This is a reminder that you can vote for 2008 Hall of Fame candidates right here. Voting is open for another couple of weeks. I'm hoping for 100 complete ballots.

Again, the title says it all. I had to limit it to 1970 since 15 losses was quite common earlier in the century, even for great pitchers. (It wasn't so rare to see guys with 28-15 seasons, for example.)

Anyway, here are all the pitchers with an ERA+ of at least 125 with 15 or more losses, 1970-2007: Read the rest of this entry »

The title says it all, click through for the lists. Read the rest of this entry »

I used the PI's weight data to generate a list, which I then graphed in Excel. Click through.

Explanations:

• I did a very simple search for players listed at 175 lbs or less who had 200 PAs in a season, then divided the results by "Years with players." Then I made a list of the total number of teams in baseball for each year and divided the number of players by the number of teams for each year.
• I lowered the bar to 200 PAs to try to avoid issues with shortened seasons due to strike (though 1981 is still screwy as you can see), and also to try to get a better idea of the total number of regular big-leaguers who met the weight criterion.
• And keep in mind that this weight data is the player's listed weight. We all know that real weights might be a lot higher, but this is what was printed in the media guide or on backs of baseball cards, etc.

Obviously 1914-1915 stick out as an aberration. I have no idea what happened there, except that it comes during the period of United States involvement in World War I. is it as simple as the fact that people ate less during this period when supplies were less abundant? I'm not sure.

Another thing to keep in mind is that this graph doesn't correct for baseline changes in the US population. Over the last 100 years, Americans have generally gotten heavier, due to a number of factors including cultural changes and availability of a variety of foods. I'm sure that the fraction of the general population weighing 175 lbs or less has dropped over this period. This doesn't translate one-for-one with athletes, since you figure that baseball players are usually in great shape (chubby players aside, who have existed in all eras (see also Babe Ruth and John Kruk.)

The steroids out still sticks out a bit, with a big dropoff in 1994 (which probably has some 1994 strike effects) but that much lower level continuing through 1997. Since 1998 we've generally seen an increase in the number of undersized players.

I don't know what this all means since it's such a large average over so many different conditions.

sdfs

Did you know that the PI includes height and weight data? For some reason, after yesterday, I was inclined to look at lighter players today. Here are the top seasons since 1977, ranked by OPS+, for players listed at 175 lbs or less, minimum 400 PA:

 Cnt Player            **OPS+**  Wt  PA Year Age Tm  Lg  G   AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+--------+---+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Lonnie Smith         168   170 577 1989  33 ATL NL 134 482  89 152 34  4 21  79  76   3  95  11   1   7   7  25 12  .315  .415  .533  .948 *7
    2 Magglio Ordonez      167   170 678 2007  33 DET AL 157 595 117 216 54  0 28 139  76   8  79   2   0   5  20   4  1  .363  .434  .595 1.029 *9D
    3 Robin Yount          166   170 704 1982  26 MIL AL 156 635 129 210 46 12 29 114  54   2  63   1   4  10  19  14  3  .331  .379  .578  .957 *6/D
    4 Sixto Lezcano        164   175 566 1979  25 MIL AL 138 473  84 152 29  3 28 101  77   5  74   3   6   7  11   4  3  .321  .414  .573  .987 *9/D7
    5 Adrian Beltre        163   170 657 2004  25 LAD NL 156 598 104 200 32  0 48 121  53   9  87   2   0   4  15   7  2  .334  .388  .629 1.017 *5/6
    6 Oscar Gamble         162   165 470 1977  27 CHW AL 137 408  75 121 22  2 31  83  54   2  54   6   1   1   3   1  2  .297  .386  .588  .974 *D9/87
    7 Don Mattingly        161   175 742 1986  25 NYY AL 162 677 117 238 53  2 31 113  53  11  35   1   1  10  17   0  0  .352  .394  .573  .967 *3/5D
    8 Don Mattingly        156   175 727 1985  24 NYY AL 159 652 107 211 48  3 35 145  56  13  41   2   2  15  15   2  2  .324  .371  .567  .938 *3
    9 Don Mattingly        156   175 662 1984  23 NYY AL 153 603  91 207 44  2 23 110  41   8  33   1   8   9  15   1  1  .343  .381  .537  .918 *37/98
   10 Nomar Garciaparra    155   165 599 2000  26 BOS AL 140 529 104 197 51  3 21  96  61  20  50   2   0   7   8   5  2  .372  .434  .599 1.033 *6/D
   11 Alan Trammell        155   175 668 1987  29 DET AL 151 597 109 205 34  3 28 105  60   8  47   3   2   6  11  21  2  .343  .402  .551  .953 *6
   12 Magglio Ordonez      153   170 653 2002  28 CHW AL 153 590 116 189 47  1 38 135  53   2  77   7   0   3  21   7  5  .320  .381  .597  .978 *9/D
   13 Nomar Garciaparra    153   165 595 1999  25 BOS AL 135 532 103 190 42  4 27 104  51   7  39   8   0   4  11  14  3  .357  .418  .603 1.021 *6
   14 Derek Jeter          153   175 739 1999  25 NYY AL 158 627 134 219 37  9 24 102  91   5 116  12   3   6  12  19  8  .349  .438  .552  .990 *6
   15 Matt Stairs          153   175 410 1997  29 OAK AL 133 352  62 105 19  0 27  73  50   1  60   3   1   4   6   3  2  .298  .386  .582  .968 97D/3
   16 Ben Oglivie          153   170 660 1980  31 MIL AL 156 592  94 180 26  2 41 118  54  19  71   5   0   9   5  11  9  .304  .362  .563  .925 *7/D98
   17 Robin Yount          152   170 690 1989  33 MIL AL 160 614 101 195 38  9 21 103  63   9  71   6   3   4   9  19  3  .318  .384  .511  .895 *8D
   18 Robin Yount          150   170 662 1983  27 MIL AL 149 578 102 178 42 10 17  80  72   6  58   3   1   8  11  12  5  .308  .383  .503  .886 *6/D
   19 Amos Otis            150   166 567 1978  31 KCR AL 141 486  74 145 30  7 22  96  66   7  54   4   1  10  10  32  8  .298  .380  .525  .905 *8/D
   20 Willie McGee         147   175 652 1985  26 STL NL 152 612 114 216 26 18 10  82  34   2  86   0   1   5   3  56 16  .353  .384  .503  .887 *8/7
   21 Rich Aurilia         146   170 689 2001  29 SFG NL 156 636 114 206 37  5 37  97  47   2  83   0   3   3  14   1  3  .324  .369  .572  .941 *6
   22 Julio Franco         146   165 659 1991  32 TEX AL 146 589 108 201 27  3 15  78  65   8  78   3   0   2  13  36  9  .341  .408  .474  .882 *4
   23 Don Mattingly        146   175 629 1987  26 NYY AL 141 569  93 186 38  2 30 115  51  13  38   1   0   8  16   1  4  .327  .378  .559  .937 *3/D
   24 Chase Utley          145   170 613 2007  28 PHI NL 132 530 104 176 48  5 22 103  50   1  89  25   1   7   7   9  1  .332  .410  .566  .976 *4/3
   25 Jose Cruz            145   175 685 1984  36 HOU NL 160 600  96 187 28 13 12  95  73  10  68   0   2  10   8  22  8  .312  .381  .462  .843 *7
   26 Sixto Lezcano        145   175 559 1982  28 SDP NL 138 470  73 136 26  6 16  84  78  10  69   2   2   7  11   2  1  .289  .388  .472  .860 *9

Mattingly fans, go crazy.

Interestingly, that fake list that was all over the internet yesterday morning mentioned one of the players who appears above. I don't want to say who, since it's not right to bring up that player's name AGAIN since he didn't ultimately appear in the Mitchell report. Doesn't mean any of these above guys are clean, of course.

Hey, check this out. I searched for all players, 1977-2007, listed at 175 lbs or less who got 400+ PAs in that year, and then sorted them by year (actually the PI Batting Season Finder did all this work for me):

So everybody supposedly starting taking steroids in 1993, and then in 1994 the number of players getting 400+ PAs while weighing 175 lbs or less suddenly drops off. Interesting. And then when MLB puts any sort of testing in place in 2003, suddenly the number of players weighing 175 lbs or less shoots up. Interesting.

Well, the era of Performance Enhancing Drugs in baseball has been officially defined. Time will tell about the possible repercussions for the players involved.

I, for one, have been shocked by the response to the Mitchell report. People seem to be focusing on the fact that certain players were dumb enough to write personal checks for steroids or HGH. These people seem to fail to realize that these are the only players for whom purchase of PEDs could be proven.

For each one of the players named in Mitchell's report, there are probably 10 more who acquired PEDs from other sources that Mitchell and his team were unable to trace or confirm. And yet, already today I heard two different media outlets wondering how Mark McGwire will do in the Hall of Fame voting now that he has been  "cleared" of steroid use.

Frankly, that's ridiculous. We'll probably never know for sure about McGwire's use of PEDs, or about the use by other players of that era. Sosa, Juan Gonzales, I-Rod, even Sheffield--we'll probably never know. And there are probably dozens of other players who we never suspected who were users.

Only with the passage of time will the PED era get put into perspective. History will find a way to put this era into perspective.

I would imagine we all agree in the hopes of MLB putting an effective testing program in place and putting an end to this era.

We've previously talked about Micah Owings' great season as a hitter (just search for his name in the search box,) but there was a specific question about whether he had the highest SLG for a pitcher with at least 30 total bases in a season. Here are the leaders for that set of criteria:

  Cnt Player             **SLG**   TB Year Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+---------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Micah Owings         .683    41 2007  24 ARI NL  35  64  60   9  20  7  1  4  15   2   0  16   0   1   1   0   0  0  .333  .349 1.032 *1
    2 Don Newcombe         .632    74 1955  29 BRO NL  57 125 117  18  42  9  1  7  23   6   0  18   1   1   0   1   1  0  .359  .395 1.027 *1
    3 Carl Scheib          .623    33 1951  24 PHA AL  48  55  53   9  21  2  2  2   8   1   0   5   1   0   0   1   0  0  .396  .418 1.041 *1
    4 Wes Ferrell          .621    72 1931  23 CLE AL  48 128 116  24  37  6  1  9  30  10   0  21   0   2   0   0   0  0  .319  .373  .994 *1
    5 Brooks Kieschnick    .614    43 2003  31 MIL NL  70  76  70  12  21  1  0  7  12   6   0  13   0   0   0   2   0  0  .300  .355  .969 *1/D7
    6 Bob Lemon            .607    34 1947  26 CLE AL  47  64  56  11  18  4  3  2   5   6   0   9   0   2   0   0   0  0  .321  .387  .994 *1/89
    7 Don Drysdale         .591    39 1958  21 LAD NL  47  72  66   9  15  1  1  7  12   3   0  25   0   3   0   0   0  0  .227  .261  .852 *1
    8 Mike Hampton         .582    46 2001  28 COL NL  43  86  79  20  23  2  0  7  16   2   0  21   0   5   0   1   0  1  .291  .309  .891 *1
    9 Red Ruffing          .582    64 1930  25 TOT AL  58 117 110  17  40  8  2  4  22   7   0   8   0   0   0   0   0  0  .364  .402  .984 *1
   10 Walter Johnson       .577    56 1925  37 WSH AL  36 107  97  12  42  6  1  2  20   3   0   6   1   6   0   0   0  1  .433  .455 1.032 *1
   11 Babe Ruth            .576    53 1915  20 BOS AL  42 103  92  16  29 10  1  4  21   9   0  23   0   2   0   0   0  0  .315  .376  .952 *1
   12 Jack Bentley         .573    51 1923  28 NYG NL  52  94  89   9  38  6  2  1  14   3   0   4   0   2   0   0   0  0  .427  .446 1.019 *1
   13 Elam Vangilder       .559    52 1922  26 SLB AL  45 110  93  16  32 10  2  2  11   5   0  11   3   9   0   0   0  0  .344  .396  .955 *1
   14 Bob Lemon            .556    60 1949  28 CLE AL  46 123 108  17  29  6  2  7  19  10   0  20   0   5   0   1   0  0  .269  .331  .887 *1
   15 Jim Rooker           .544    31 1969  26 KCR AL  34  59  57   7  16  3  0  4   8   1   0  19   1   0   0   2   0  0  .281  .305  .849 *1
   16 Clint Hartung        .543    51 1947  24 NYG NL  34  97  94  13  29  4  3  4  13   3   0  21   0   0   0   2   0  0  .309  .330  .873 *1/7
   17 Brickyard Kennedy    .534    31 1903  35 PIT NL  23  62  58   7  21  4  3  0  10   2   0   0   0   2   0   0   0  0  .362  .383  .917 *1
   18 Wes Ferrell          .533    80 1935  27 BOS AL  75 179 150  25  52  5  1  7  32  21   0  16   0   8   0   0   0  0  .347  .427  .960 *1
   19 Sonny Siebert        .532    42 1971  34 BOS AL  32  90  79  10  21  3  0  6  15   1   0  20   2   7   1   2   0  0  .266  .289  .821 *1
   20 Claude Hendrix       .529    64 1912  23 PIT NL  46 126 121  25  39 10  6  1  15   3   0  18   0   2   0   0   1  0  .322  .339  .868 *1

Not only does Owings hold the record, but he holds it by a country mile. However, I'm inclined to say that Newcombe's 1955 performance and Ferrell's 1931 performance are more impressive, mainly because they had about double the number of plate appearances and maintained great stats. (Of course, who knows what Owings could do in 100, 200, or 400 PAs in a season. We'll probably never learn that.)

Check it out:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=mlb&id=3151590

Can anyone else come up with an example of a player with the same name as his team? And Mr. Met doesn't count.

It's hard to believe the Astros were in the World Series a few years ago because they are terrible now. Today, they just got a lot worse.

Playing in Oriole Park, Tejada was able to hide the fact that his offensive production has slipped significantly. But just look at his recent home/road splits. In 2007 he had an OPS of .859 at home and .734 on the road. In 2006, it was .958 at home and .798 on the road. In 2005, it was .925 at home and .809 on the road.

Now he's not going to have the benefit of a great hitter's park for half his games. Go to his main B-R page and neutralize his stats. Last year, under neutral conditions, he hit .294, but with just a .797 OPS, 18 HR, 77 RBI, and 68 runs scored.  And the Astros just gave up the farm for this guy...

So, how often has it happened, and who is the most intentionally walked pitcher?  Well, the PI database has 12 times it's happened.  Mickey McDermott in 1957 was the only guy given two free passes in a season, but Gary Peters racked up 3 overall.

It's only happened once since 1970, though - to Don Robinson in 1984 in this game.  Added bonus: he appeared as a pinch hitter, and scored the winning run as a result.  Awesome.