the Baseball Oracle (finding 6 degrees)

Only FOUR connections between Babe Ruth and the only MLB player who lived two houses down from me in Canby, Oregon....

Cy Young played with Hank Gowdy for the 1911 Boston Rustlers
Hank Gowdy played with Johnny Cooney for the 1929 Boston Braves
Johnny Cooney played with Gil Hodges for the 1943 Brooklyn Dodgers
Gil Hodges played with Ed Kranepool for the 1963 New York Mets
Ed Kranepool played with Jesse Orosco for the 1979 New York Mets
Jesse Orosco played with Johan Santana for the 2003 Minnesota Twins

There was a made-for-TV-movie about him when I was a kid, and in it Pete told his mom that he was going to get to play at the House That Ruth Built, and his mom looked at him all bewildered, and shouted in some comical Old World accent, "RUTH WHO?"

(Oh wow, I just looked it up. It starred Keith Carradine!)

Ty Cobb played with Bob Fothergill for the 1922 Detroit Tigers
Bob Fothergill played with Bucky Walters for the 1933 Boston Red Sox
Bucky Walters played with Joe Nuxhall for the 1944 Cincinnati Reds
Joe Nuxhall played with Pete Rose for the 1966 Cincinnati Reds

Hank Johnson played with Johnny Vander Meer for the 1939 Cincinnati Reds

Johnny Vander Meer played with Minnie Minoso for the 1951 Cleveland Indians

Minnie Minoso played with Harold Baines for the 1980 Chicago White Sox

Harold Baines played with Heathcliff Slocumb for the 1999 Baltimore Orioles

Gil Garrido played with Dusty Baker for the 1971 Atlanta Braves

Dusty Baker played with Stan Javier for the 1986 Oakland Athletics

Stan Javier played with Ichiro Suzuki for the 2001 Seattle Mariners

This ones my favorite.

5 steps from Cy Young to my mother's first husband's son-in-law (from his 2nd marriage)!

Lloyd Waner played with Paul Waner for the 1927 Pittsburgh Pirates
Paul Waner played with Warren Spahn for the 1942 Boston Braves
Warren Spahn played with Phil Niekro for the 1964 Milwaukee Braves
Phil Niekro played with Stan Javier for the 1984 New York Yankees
Stan Javier played with Scott Podsednik for the 2001 Seattle Mariners

Buck Weaver played with Hi Jasper for the 1915 Chicago White Sox
Hi Jasper played with George Uhle for the 1919 Cleveland Indians
George Uhle played with Bob Feller for the 1936 Cleveland Indians
Bob Feller played with Minnie Minoso for the 1949 Cleveland Indians
Minnie Minoso played with Harold Baines for the 1980 Chicago White Sox
Harold Baines played with Joe Crede for the 2001 Chicago White Sox

Just got alerted to this today (glad I checked to see if there was a thread).

Chain from Babe Ruth to Mike Trout (6 degrees)

1) Babe Ruth played with Red Ruffing for the 1931 New York Yankees
2) Red Ruffing played with Joe Gordon for the 1941 New York Yankees
3) Joe Gordon played with Minnie Minoso for the 1949 Cleveland Indians
4) Minnie Minoso played with Harold Baines for the 1980 Chicago White Sox
5) Harold Baines played with Russell Branyan for the 1999 Cleveland Indians
6) Russell Branyan played with Mike Trout for the 2011 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

As a post way above points out: Minnie Minoso is Kevin Bacon.

I don't feel like fixing up the cut-and-paste, but you can get from Old Billy Hamilton to New Billy Hamilton in eight steps, none of which involves Minnie Minoso (but does require the well-traveled Bob Newsom and Tommy John).

this is not quite the same thing, but there is one remaining active pitcher who has faced george brett

My first guess would be Bartolo, but that doesn't seem right.

that is incorrect. fwiw this pitcher threw just one pitch to brett, on which he lined out to right field.

Got it--good one. (I'll leave it open for anyone else who wants to try.) Almost Brett's final AB, which happened the next day, when singled off Tom Henke.

(By "got it," I mean I cheated.)

latroy?

how far back do pitch-by-pitch records go?

no looks like he broke in in 95

how would one find the answer to this?

i only know the fact of it because it was mentioned in the office; to discover the answer i looked at when brett retired and then who the oldest active pitchers are

http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/batter_vs_pitcher.cgi?pitcher=oliveda02#gotresults&pitcher=oliveda02&min_year_game=1993&max_year_game=1993&post=1&opp_id=&bats=any&opponent_status=&c1criteria=&c1gtlt=eq&c1val=0&c2criteria=&c2gtlt=eq&c2val=0&orderby=PA&orderby_dir=desc&orderby_second=Name&orderby_dir_second=asc&ajax=1&submitter=1

darren oliver it is

Dolf Luque played with Pete Appleton for the 1928 Cincinnati Reds
Pete Appleton played with Early Wynn for the 1939 Washington Senators
Early Wynn played with Tommy John for the 1963 Cleveland Indians
Tommy John played with Jose Rijo for the 1985 Oakland Athletics
Jose Rijo played with Austin Kearns for the 2002 Cincinnati Reds
Austin Kearns played with Jose Fernandez for the 2013 Miami Marlins

early wynn > tommy john > jose rijo is magical

The Early Wynn/Tommy John intersection in 1963 would seem to be about as optimal as it gets--Wynn's in his last year, TJ's a rookie, and between them they span from 1939-1989. Setting aside the special case of Minnie Minoso, are there two teammates who ever covered so much ground?

Seeing as Oliver as a rookie was a teammate of Nolan Ryan in Ryan's last year ('93), they bridge 1966-2013, only three seasons short of Wynn/John. But I think that's it for Oliver.

Pete Reiser played with Ed Fitz Gerald for the 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates
Ed Fitz Gerald played with Jim Kaat for the 1959 Washington Senators
Jim Kaat played with Willie McGee for the 1983 St. Louis Cardinals
Willie McGee played with Rick Ankiel for the 1999 St. Louis Cardinals
Rick Ankiel played with Bryce Harper for the 2012 Washington Nationals

I'm removing Minnie Minoso from these chains bcz of his stunt appearance in 1980, also modifying the searches that have Hodges > Kranepool > Orosco.

Tris Speaker played with Jimmie Foxx for the 1928 Philadelphia Athletics
Jimmie Foxx played with Granny Hamner for the 1945 Philadelphia Phillies
Granny Hamner played with Fred Norman for the 1962 Kansas City Athletics
Fred Norman played with Tim Wallach for the 1980 Montreal Expos
Tim Wallach played with Chan Ho Park for the 1996 Los Angeles Dodgers
Chan Ho Park played with Andrew McCutchen for the 2010 Pittsburgh Pirates

Tim Lincecum to Mark Fidrych: 3 steps.

Tim Lincecum played with Omar Vizquel for the 2007 San Francisco Giants
Omar Vizquel played with Jack Morris for the 1994 Cleveland Indians
Jack Morris played with Mark Fidrych for the 1980 Detroit Tigers

Pablo Sandoval to John Kruk: 2 steps.

Pablo Sandoval played with Ray Durham for the 2008 San Francisco Giants
Ray Durham played with John Kruk for the 1995 Chicago White Sox

Clayton Kershaw to Sandy Koufax: 4 steps.

Clayton Kershaw played with Jeff Weaver for the 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers
Jeff Weaver played with Jesse Orosco for the 2003 New York Yankees
Jesse Orosco played with Don Sutton for the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers
Don Sutton played with Sandy Koufax for the 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers