Hits and Runs VIII

Oct 23, 2023

“The best thing about baseball is there’s no homework.” ~ Dan “Quiz” Quisenberry, a right-handed relief pitcher, primarily for the Kansas City Royals

Let me take this opportunity to welcome all our new subscribers to “Comments”. Thank you for joining us and I hope you enjoy the content. I also want to thank Kimberly and Mike from the Facebook Page, “Chicago Baseball Rivalry” for allowing me to post my links. If you are White Sox or Cubbies (why???) fans you should check out this page. Many knowledgeable fans (mostly on the White Sox side) discuss baseball and give good natured jabs to each other’s team.

From time to time, I go through my written notes or things I’ve saved on my iPhone to save on clutter and see if what I have can be a full blog post or not. Since I am trying to be more consistent with my posts, I’m pretty sure these quick stories or quotes wouldn’t become stand-alone features, so sit back and enjoy. As I believe I’ve mentioned before, my analytics from this platform shows these posts are popular, so here comes another.

Kyle Schwarber struck out 215 times this season. Nellie Fox (Philadelphia Athletics 1947-1949, Chicago White Sox 1950-1963, and Houston Colt .45s 1964-1965) struck out 216 times in 10,351 plate appearances in his 19 MLB seasons from 1947 to 1965. He also had a career batting average of .288.

“I have discovered in 20-years of moving around a ballpark that the knowledge of the game is usually in inverse proportion to the price of the seats.” ~ Bill Veck

Tony Gwynn struck out 188 times in the entire decade of the 1990s. Three different players (Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies 215 times, Eugenio Suarez, Seattle Mariners 214 times and Teoscar Hernandez, Seattle Mariners 211 times) during the 2023 season struck out at least 211 times.

“I hate losing even more than I love winning. And there’s a big difference.” ~ Billy Bean

Tony Gwynn from 19993 to 1997 had a higher batting average with two strikes (.337) than any other player had as an overall batting average. The closest was Mike Piazza (.336)

Different era, different game, but Charles “Old Hoss” Radburn pitched more innings (678.2) in one season, 1884 when he won 60 games (had a 1.38 ERA and struck out 441 batters) than Mark Prior (657.0) of the Chicago Cubs did in his whole career. Plus, he was the first player to flip the bird in a team photo. To read more about Old Hoss, CLICK HERE.

(Photo Credit: 19th Century Baseball. From an 1886 team photo.)

“Nobody has ever called Shea (Stadium) a cathedral. In style, it was more like an old warehouse or outdated movie theater that Korean worshippers have transformed into a church in Queens. Not a cathedral – but a place where people go to be fulfilled, nonetheless.” ~ George Vecsey, New York Times Sports Columnist

Bob Gibson of the Saint Lous Cardinals had a 1.89 ERA in 81 innings over the 9 World Series games in which he pitched.

“I remember the last season I played. I went home after a ballgame, lay down on my bed and tears came to my eyes. It’s like crying for your mother after she’s gone. You cry because you love her. I cried, I guess, because I loved baseball, and I knew I had to leave it.” ~ Willie Mays

In 1979 on a dare, Larry Bird (of Boston Celtics fame) played a game for the Indiana State baseball team. He went 1-2 with 2 RBIs. He also handled nine plays at first cleanly.

“Chicks who dig the home runs aren’t the ones who appeal to me. I think there’s sexiness in infield hits because they require technique more than with my brute strength. Then, every now and then, just to show I can do that too, I might flirt a little by hitting one out.” ~ Ichiro

Pedro Guerrero of the Dodgers was not very comfortable when moved to third base from his normal left field position. He was asked by his manager, Tommy Lasorda, “Pedro, suppose you’re playing 3^rd, the bases are loaded. What are you thinking about?” Pedro responded, “I’m thinking ‘Don’t hit it to me.’” Lasorda said, “Come on, what else are you thinking?” Pedro said, “I’m thinking ‘Don’t hit it to Saxxy either.’” Steve Sax, the Dodgers second baseman was dealing with the “yips”, a psychological issue when throwing to first.

Sergio Romo, a right-handed relief pitcher had every kid that asked him for an autograph in the 2022 spring training season sign his baseball hat first and then of course he signed for them. He wore that hat during his last career appearance on July 14, 2022.

The last player to bat without a batting helmet was Boston Red Sox catcher Bob Montgomery on September 9, 1979, in his final game.

“If he raced his pregnant wife, he’d finish third.” ~ Tommy Lasorda talking about his catcher Mike Scioscia’s lack of foot speed.

“Barry Bonds? I’ll tell you what, if he hit a home run off Bob Gibson or Don Drysdale and stood and admired it, they’d knock that earring out of his ear the next time up.” ~ National League Umpire Doug Harvey (As it should be.)

“I don’t use the strike zone much. I’m looking for something to hammer. I don’t have to argue whether the pitch was two inches either way. Besides, that sumbuck in blue back there has more problems than I do.” ~ Dick Allen (Who I feel belongs in the Hall of Fame).

You’ve all heard the term “Texas Leaguer”? It’s an old term that is used for flares or weak singles. These days “gork” or “dying quail” or even a “duck snort” (thanks to Ken “Hawk” Harrelson) have come along too. Well, the “Texas Leaguer” originated in 1892 when Ollie Pickering set a Texas League record that still hasn’t been broken going 7-for-7, all weak / flare singles.

So, in Game 5 Friday night of the Houston / Texas AL Championship game, Adolis Garcia hit a three-run homer to put the Rangers ahead. He hit his off Astros’ starter, Justin Verlander. Garcia pimped the ever-living daylights out of his “home run trot”. Garcia watched the ball go into the stands, took no less that 10 seconds to stroll to first spiking his bat while halfway to the bag, and continued around the bases. Ridiculous in my humble opinion. In the 8^th inning, Astros’ reliver Bryan Abreu walked the first batter and then hit Garcia with a 98-mph fastball in the upper arm. Garcia immediately got into Martin Maldonado's face and exchanged words. Benches cleared. The umpires decided to eject Abreu for “intentionally” hitting Garcia (Houston is down, no out in the 8^th with one on, would they really want to put a second runner on?), ejected Garcia as well. Then Dusty Baker, the Astros manager, was ejected for arguing the decision. He didn’t immediately leave the dugout and the umps had to get him to leave.

Later, former pitcher Todd Rizzo (Chicago White Sox, 1998-99) said, “Pimp your home run and I’ll put it in your ear hole! This whole thing about making a better pitch too is ridiculous. I throw a 100 pitches in a game and one gets hit for a homer do I celebrate my other 99 as a pitcher? What if I just stared at the hitter after every strike?” He’s got a point. As I always say, “Hit the ball, drop the bat, run hard, and make a series of left hand turns until a coach stops you. It’s not complicated. I’m not “old school”, I’m the dirt upon which the “old school” was built.” A fastball in the fanny and no ejections would clear much of this nonsense up. Let the players police themselves.

If you are new to “Comments” feel free to browse the Archives for past articles. If you enjoyed this one, please click on the previous posts of this subject, “Hits and Runs”, “Hits and Runs II”, “Hits and Runs III”, “Hits and Runs IV” “Hits and Runs V”. “Hits and Runs VI”, and “Hits and Runs VII”.

~ Coach Mike

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