikeouts 44.4% home runs
2001 14.7% walks 31.9% strikeouts 51.8% home runs

Mark McGwire was an historical great home run hitter from the time he showed up: in fact, he was as great as Sosa in Sammy’s prime from the very beginning. His big problem was staying healthy. Foot injuries limited him to a total of 74 games in 1993 and 1994). He went deep in the count but was more selective than Sosa ever was and thus walked more and stuck out less than Sammy, (although he did a lot of both). 1994 looks like he was experimenting with his approach, going even deeper into the count but initially hitting fewer home runs. But his home run percentage soared in 1995 and remained amazingly high the rest of his career. Bill Jenkinson, in “Baseball’s Ultimate Power” says that Mark’s first home run in 1987 went 450 feet but he didn’t hit one significantly longer than until 1995.”While most sluggers achieve their optimum distance in their mid twenties, Mark McGwire became the first power hitter in the baseball history to do that after age 30.” He hit six 450 foot+ homers in 1995 with a high of 467, he had five of 470+ in 1996, with a high of 488. He had his first 500 footer in 1997 off Randy Johnson in Seattle. It was initially measured at 538 feet but Jenkinson says it was really “a more practical 505 feet”. Mark had two 535 footers in 1998, “the stuff of legend”.

The obvious answer would seem to be steroids but, per Canseco, he was already taking them, (directly from Jose) long before that. Either he was taking more steroids or something else was increasing his home run success. McGwire claimed at the time that his time off in 1993-94 had allowed him to observe the game more and he emerged as a better hitter. He certainly emerged as a better hitter. Not only did his home run percentage go up but he hit .278 over the last seven years of his career after hitting .250 in the first nine years. If a powerful man hits the ball more often, he’s going to hit more home runs.

Here are his home run numbers extrapolated to 162 games for each year:
1986: 27 1987: 53 1988: 33 1989: 37 1990: 40 1991: 23
1992: 49 1993: 54 1994: 31 1995: 61 1996: 65 1997: 60
1998: 73 1999: 69 2000: 58 2001: 48
As with Sosa, that’s quite a record of power hitting, whatever you attribute it to. That’s 781 home runs in 16 years. Again, many other guys took steroids. They didn’t do this.

I looked at Mark’s minor league stats:
1984 12.6% walks 33.3% strikeouts 9.1% home runs
1985 15.8% walks 18.2% strikeouts 17.9% home runs
1986 14.6% walks 19.7% strikeouts 15.5% home runs

McGwire had power in the minors, but nothing like what he showed in the majors. But many players don’t show as much power in the minors as they alter did in the majors, (see George Brett and Don Mattingly). Obviously he took steroids and they may be the reason for his dramatic increases in power in 1987 and 1995. But I think he was always a big guy with power and I think improvement in his batting skills and selectivity played some role in his great success, as well. That’s the problem with cheating: it obscures legitimate accomplishments as well the illegitimate ones. Jenkinson: “Mark left the game riddled with controversy and doubt but also imbued it with awe and wonder.”

 

[SWC75]

KEN CAMINITI became the poster child for what can go wrong if you use drugs to medicate or improve yourself. On the surface he was a poster boy for a successful life: He grew up in the San Joachim Valley in California as one of three siblings. He played football as well as baseball in high school and at San Jose State. He came up with the Astros in 1987, going 2 for 3 with a home run in his first game. He was not a star for them but had a productive career, despite dealing with injuries and hitting in the pitcher-friendly Astrodome. In 8 years, he hit .260 with 13 homers per 162 games. He was 32 years old when he was traded to San Diego, usually the point at which a player’s prime is ending. Liberated from the Astrodome, he had the finest season of his career, to that point, hitting .302 with 26 home runs and 94RBIs. The next year he crushed that by hitting .326 with 40 homers 130 RBIs and 109 runs scored. He was named National league MVP. His hitting also got his fielding at third base noticed, (as often happens), and he won three straight Gold Gloves.

He was unable to sustain that level of performance, (Bill James ranked it the 9th biggest ‘fluke season’ of all time), but was still a very productive hitter until injuries started piling up from 1999 onward. First it was a shoulder injury, a hamstring, strained quadriceps, then a strained calf muscle, then a wrist injury. Many of them seemed to involve muscles, which can be a red flag for people looking for steroid users. His career finally petered out in 2001 after being with two more teams, the Astros again and then the Braves. He’d made over $37 million playing baseball and was married with three kids of his own, all daughters. That should make anyone happy but in most pictures, especially late in his career, he doesn’t look very happy:

Early: http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/a...ef094d7ab1c75_crop_exact.jpg?w=340&h=226&q=85

Late: http://cbsnews3.cbsistatic.com/hub/...dae366ca495ff2feb6e992dba9c8/image652736x.jpg

Ken had publically acknowledged he was an alcoholic in 1994. He went into rehab but didn’t stop there. He became a cocaine user. He acknowledged after his career that he was also a steroid user and was using them when he had his great years in San Diego. One wonders if the two were related: if you can break society’s rules, why not break baseball’s rules? If you can break baseball’s rules: why not break society’s rules? Ken was divorced in 2002. He was arrested for cocaine possession in 2001 and put on probation. He violated that in 2003 and was put in a court-ordered treatment program. It didn’t work.

Wikipedia: “In the early afternoon of October 10, 2004, Caminiti was in the apartment of his friend in The Bronx, New York City, after being in the bathroom to have a speedball of cocaine and heroin, Caminiti came out and collapsed on the floor.[10] At 3:36pm a 911 call was made while Caminiti was going into cardiac arrest. Caminiti died at Lincoln Hospital in The Bronx at 6:45pm. Preliminary news reports indicated he died of a heart attack, but the autopsy results stated that "acute intoxication due to the combined effects of cocaine and opiates" caused his death, with coronary artery disease and cardiac hypertrophy (an enlarged heart) as contributing factors.”

 

[SWC75]

Nobody’s ever been quite sure what happened with BRADY ANDERSON. He came up with the Red Sox as an outstanding outfield prospect and he was an excellent outfielder. But for several years it looked as if he couldn’t hit major league pitching at all. In his first four years he never hit higher than .231 and hit a total of 9 home runs in 484 games. By now with the Orioles, he improved to hitting between .262-.271 for the next four years with 62 home runs and 134 steals. He was a “speed” guy.

Then, he suddenly, in 1996: .297, 50 home runs, 21 steals 110RBIs, 117 runs scored. In the next four years he hit 18-24 home runs per year. His best remaining year was 1999 when he hit .282 with 24 homers, 36 steals, 81RBIs and 109 runs scored. But he never had another season like 1997, probably the most “out of context” year in baseball history. Amazingly, Bill James doesn’t rank it among hi “fluke seasons”. That’s because he bases it on “Win Shares” and rates Brady’s 1992 season, when he with 21 homers, 53 steals, 80RBIs and 100 runs scored as his best season with 29 win shares as opposed to 28 in 1996. If you want to figure out why that’s a better season you have to read his book.
Win Shares - BR Bullpen

Anderson, quoted by Wikipedia: “"Because I only hit 50 home runs once, it was, in fact, an aberration. However, it was not a fluke", he told the Baltimore Sun (March 20, 2004). "Nothing can be considered a fluke that takes six months to accomplish. Rather it was a culmination of all my athleticism and baseball skills and years of training peaking simultaneously... Hitting in front of [Roberto] Alomar, [Rafael] Palmeiro, [Bobby] Bonilla and [Cal] Ripken didn't hurt, either.” Anderson added that while the 50 homers may have been 26 more home runs than he hit in any other season, "that's just one more home run per week, just one more good swing. That is the data that simultaneously comforted me and haunted me, the small difference between greatness and mediocrity." There’s quite a difference between 24 home runs and 50.

Cal Ripken: "Brady always had a much more advanced concept of cross-training and plyometrics and his diet. He was just ahead of the curve... To me, (that season) was all about him being locked in. He had good swings every at-bat. Bearing witness to it all year, he was a marvel to watch. I don't remember him ever being in a slump... Brady always had a fly-ball swing, which he was criticized for as a leadoff hitter, but that year he was right on the ball. He was just in one of those grooves. There were a couple of instances in my career when I seemed to pick up the next day where I left off. It's hard to explain. You wish you could do that every year." You sure do.

Here’s a good article examining the issue of whether Anderson sued steroids. The author doesn’t think so because he never tested positive, his name didn’t come up in any of the investigation, he didn’t have the pattern of weight gain typical for steroids and he did have injuries that limited his production after his big year or else he might have had other seasons like ’96:
The case for Brady Anderson being clean of steroids

Maybe someday we’ll know who took what and be able to figure out what impact it had. But I doubt it.

 

[SWC75]

Nobody needed steroids in Colorado. The games were played a mile above sea level. The ball travels 15% farther up there. A 300 yard drive at sea level goes 345 feet there. A 345 foot drive goes 397 feet. A 397 foot drive goes 457 feet. In 1994 Coors Field opened and they acknowledged the difference by pushing the outfield fences back: 347-390-415-375-350. But that means that the outfielders have more territory to cover. That takes them father from the infield and splits them farther apart. When they held the all-star game there everybody assumed it would be a continuation of the Home Run Derby. It was a 13-8 slugfest but of the 31 hits, only three were home runs. The rest were shots between those widely separated fielders. But the biggest factor in the big numbers that get put up in Colorado is the thinness of the air. Tim McCarver said “catchers don’t catch curve balls that don’t curve. There’s a lot pitches that catchers don’t catch in Denver because there’s not enough air to affect the flight of the ball. Everything goes down the pipe. It’s almost T-ball. It’s been said that Rockies players tend to do worse than they might normally do when they play on the road at sea level because they are so used to hitting “easy” balls that they lose their fundamentals as hitters and don’t “out-think” the pitchers as a sea level batter would have to learn to do.

Through all the years that city was in the American Association, the Pacific Coast League and other minor leagues, they always had guys that put up big numbers:
Denver, Colorado Register History | Baseball-Reference.com

Heck, Marv Throneberry- the Marvelous Marv of the early Mets, hit 36, 42 and 40 in consecutive years in Denver from 1955-57. In 1971 Richie Scheinblum hit .388 there with 25 home runs in only 108 games. Richie Scheinblum?!? In 1976 Roger Freed hit 42 homers and the next year Frank Ortenzio hit 40. Randy Bass had consecutive years of .333BA-36HR-105RBI and .333-37-143 RBI in 1979-80 and was joined by Tim Wallach in the latter year, who hit .281-36-124.

This continued when Denver got a National league team, the Colorado Rockies, in 1993. One of the things that modern baseball statisticians do that I like, (and there’s a lot I don’t like), is to separate home and road numbers. Their home numbers are determined in large part by the quirks of their home ballpark, (in this case, that Coors Field is a mile high). Road numbers are based on the player’ performance in many different ballparks and are a better measure of a player’s true abilities. Here are the top Colorado players of the 1990’s and their home and road numbers for their best seasons:

DANTE BICHETTE
1995 Overall: .340BA 40HR 128RBI Home: .377-31-83 Away: .300-9-45
1996 Overall: .313BA 31HR 141RBI Home: .366-22-99 Away: .296-9-42
1997 Overall: .308BA 26HR 118RBI Home: .362-20-87 Away: .246-6-31
1998 Overall: .331BA 22HR 122RBI Home: .381-17-80 Away: .279-5-42
1999 Overall: .298BA 34HR 133RBI Home: .309-15-44 Away: .278-8-46
Comment: Bichette was totally a creation of Coors Field. To see how good he actually was, multiply his road numbers by two. In 1995 He was a .300-18-90 guy who hit .340-40-128 because Coors Field turned him into a .377-62-166 guy.

ELLIS BURKS
1996 Overall: .344BA 40HR 128RBI Home: .390-23-79 Away: .291-17-49
1997 Overall: .290BA 32HR 82 RBI (119g) Home: .337-17-45 Away: .247-15-37
Comment: Burks was a better hitter than Bichette and retained much of his power on the road but not the batting average. He was considered for MVP in 1996 but multiply his road numbers by 2: .291-34-98 and he still comes up short.

VINNY CASTILLA
1995 Overall: .309BA 32HR 90RBI Home: .383-23-58 Away: .229-9-32
1996 Overall: .304BA 40HR 113RBI Home: .345-27-74 Away: .259-13-39
1997 Overall: .304BA 40HR 113RBI Home: .320-21-62 Away: .287-19-51
1998 Overall: .319BA 46HR 144RBI Home: .368-26-91 Away: .270-20-53
1999 Overall: .275BA 33HR 102RBI Home: .280-20-56 Away: .269-13-41
Comment: Vinny started with maybe the biggest difference between his home and road numbers and managed to narrow them up by the end of the decade. He was a productive hitter but not really great one. He went on to play for Tampa Bay and had seasons similar to his the above road numbers, then came back to Coors :
2004 Overall: .271BA 35HR 131RBI Home: .379-14-80 Away: .218-21-51

ANDRES GALARRAGA
1993 Overall: .370BA 22HR 98RBI Home: .402-13-64 Away: .328-9-34
1994 Overall: .319BA 31HR 85RBI Home: .348-16-44 Away: .323-15-41
1995 Overall: .280BA 31HR 106RBI Home: .297-18-65 Away: .263-13-51
1996 Overall: .304BA 47HR 150RBI Home: .359-32-103 Away: .245-15-47
1997 Overall: .318BA 41HR 140RBI Home: .342-21-89 Away: .295-20-51
Comment: Andres was a formidable hitter wherever he was, although his batting average went down when he went for the big time power numbers. In 1998 he put up the same numbers at sea level for the Braves that he had been putting up for the Rockies:
1998 Overall: .305BA 44HR 121RBI Home: .315-16-44 Away: .296-28-77

TODD HELTON
1998 Overall: .315BA 25HR 97RBI Home: .354-13-61 Away: .273-12-38
1999 Overall: .320BA 35HR 113RBI Home: .385-23-75 Away: .252-12-38
2000 Overall: .372BA 42HR 147RBI Home: .391-27-88 Away: .286-22-62
2001 Overall: .336BA 49HR 146RBI Home: .384-27-84 Away: .286-22-62
2002 Overall: .329BA 30HR 109RBI Home: .378-18-65 Away: .281-12-44
2003 Overall: .358BA 33HR 117RBI Home: .391-23-72 Away: .324-10-45
2004 Overall: .347BA 32HR 96RBI Home: .368-21-60 Away: .326-11-36
Comment: Helton was a very productive hitter on the road but at best he was a Mike Schmidt hitter. At home he was Babe Ruth. Like Castilla and Galarraga, he did get better as he went along but he never rose to the level his overall numbers implied.

LARRY WALKER
1995 Overall: .306BA 36HR 101RBI Home: .343-24-59 Away: .268-12-42
1997 Overall: .366BA 49HR 130RBI Home: .384-20-68 Away: .349-29-62
1998 Overall: .363BA 23HR 67RBI Home: .418-17-44 Away: .302-6-23
1999 Overall: .379BA 37HR 115RBI Home: .461-26-70 Away: .286-11-45
2001 Overall: .350BA 38HR 123RBI Home: .406-20-74 Away: .293-18-49
2002 Overall: .338BA 26HR 104RBI Home: .362-18-66 Away: .312-8-38
Comment: The injury-prone Walker actually had the best year of any of these players in 1997 when his road numbers were just as impressive as his home numbers. But his home numbers in 1998-2001 were the most absurd of anyone’s. .461???

I always wondered what would happen if the Rockies ever got one of the games premiere hitters to come out there and play for them. These guys were good but they weren’t Bonds, Thomas, Bagwell or Piazza. I remember Mets announcers saying that Mike had a lifetime batting average in Coors Field of .432. I looked up his final career record at Coors and he cooled off to .357 with 16 homers and 54RBIs in 51 games, (which would be 51HR 172 RBI over 162 games). That’s actually not more remarkable than what the above guys did. Coors Field turns good hitters into Mike Piazza.

It may actually be doing these hitters a disservice. They never win MVPs and are unlikely to get into the Hall of Fame for the same reason that known steroid users fail to get recognition: their numbers are regarded as fake. But some of the Rockies sluggers might have been at least borderline MVP candidates or Hall of Famers if they’d played at sea level and put up the sort of numbers borderline MVPs and HOFers put up. But being in Colorado they put up fake numbers and got no recognition at all.

 

[SWC75]

ALEX RODRIGUEZ was lauded as the greatest player of the next generation when he arrived and became the ‘clean’ contender for the all-time rankings because people felt he was so talented he didn’t even need steroids to excel. (He agreed and said as much to Barbara Walters.) He was the #1 draft choice in 1993 and was regarded as the best prospect in years. He was #1 with a bullet going through the Seattle minor league system, playing A, AA, AA and major league ball all in the first year, making his big league debut at the age18. He started the 1995 season in Tacoma where he hit .360 with 15 homers in only 54 games. But he still wasn’t quite ready for the majors: those first two years he hit only .224 with 5 home runs in 65 games.

Then, at age 20 in 1996, he was suddenly ready. Boy was he ready: .358, 54 doubles, 36 home runs, 15 steals 123 RBIs and 141 runs scored. Suddenly he was a gold-plated super-star. He missed 21 games the next year and fell to .300BA 40D 23HR 84RBI 100RS but he stole 29 bases. The next year he became a 40-40 man with 42 homers, 46 steals, 124RBI and 123 runs. He hit another 42 homers the next year and 41 the year after that with 132 RBIs and 134 runs.

The Mariners should have been a dynasty with Rodriguez, Junior Griffey, Randy Johnson, Jay Buhner and Edgar Martinez but they never got to the World Series with those players there. Alex became a free agent in 2000 and opted to go to the last place Texas Rangers. There he went on an amazing home run binge: hitting 156 home runs in three years with a high of 57. At this time the revelations about McGwire, Sosa and Bonds were coming out and Griffey, who went home to Cincinnati, was dealing with the injuries that would limit the second half of his career. Alex became the “clean candidate” who could catch all the steroid users and become the all-time home run leader. Then he went to New York.

He didn’t do it as a free agent. He got traded for Alfonso Soriano and a player to be named later, (Joachim Arias). It seems like a paltry return for a superstar. He had some big seasons in New York, hitting 30+ homers another seven seasons in a row with a high of 54. He drove 100+ runs another seven straight times, with a high of 156, (with 143 runs). He finally got a World Series ring in 2009, hitting .365 with 6 home runs and 18 RBIs and 15 runs in 15 post season games.

But his image suddenly turned ugly like the picture of Dorian Gray. Wikipedia: “On February 7, 2009, Sports Illustrated reported that Rodriguez tested positive for testosterone and the anabolic steroid Primobolan in 2003. Rodriguez's name appears on a government-sealed list of 104 major-league players (out of 1200 tested) who came up positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The report was compiled as part of Major League Baseball's 2003 survey to see whether mandatory random drug testing program might be necessary. At the time, there was no penalty or punishment for a positive steroid test. Rodriguez did not immediately confirm the allegations, deferring at first to the players' union.[70][72] Two days after the allegations, Rodriguez admitted to steroid use from 2001 until 2003, claiming that he ceased using such substances after spring training that year.”

I remember A-Rod saying that it should be obvious that he wasn’t using steroids because he had so much talent he didn’t need it. After he admitted using them, he said that he started taking them when he went to Texas because he felt under pressure to produce big numbers for his new team to justify the big money they were paying him. Let’s look at that- using those home/road numbers that mean so much. Here is what Alex hit with the Mariners and then what he hit on the road with Texas:
1996 Overall: .358-36-123 Home: .336-17-65 Road: .378-19-58
1997 Overall: .300-23-84 Home: .311-16-51 Road: .289-7-33
1998 Overall: .310-42-124 Home: .286-18-54 Road: .335-24-70
1999 Overall: .285-42-111 Home: .284-20-59 Road: .286-22-52

2000 Overall: .316-41-132 Home: .272-13-51 Road: .358-28-81
2001 Overall: .318-52-135 Home: .361-26-65 Road: .276-26-70
2002 Overall: .300-57-142 Home: .323-34-82 Road: .277-23-60
2003 Overall: .298-47-118 Home: .314-26-71 Road: .282-21-47
Comment: Alex did become a more productive player on the road when he moved from Seattle to Texas but just for a single year. Overall, his road numbers were at least as impressive when he was a Mariner. What really went up were his home numbers, because he was in a better hitter’s park. Either he was always talking steroids, (at least from ’96) or what he took had little impact on his abilities. In 2009 ESPN’s Selena Roberts wrote a book stating that A-Rod had been taking steroids since high school. “The allegations were not sourced, and long-standing friends of Rodriguez, such as Doug Mientkiewicz, who knew him when they were both teenagers, went on the record to contradict the book's allegations.” (Baseball Refeernce.com).

That same year SI reported that A-Rod had tested positive in 2003. In 2013 he was linked to the Biogenesis and Balco scandals. He was accused of obstructing efforts to test him and of making payoffs to people to remain silent. SI reported that Major League Baseball had itself kept silent and had allowed him to use testosterone “therapeutically” in 2007. MMLB suspe4nded him for a year. Rodriguez stormed out of an arbitration hearing and sued Commissioner Bud Selig.

It wasn’t his only problem. He’d been warned about playing in high stakes pokers games as early as 2005. He was seen at one in 2011 “where drugs were present”. He performed poorly in the 2012 ALDS and was benched. “What made things worse was that he had been seen flirting with female fans in the stands during Game 1, which the Yankees lost in extra innings. By then, he was the favorite target of boo-birds at New Yankee Stadium. The benchings and the poor play led to speculation that the Yankees may look to trade him in the off-season.” But it was impossible to unload his huge contract.

His performance had progressively declined after 2010. He missed 221 games from 2011-13 due to a right knee injury, a broken left hand, “hip tear” and a left quadriceps injury. There was talk he might retire and the Yankees seemed to want him to so they could collect insurance on his contract. Rodriguez accused them of insurance fraud. It seemed no one wanted A-Rod back- not the league, not his team and not the fans. But he came back anyway in 2015 and surprised everyone by having a productive year at age 39, hitting 33 home runs, passing Willie Mays on the all-time list, passing Lou Gehrig for the most grand slams in history and approaching 700 homers- and Babe Ruth. He would have made the all-star team but the fans wouldn’t vote him in. He’s still playing this year at age 40 but not nearly as well- .206 with 9 home runs. The A-Rod saga might be nearing its end. His reputation as “the clean one” is long gone.

Rodriguez, great as he was had two great Rivals for the title of the best shortstop of his generation.

DEREK JETER, who turned out to be the real “clean one” became the next face on the Yankee Rushmore. He was not a home run hitter by trade, although that was part of his game. That probably insulated him from the steroid temptation. He wasn’t going to hit 50 home runs with his swing, (although if Brady Anderson could do it….). He was a .300 hitter with extra base power and speed and a great clutch hitter, (yes, Bill James, there are such things). He was a fine fielder and a natural leader who became the captain of some of the best Yankees teams ever and that means some of the best teams in the sport’s history.

Jeter was one of several players who came up through the Yankee farm system and played together before they ever got to the major leagues, something that was allowed to happen due to the Steinbrenner suspension. He arrived exactly at the time A-Rod showed up in Seattle and the comparisons began immediately. Jeter wasn’t the home run hitter A-Rod was but he was as good or better in every other aspect of the same: when Alex came to New York, he was the one who moved to third base while Jeter, the five time gold glove winner, remained at shortstop. Jeter got off to a slow start that year. People sensed that he was trying to hit more home runs to compete with A-Rod. He denied it but eventually his performance picked up. Perhaps he realized that being Derek Jeter was plenty.

Jeter Hit over .300 12 times, with a high of .349 and a .310 lifetime average. He did hit 260 home runs, going over 20 three times with a high of 24. He stole 358 bases, four times going over 30 with a high of 34. He had 544 doubles and 66 triples for a total of 870 extra base hits, (Mickey Mantle had 952, despite having twice as many home runs.) He only drove in 100+ runs once, (102 in 1999), but he batted 1st or 2nd most of his career. He drove in a healthy 77 runs for every 162 games of his career. His forte was scoring runs. He averaged 113 per every 162 games, going over the 100 mark 13 times. He had 3,465 hits, 204 per 162 games. He was the first Yankee to get 3,000 hits, which shocked a lot of people. But, if you think about it, the number of Yankee stars who have played their entire careers with the team is actually rather small and their sluggers have often walked a lot, reducing their opportunity to get to 3,000 hits.

But even those numbers don’t tell the Jeter story. In the post season, he played and incredible 158 games, a full season. His numbers, against above average competition, were almost exactly his regular season numbers: .308 batting average, 20 homers, 57 XBH, 18 steals, 61RBI and 111 runs scored. He never played on a team with a losing record. The Yankees averaged 96 wins a year with him at shortstop. They made the playoffs 16 times, the World Series 7 times and he wound up with 5 rings. Maybe his greatest achievement is that he was a superstar who never got embroiled in a scandal and never turned off the fans with arrogant behavior. To Yankee fans their Rushmore is Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle and Jeter.

NOMAR GARCIAPARRA was going to be the next face on the Red Sox Rushmore. Ultimately that didn’t happen and these days he seems to have been forgotten. He was the oldest of the three, being born in 1973, (Jeter was 1974 and Rodriguez in 1975), but started his career the latest, coming up late in the 1996 season. He became an immediate star with a huge first full season in 1997: .306BA 209H 44D 11T 30HR 22 steals 98RBI and 122 runs scored. But he topped that in 1998 with .323-195-37-8-35-12-122-111. In 1999 his batting average soared to .357 with 190 hits, 42 doubles, 27 homers 104RBI and 103 runs. In 2000 it soared even more to a league-leading .372 with 51 doubles, 21 homers, 96 RBI and 104 runs scored. He was Wade Boggs with power. There were serious debates as to which of the three great young shortstops was the best, harkening back to the old “Willie, Mickey and the Duke” days.

I remember this Sport Illustrated cover espousing Nomar’s, (his father was named Ramon and reversed the spelling for his son), splendid workout routine:
http://thegoldensombrero.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/nomar_si.jpg
That came out just before the 2001 season, when he suffered the first in a series of injuries that would limit his career. This one was a wrist injury that ended his season after 21 games. He came back well from that to hit .310 with 56 doubles and 24 homers, 120 RBIs and 101 runs scored in 2002. He also had a strong year in .301 with 37 doubles, 13 triples, 28 homers, 19 steals, 105 RBIs and 120 runs scored.

But his wrist never fully healed and impacted his fielding ability at shortstop. He walked a total of 80 times in those last two seasons and the new general manager, Theo Epstein, advised by Bill James, decided to emphasize on base percentage and shocked the baseball world by trading his star to the Chicago Cubs. The Red Sox went on to win their first World Series in 86 years without the man who had been regarded as their star player. Injuries limited him to 81 games that year and 62 the next. He shifted to 3rd base but got traded to the Dodgers. He had a decent season in LA in 2006, hitting .303 with 20 homers and 93 RBI, enough to get him a Comeback Player of the Year Award. But now they had him at 1st base. The next year he declined to .283 with 7 homers. In 2008, he broke a hand and sprained a knee and played only 55 games. He hit .264 with 8 homers and was released. The A’s gave him a 1 year contract for 2009 and he hit .281 with 3 home runs in 65 games. And that was it.

He wound up his career hitting .313, higher than either Jeter or A-Rod, but with only 229 home runs in only 1,434 games, (Jeter played 2,747

“Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.” (Whittier)

Here are the three great shortstops per 162 games:
Rodriguez .295BA 182H 78W 32D 2T 41HR 19SB 122RBI 118RS 438 bases and 199 runs produced
Jeter .310BA 204H 64W 32D 4T 15HR 21SB 77RBI 113RS 374 bases and 175 runs produced
Garciaparra .313BA 197H 46W 42D 6T 26HR 11SB 106RBI 105RS 386 bases and 185 runs produced

People don’t remember Nomar as well as the other two but he definitely belonged in the group.

 

[SWC75]

ALBERT BELLE was the player who was so valuable that he broke the strike. His temper threatened to break his own life before his body broke and his career suddenly ended. Belle came up as “Joey” Belle, based on his middle name of Jojuan, but insisted he be called Albert. His first two partial years in the big leagues were a struggle but then he broke through in 1991, hitting 28 home runs and 95RBIs. He improved that to 34 HR 112RBI in 1992 and then 38HR and 129RBI in 1993. His batting average jumped from .260 to .290 that year.

Then came 1994, the year, (I believe) the owners juiced the ball to maintain interest through the strike. Belle rang the bell with a .357 batting average, 36 home runs – in 106 games, (he’s hit 38 in 159 games in ’93), with 101 RBIs. The ball wasn’t the only thing that was juiced for Albert. Wikipedia: “Belle was suspended in 1994 for using a corked bat, and gained further notoriety for sending teammate Jason Grimsley through the building's ceiling panel to break into the locked umpires' dressing room to retrieve his corked bat and substitute it with another teammate's bat, resulting in a seven-game suspension. The revelation of Belle's use of corked bats was given more emphasis when Cleveland teammate Omar Vizquel wrote in his autobiography that it would be naive to suggest otherwise and that "...all of Albert's bats were corked." (Wikipedia)

But Belle’s hitting didn’t subside in subsequent seasons. In 1995 he became the only player in baseball history to hit 50 doubles and 50 home runs in the same season. He hit .317 and had 126RBI and 121runs scored and he did this in only 143 games due to the strike. The Indians made their first World Series since 1954. As in 1954, (111-43.721), they had an historically great regular season, (100-44, .694) but failed to win the series. Albert continued his impressive slugging hittiing .311 with 48 homers 148RBI and 124 runs in 1996.

The White Sox Jerry Reinsdorf had been the ringleader of the strike and headed a small group that refused to accept the agreement that interrupted it. But that group dissolved when Reinsdorf signed Belle to a free agent contract. Belle slumped in 1997 to .274BA 30HR-116RBI but bounced back strong in 1998 with .328-49-152 in 1998, the latter two figures all-time White Sox records. His contract with Reinsdorf stipulated that he be one of the three highest paid players in baseball. When Reinsdorf refused to increase his salary to that level after other free agents have surpassed it, Belle became a free agent again and moved on to the Orioles.

The next year he ‘fell’ to .297-37-117. The following year he hit .281 with 23 homers in 141 games. And then, all of a sudden, he was done at age 34. What happened? He developed degenerative osteoarthritis of his hip. He hit .295 lifetime with 381 home runs, which might normally have gotten him into the Hall of Fame, despite the aborted career. Comparisons have been made to Hank Greenberg, who hit .313 with 331 home runs and Ralph Kiner, who his .279 with 369 home runs but whose rate of production far exceeded most players who wound up with such numbers. Both are in the Hall of Fame but Albert Belle never came close, getting 7.7% of the vote his first year of eligibility and 3.5% in his second year, which caused him to be dropped from the ballot.

The fact that he had been caught using corked bats was, no doubt, a factor. The fact that his weight had increased from 190 to 220 pounds during his short career, suggesting he might have been using steroids, might have been another. But the big factor is that he seemed on a mission to make everyone dislike him as much as possible, especially sportswriters- the very people who vote for awards and the Hall of Fame.

Buster Olney in the New York Times: “It was a taken in baseball circles that Albert Belle was nuts... The Indians billed him $10,000 a year for the damage he caused in clubhouses on the road and at home, and tolerated his behavior only because he was an awesome slugger... He slurped coffee constantly and seemed to be on a perpetual caffeinated frenzy. Few escaped his wrath: on some days he would destroy the postgame buffet...launching plates into the shower... after one poor at-bat against Boston, he retreated to the visitors' clubhouse and took a bat to teammate Kenny Lofton's boombox. Belle preferred to have the clubhouse cold, below 60 degrees, and when one chilly teammate turned up the heat, Belle walked over, turned down the thermostat and smashed it with his bat. His nickname, thereafter, was "Mr. Freeze."

When he retired, Bill Madden in the NY Daily News wrote: "Sorry, there'll be no words of sympathy here for Albert Belle. He was a surly jerk before he got hurt and now he's a hurt surly jerk...He was no credit to the game. Belle's boorish behavior should be remembered by every member of the Baseball Writers' Association when it comes time to consider him for the Hall of Fame." It was.

Will Rogers was famous for saying he never met a man he didn’t like. Bob Costas said: "Outside of Cleveland, he may be regarded as the man Will Rogers never met."


MANNY RAMIREZ was the player so talented that the Indians were willing to part with Albert Belle.
He was kind of Albert Belle Jr. for them and then rose to the production level of the original when Albert left for the White Sox.

Manny came up in 1993 and didn’t do much. He played a half season with them in 1994 but was kind of lost in the crowd with his .269 batting average and 17 homers in 91 games. The next two years were twins: .308-31-107 and .309-33-112. In 1997 he hit .328 with 26 homers but that was OK because Jim Thome hit 40, David Justice hit 33 and Matt Williams hit 32. Manny’s bust out year was 1998: .294 with 45HR, 145RBIs and 108 runs scored. Then he topped that with .333-44-165, 131. The 165 RBI were, (and are), the most in major league baseball since 1938. With all the huge number put up in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, nobody reached that level except Manny Ramirez.

The onslaught continued: .351-38-122 in 2000, (in only 118 games). A move to Boston didn’t hurt: .306-41-125, .349-33-107, .325-32-104, .308-43-130, .292-45-144, .321-35-102. The man was a hitting machine. He was part of the Red Sox resurgence that got then the 2004 title. He finally had an off year in 2007, when they won their second title with .296-20-86. He was limited by a strained left oblique. He came back with a Manny-like year in 2008: .332-37-121. But he got traded to the Dodgers in the middle of that year.

A phrase called “Manny being Manny” had come into the lexicon, based on various events, documented on Wikipedia::

- Ramirez has often attracted attention on and off the field for his quirky behavior and attitude. These incidents are colloquially known as "Manny Moments" or more commonly, "Manny Being Manny". Instances of this behavior include inducing his Red Sox teammates, including Ellis Burks, to drink alcohol which he had spiked with Viagra, wearing Oakley THUMP (sun glasses), while playing the outfield, disappearing through a door in the Green Monster and selling his barbecue grill on eBay.

- “In the summer of 2003, Ramirez missed several games with pharyngitis. He was spotted in a bar (in the hotel where he lived) with a close friend, Yankees infielder Enrique Wilson, when Ramirez was supposedly too ill to play in the Yankees series.”

- (Also in 2003): “The new Red Sox ownership and management, trying to rid themselves of his massive contract, put Ramirez on irrevocable waivers, thus making him available to any team willing to assume the remainder of his contract. However, all 29 other teams passed on the opportunity to claim Ramirez.”

- (2005): “Off the field, this season was one of much conflict for Ramirez. Persistent trade rumors (generally involving the New York Mets) dogged him all season. After the Red Sox were eliminated in the first round of that year's playoffs by the eventual World Series champion Chicago White Sox, Ramirez once again expressed a wish to be traded. This included a threat to not show up for spring training if his latest demand was not met by Red Sox GM Theo Epstein.”

- (2008): “A heated altercation between Ramirez and teammate Kevin Youkilis took place on June 5, during a game at Fenway Park against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Boston Globe speculated that Youkilis was angry that Ramirez has been slow to join a bench-clearing brawl earlier in the game. The altercation may have also been caused by Ramirez objecting to what he believed was excessive complaining by Youkilis about the strike zone, as well as the first baseman's penchant for sometimes throwing his helmet in frustration after making an out. Before the fifth inning, Ramirez was caught on NESN cameras taking a swing at Youkilis. Ramirez and Youkilis yelled at each other and had to be separated by teammates, coaches, and training staff. Youkilis headed out to the field still yelling at Ramirez, while Ramirez was escorted into the tunnel leading to the clubhouse by bench coach Brad Mills and trainer Paul Lessard.”

- (also 2008): “Later in the season, during a series with the Houston Astros, Ramirez had a physical altercation with elderly Red Sox traveling secretary Jack McCormick. The two were arguing over McCormick's inability to fill Ramirez's large game-day request for 16 tickets to the game in Houston. Ramirez pushed the 64-year-old McCormick to the ground after telling him "Just do your job." (Hey…I’ll be 64 in two years – is that “elderly”)

- (also 2008): “After the Dodgers lost in the playoffs, Ramirez was asked about his future. "Gas is up, and so am I", was his reply, indicating that he expected to be valued highly in the free agent market. After long and contentious negotiations that dragged into the start of spring training, Ramirez signed a two-year $45 million contract with Los Angeles on March 4.”

Manny had been one of those players who tested positive for steroid use in 2003 in what was supposed to be a secret test. There was no penalty for testing positive at that point but when he tested positive in 2009, he was suspended for 50 games. Injuries caught up with him after that. He was on the DL three times in 2010. His Dodger career ended when he was ejected for arguing a strike call by an umpire. The White Sox claimed him on waivers. He hit 1 home run for them in 24 games. The Rays signed him up for the 2011 season but it was over: He went 1 for 17 in five games and announced his retirement. Another positive drug test might have helped him make his decision. At any rate, he was basically finished as a player. He later tried comebacks with the A’s, Rangers and Cubs but never made it out of the minors. His final stats: .312 lifetime batting average with 555 home runs. In 111 post season games he hit .285 with 29 home runs.

He went into the wine business, producing, among other things, a wine called “Manny being Merlo”.


Years ago I heard a line “Having heroes is a way of belittling oneself”. I haven’t been able to find out since who said that but its meaning is that when we idolize someone, we presume that they have capabilities that we could never have and thus fail to aspire to. When it comes to the ability to play games that is often true. But when we take it beyond that to virtues of integrity and gentlemanly behavior, we move into a realm that our sports heroes sometimes lack but are nonetheless available to all of us.

 

[billsin01]

Nobody needed steroids in Colorado. The games were played a mile above sea level. The ball travels 15% farther up there. A 300 yard drive at sea level goes 345 feet there. A 345 foot drive goes 397 feet. A 397 foot drive goes 457 feet. In 1994 Coors Field opened and they acknowledged the difference by pushing the outfield fences back: 347-390-415-375-350. But that means that the outfielders have more territory to cover. That takes them father from the infield and splits them farther apart. When they held the all-star game there everybody assumed it would be a continuation of the Home Run Derby. It was a 13-8 slugfest but of the 31 hits, only three were home runs. The rest were shots between those widely separated fielders. But the biggest factor in the big numbers that get put up in Colorado is the thinness of the air. Tim McCarver said “catchers don’t catch curve balls that don’t curve. There’s a lot pitches that catchers don’t catch in Denver because there’s not enough air to affect the flight of the ball. Everything goes down the pipe. It’s almost T-ball. It’s been said that Rockies players tend to do worse than they might normally do when they play on the road at sea level because they are so used to hitting “easy” balls that they lose their fundamentals as hitters and don’t “out-think” the pitchers as a sea level batter would have to learn to do.

Through all the years that city was in the American Association, the Pacific Coast League and other minor leagues, they always had guys that put up big numbers:
Denver, Colorado Register History | Baseball-Reference.com

Heck, Marv Throneberry- the Marvelous Marv of the early Mets, hit 36, 42 and 40 in consecutive years in Denver from 1955-57. In 1971 Richie Scheinblum hit .388 there with 25 home runs in only 108 games. Richie Scheinblum?!? In 1976 Roger Freed hit 42 homers and the next year Frank Ortenzio hit 40. Randy Bass had consecutive years of .333BA-36HR-105RBI and .333-37-143 RBI in 1979-80 and was joined by Tim Wallach in the latter year, who hit .281-36-124.

This continued when Denver got a National league team, the Colorado Rockies, in 1993. One of the things that modern baseball statisticians do that I like, (and there’s a lot I don’t like), is to separate home and road numbers. Their home numbers are determined in large part by the quirks of their home ballpark, (in this case, that Coors Field is a mile high). Road numbers are based on the player’ performance in many different ballparks and are a better measure of a player’s true abilities. Here are the top Colorado players of the 1990’s and their home and road numbers for their best seasons:

DANTE BICHETTE
1995 Overall: .340BA 40HR 128RBI Home: .377-31-83 Away: .300-9-45
1996 Overall: .313BA 31HR 141RBI Home: .366-22-99 Away: .296-9-42
1997 Overall: .308BA 26HR 118RBI Home: .362-20-87 Away: .246-6-31
1998 Overall: .331BA 22HR 122RBI Home: .381-17-80 Away: .279-5-42
1999 Overall: .298BA 34HR 133RBI Home: .309-15-44 Away: .278-8-46
Comment: Bichette was totally a creation of Coors Field. To see how good he actually was, multiply his road numbers by two. In 1995 He was a .300-18-90 guy who hit .340-40-128 because Coors Field turned him into a .377-62-166 guy.

ELLIS BURKS
1996 Overall: .344BA 40HR 128RBI Home: .390-23-79 Away: .291-17-49
1997 Overall: .290BA 32HR 82 RBI (119g) Home: .337-17-45 Away: .. . . -15-37
Comment: Burks was a better hitter than Bichette and retained much of his power on the road but not the batting average. He was considered for MVP in 1996 but multiply his road numbers by 2: .291-34-98 and he still comes up short.

VINNY CASTILLA
1995 Overall: .309BA 32HR 90RBI Home: .383-23-58 Away: .229-9-32
1996 Overall: .304BA 40HR 113RBI Home: .345-27-74 Away: .259-13-39
1997 Overall: .304BA 40HR 113RBI Home: .320-21-62 Away: .287-19-51
1998 Overall: .319BA 46HR 144RBI Home: .368-26-91 Away: .270-20-53
1999 Overall: .275BA 33HR 102RBI Home: .280-20-56 Away: .269-13-41
Comment: Vinny started with maybe the biggest difference between his home and road numbers and managed to narrow them up by the end of the decade. He was a productive hitter but not really great one. He went on to play for Tampa Bay and had seasons similar to his the above road numbers, then came back to Coors :
2004 Overall: .271BA 35HR 131RBI Home: .379-14-80 Away: .218-21-51

ANDRES GALARRAGA
1993 Overall: .370BA 22HR 98RBI Home: .402-13-64 Away: .328-9-34
1994 Overall: .319BA 31HR 85RBI Home: .348-16-44 Away: .323-15-41
1995 Overall: .280BA 31HR 106RBI Home: .297-18-65 Away: .263-13-51
1996 Overall: .304BA 47HR 150RBI Home: .359-32-103 Away: .245-15-47
1997 Overall: .318BA 41HR 140RBI Home: .342-21-89 Away: .295-20-51
Comment: Andres was a formidable hitter wherever he was, although his batting average went down when he went for the big time power numbers. In 1998 he put up the same numbers at sea level for the Braves that he had been putting up for the Rockies:
1998 Overall: .305BA 44HR 121RBI Home: .315-16-44 Away: .296-28-77

TODD HELTON
1998 Overall: .315BA 25HR 97RBI Home: .354-13-61 Away: .273-12-38
1999 Overall: .320BA 35HR 113RBI Home: .385-23-75 Away: .252-12-38
2000 Overall: .372BA 42HR 147RBI Home: .391-27-88 Away: .286-22-62
2001 Overall: .336BA 49HR 146RBI Home: .384-27-84 Away: .286-22-62
2002 Overall: .329BA 30HR 109RBI Home: .378-18-65 Away: .281-12-44
2003 Overall: .358BA 33HR 117RBI Home: .391-23-72 Away: .324-10-45
2004 Overall: .347BA 32HR 96RBI Home: .368-21-60 Away: .326-11-36
Comment: Helton was a very productive hitter on the road but at best he was a Mike Schmidt hitter. At home he was Babe Ruth. Like Castilla and Galarraga, he did get better as he went along but he never rose to the level his overall numbers implied.

LARRY WALKER
1995 Overall: .306BA 36HR 101RBI Home: .343-24-59 Away: .268-12-42
1997 Overall: .366BA 49HR 130RBI Home: .384-20-68 Away: .349-29-62
1998 Overall: .363BA 23HR 67RBI Home: .418-17-44 Away: .302-6-23
1999 Overall: .379BA 37HR 115RBI Home: .461-26-70 Away: .286-11-45
2001 Overall: .350BA 38HR 123RBI Home: .406-20-74 Away: .293-18-49
2002 Overall: .338BA 26HR 104RBI Home: .362-18-66 Away: .312-8-38
Comment: The injury-prone Walker actually had the best year of any of these players in 1997 when his road numbers were just as impressive as his home numbers. But his home numbers in 1998-2001 were the most absurd of anyone’s. .461???

I always wondered what would happen if the Rockies ever got one of the games premiere hitters to come out there and play for them. These guys were good but they weren’t Bonds, Thomas, Bagwell or Piazza. I remember Mets announcers saying that Mike had a lifetime batting average in Coors Field of .432. I looked up his final career record at Coors and he cooled off to .357 with 16 homers and 54RBIs in 51 games, (which would be 51HR 172 RBI over 162 games). That’s actually not more remarkable than what the above guys did. Coors Field turns good hitters into Mike Piazza.

It may actually be doing these hitters a disservice. They never win MVPs and are unlikely to get into the Hall of Fame for the same reason that known steroid users fail to get recognition: their numbers are regarded as fake. But some of the Rockies sluggers might have been at least borderline MVP candidates or Hall of Famers if they’d played at sea level and put up the sort of numbers borderline MVPs and HOFers put up. But being in Colorado they put up fake numbers and got no recognition at all.

Great series of posts. I was a HUGE Ellis Burks fan as a kid when he was on the Sox. Always enjoyed that he wound up killing it with the Rox even if it was altitude-fueled. And, as an aside, I still love that home run chase. As a non-purist who couldn't really care any less what these dudes are doing to their bodies, watching that spectacle was phenomenal.