MLB Topics

[Jim Dixon]

The Los Angeles Browns?

I had never heard this.

https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/the-story-of-the-los-angeles-browns-changed-baseball-forever

Baseball was doing quite well on the west coast. the sf seals were as good as any team and the Browns would have been at best the second best team on the coast.

[Ralph Turner]

The Los Angeles Browns?

I had never heard this.

https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/the-story-of-the-los-angeles-browns-changed-baseball-forever

Baseball was doing quite well on the west coast. the sf seals were as good as any team and the Browns would have been at best the second best team on the coast.

Yeah, the San Francisco Seals had a local boy to play for them. His name was Dimaggio, Joe Dimaggio. You've heard of him. Joe, along with his older brother Vince and younger brother Dom, played for the Seals in the 1930's.

[Mr. Ypsi]

The Tigers FINALLY beat the Indians!  After nine straight losses overall, and TWENTY straight to Cleveland, they won tonite 10-5.  The hero of the game was Isaac Paredes - in his fifth major league game he hit a grand slam in the seven run fourth inning to turn a 3-5 deficit to a 7-5 advantage.  The Tiger bullpen (a deserved source of derision in past seasons) continued their dominance this season to totally shut down the Tribe.

Time for the kitty-cats to go on a run!

[Mr. Ypsi]

Justin Verlander announced today that he will undergo Tommy John surgery.  He is signed with Houston thru next season, but the usual recovery time for the surgery would mean losing the entire 2021 season.  Since he is already 37, probably there are not very many teams willing to risk signing such a pitcher in free agency.  On the other hand, he IS the reigning AL Cy Young winner - SOMEBODY will take a chance on him.

My question to you:  I THINK he is already a lock for the HoF, but another good season or two couldn't hurt.  IF he is (effectively) finished, will he be in?

[RogK]

If we look at the Similar Pitchers list here :
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/verlaju01.shtml
we see that three of the eight retired ones are HOFers.
When I think of HOF pitchers, Juan Marichal comes to mind. He had 244 complete games and 52 shutouts. Verlander has 26 complete games and 9 shutouts. Marichal topped 26 CGs in two different individual seasons and threw 10 shutouts in 1965.
I realize we have to accept lowered standards for a lot of things these days, so Verlander could very well be a lock for the HOF.

[RogK]

Mr Ypsi, did you ever see Mark Fidrych in person? If yes, detailed memories would be appreciated.

[Jim Dixon]

I think that if we allow Juan Marichal to be the standard, there would be fewer pitchers in the HOF.  Somewhere in a box is the handout on Marichal I got when the Giants honored his career.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Mr Ypsi, did you ever see Mark Fidrych in person? If yes, detailed memories would be appreciated.

Only once in person.  He beat the Yankees, and displayed his full range of lovable eccentricities.  Beyond that, my memory is too clouded for details.

[RogK]

I do respect Verlander for his very good ERA (3.33) accomplished over 2988 innings. That's a lot of innings and were done in a time of DHs, relatively small playing fields (fair and foul territories) and of course "juiced" baseballs.
Do any of you guys know if there's an online comparison of all current and some prior ballparks in terms of square feet of outfield (or all fair territory) and foul ground?
I'm guessing Oakland is the only current park with substantial foul territory, which helps pitchers.

[RogK]

this chart
http://www.andrewclem.com/Baseball/Stadium_statistics.html
includes columns for estimated square feet of fair and foul territory.

[Jim Dixon]

this chart
http://www.andrewclem.com/Baseball/Stadium_statistics.html
includes columns for estimated square feet of fair and foul territory.

It is real surprising how much fout territory there is for Oakland.  I looked up Candlestick, another multi-purpose stadium and it is not close to the record foul territory for Oakland.

[RogK]

Yeah, other contemporary round stadia like Shea, Three Rivers, the Vet, Busch II, Astrodome, Kingdome had box seats fill in area around the infield, but Oakland left it very open.
Your mention of Candlestick reminds me that on one visit to SF circa 1993, I stayed at a small hotel I think on Bush St near Chinatown. Around 5pm, as I passed the front desk on my way out to the street, the lady at the desk saw me carrying the rolled up blanket from my room and immediately said, "Going to the Giants game, huh?" Yep, I was.

[Jim Dixon]

Huntingdon catcher Joe Odom made his MLB debut on July 28th

https://d3baseball.prestosports.com/notables/2020/09/Odom-makes-mlb-debut

[RogK]

Hank Aaron had 3016 hits that were not home runs, along with his 755 homers.