i saw a mention of jim abbott's no-hitter today and took a look at the arc of his career. i didn't realize quite how good he was at his peak (1991: 18-11 with 2.89 ERA and 5.5 fWAR, 243 IP, and very good in 1992 as well), but also how bad things got in the late 90s. his ERA was 7.48 in 1996 (he went 2-18 for the angels) over 142 IP. i checked, and yes - that is the highest ERA for a pitcher who has thrown 140+ innings in a season since integration
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 12 February 2023 00:48 (one year ago) link
and he was 28 during that season! he retired, took 1997 off to listen to ok computer, and then came back for 2 more seasons before retiring for good at age 31. what happened to him?
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 12 February 2023 00:49 (one year ago) link
there was no coming back again after Kid A
― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Sunday, 12 February 2023 01:25 (one year ago) link
jim abbott listened to treefingers for the first time and, honestly, he hated it. he didn't understand what was even going on and why it was taking so long. but on the third and fourth listen, something changed, and so he retired again
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 12 February 2023 01:26 (one year ago) link
The best he could was good enough
― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Sunday, 12 February 2023 01:54 (one year ago) link
Turned up on my FB feed (from MLB's FB page): the 15 African American pitchers to win 20 games. Here's the link if you want to check yourself (I glanced at the post before trying it myself): https://www.facebook.com/mlb/posts/pfbid02vFMJgGhradC5fUcMLfcen5cSSYQ7TrjdnT5tAwD3SK1C4tH6Kq7PefRAaN8Bi6w4l.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 28 February 2023 02:14 (one year ago) link
Stealing this from FB: of the 33 players with 3,000 hits, which five never had a 200-hit season?
― clemenza, Wednesday, 12 July 2023 04:00 (ten months ago) link
Answer: Anson, Yaz, Murray, Winfield, Henderson.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 12 July 2023 04:01 (ten months ago) link
ted williams?
still seems crazy tho
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 12 July 2023 04:04 (ten months ago) link
oh shit ted didn't even get to 3000 hits; he sucked
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 12 July 2023 04:05 (ten months ago) link
Nice question, I only got two right (the first and fourth you listed).
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Wednesday, 12 July 2023 05:24 (ten months ago) link
Impressed that you got the first one, one I never would have gotten. I saw the answers concurrent with the question, so didn't get to try it. I think I might have gotten the last three with enough thought--last two for sure--but never would have guessed Yaz, who I would have just assumed got 200 hits in '67. Pretty sure I knew Williams wasn't a 3,000 hit guy because of the two Ws, walks and wars.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 12 July 2023 13:46 (ten months ago) link
Who made the last out in Johnny Vander Meer's second no-hitter? (One or two of you may have seen my FB comment--don't answer.)
― clemenza, Thursday, 7 September 2023 01:00 (eight months ago) link
(Needless to say, someone famous.)
BR Walk-off asking the real questionshttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/F_pxCAwXAAA-uUr?format=jpg&name=mediumhttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/F_pxCAYXgAAseEK?format=jpg&name=mediumhttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/F_pxCAyXYAACB3J?format=jpg&name=mediumhttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/F_pxCAWXoAAtK8o?format=jpg&name=medium
― mojo dojo casas house (gyac), Friday, 24 November 2023 16:45 (six months ago) link
I must have known this long ago and forgot: Randy Moffitt, first-round pick of the Giants in 1970 who went on to have a decent career splitting the closer job with Gary Lavelle for a few years (both played for the Jays, too), is Billy Jean King's brother. Still alive.
― clemenza, Monday, 4 December 2023 16:41 (five months ago) link
I can't vouch for the accuracy of this--lifted from FB--but: who was the only player to play alongside Vlad Guerrero Sr., Craig Biggio, and Dante Bichette?
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/veresda01.shtml
― clemenza, Thursday, 18 April 2024 04:43 (one month ago) link
Only one MLB player who started his career before baseball was integrated is still living: Tommy Brown, who was 16 when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1944 and is now 96.
Source: https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/Oldest_Living_Baseball_Players.php
― jaymc, Wednesday, 22 May 2024 04:30 (two days ago) link