You.....
.....nailed it!
Posted on 08/03/2005 8:34:12 AM PDT by newgeezer
Rick Sutcliffe, the star pitcher for the Chicago Cubs in the late 1980s, recalls the day that teammate Rafael Palmeiro, a first baseman-outfielder, was on his way out of Chicago."It was (general manager) Jim Frey and (manager) Don Zimmer who both said, 'This guy will never hit for power,' " Sutcliffe recalled. "I remember a situation where there was a man at first and nobody out. Zimmer's big deal was to pull the ball as a lefthanded hitter. A base hit to right and you go first to third. A base hit to left, you only go first to second. So, 'Raffy' comes up and singles to left as good as you've ever seen, and it's first and second. Zimmer was so mad, I thought he was going to pinch-run for him."
That day in 1988, it was decided that the Cubs would keep lefthanded-hitting Mark Grace, whom they thought would hit for more power than Palmeiro, and trade Palmeiro, which they did in the offseason of 1988. That year, Palmeiro had hit only eight homers in 580 at-bats for the Cubs. Grace had seven in 486 at-bats.
Palmeiro, who even had named his dog "Wrigley" in honor of Wrigley Field, desperately wanted to remain a Cub and called Sutcliffe, whom he presumed had considerable influence in the organization.
"He said, 'Tell (Cubs management) I promise I will hit for power. Tell them to please don't trade me,'" said Sutcliffe, now an ESPN analyst who was in town this week.
"I called Frey and said, 'I believe this guy. He says he's going to hit for power. Let's hang on to him.' But obviously, they traded him."
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
And that time wasn't too long ago. Ever watch an old World Series or All Star game on the ESPN Classic Sports channel? Up until the early/mid-90s most players were not much larger than the average guy.
What bugs me about today's athletes are the huge salaries that put the ballpark out of reach for many fans. A lot of free-market folks slam me for this, but a ballplayer doesn't need to make $12 million a year to survive. Of course, it ISN'T a free market; the cities have been blackmailed into financing the stadiums and subsidizing the teams in multifarious ways. When it costs $120-150 to take a family of four to a game in medium-priced seats, it's way too much.
When I was a kid I used to collect the Fleer old-time baseball cards, and it was amazing to me that the players of the 20s and 30s often looked prematurely aged (i.e., in their late 40s or 50s) even during their careers. I think in those days the average person didn't have all the early health care, vitamins, shots, etc., that we now take for granted.
No question in my mind that Anderson juiced up. He went from being a pathetic .220 singles hitter to 50 homers in a very short time period. Plus, I saw him once at the supermarket and he looked as ripped as any body builder Ive ever seen; a quite unnaural sight, IMO.
Yeah, Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner immediately come to mind. They looked like my grandfather by the time they reached 30. .....although it certainly didn't affect their on-field performance. Both lived long lives too.
His 1987 season was the most remarkable season that nobody ever talks about. He hit .370 that year and stole 56 bases -- the kind of performance that probably hasn't been seen since Ty Cobb retired. He also won the second of his five Gold Glove awards that year.
His career accomplishments were extraordinary, including the following:
1. Lifetime .338 batting average, which is higher than anyone since Ted Williams retired and ranks him even among the best hitters of the dead-ball era.
2. He hit .289 during his first (partial) season, then went through 19 years in which he never hit lower than .309 -- including a five-year stretch from 1993-97 in which his lowest average was .353!
3. Eight batting titles (a National League record, shared with the legendary Honus Wagner), Five Gold Glove awards, plus 15 All-Star appearances in his 18 full seasons.
4. He was part of one of the oddest stories in recent years, in which he hit .353 in 1996 but didn't have the minimum number of at-bats to qualify for the batting title. He won the batting title anyway, because he was far enough ahead of his closest competitor that he still had the highest average in the league even if it was re-computed with 0 hits for the remaining at-bats he would have needed to reach the minimum.
5. He was one of the most difficult hitters to strike out during his career, with a total of only 434 K's in more than 10,000 plate appearances.
You are right on the money regarding Giambi switching over to HGH, and the effects/benefit finally kicked in. A bunch of other guys already used HGH as their enhancer of choice, and those guys are the ones who have seen no decline in their performance thus far. This stuff is rampant in the game, it's a huge joke.
It wasn't just in Seattle.
Re: Tony Gwynn
" 2. He hit .289 during his first (partial) season, then went through 19 years in which he never hit lower than .309 -- including a five-year stretch from 1993-97 in which his lowest average was .353!"
Didn't he start chewing bubble gum about that time?
The power numbers put up in 1994 before the strike were right in line with those in the years after.
Thanks for taking the time to make such an interesting post.
Baseball is the greatest game around.
'90: 1521
'91: 1430
'92: 1262
'93: 1956
'95: 1917
'96: 2220
'97: 2163
'98: 2565
'99: 2893
'00: 3005
Yep, the big jump happened the year before the strike. ....and the years after the strike they just kept on growing.
(The AL may be different. ....I'll check on it).
I just question that baseball decided to juice up the game after the strike. Because whatever was happening, it was going on before everything went to hell that year. Frank Thomas and Jeff Bagwell were both slugging over .700, Matt Williams and Ken Griffey were on pace to make a run at 60 home runs, Tony Gwynn was close to hitting .400, and there were a bunch of other players putting up numbers that would have been MVP caliber just a few years before.
The slugging percentages in the AL and NL in 1994 were .434 and .415. By contrast, in 1990 those numbers had both been in the .380s. The power burst seems to have peaked in 1999/2000, but pre-strike '94 is definitely consistent with the whole power binge these last 10 years, and needs to be included with those years.
Do you have any links on the stuff and who is rumored to use it?
Notice the other big jump in 1998 -- which coincides with the entrance of Arizona into the National League.
Thanks. I always look for opportunities to tout Tony Gwynn as one of the all-time greats!
How many ABs was he behind the minimum requirement? ....And is this feat unprecedented in MLB history?
He was one of the most difficult hitters to strike out during his career, with a total of only 434 K's in more than 10,000 plate appearances.
An amazing stat. .....Like Joe D's 1:1 career strikeout/HR ratio.
You.....
.....nailed it!
Gwynn also hit .394 in the strike shortened '94 season. He was only 3 hits short of .400 at the time. If anyone could have finished at .400, it was Gwynn. I don't see it happening again.
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