Matt
Holliday and Billy Butler each had 299 total bases last season.
In
1986, when Bob Boone was 38, he
caught a remarkable 144 games. Jorge Posada comes into this season at 38 and has caught a
total of 130 games the last two seasons combined.
The
toughest hitter to strikeout last season with over 20 homers was Carlos
Lee who in 610 at bats hit 26 homers
and struck out just 51 times.
Last
season, eight players had an OPS of .950+. Of the eight, Albert Pujols,
Prince Fielder, Joey Votto, Derrek Lee, Kevin Youkilis, Adrian Gonzalez, only catcher Joe Mauer and shortstop Hanley Ramirez were not primarily first basemen.
Over
the last two seasons, Russell Branyon
hit 43 homers in only 563 at bats. Nelson Cruz hit 40 in 577 at bats and Mike
Napoli hit 40 in 609 at bats.
When Hank
Aaron broke the Babe?s all-time home run record, the ball landed in
the left-field bullpen over the head of the Dodger left fielder, Bill
Buckner (yes, that Bill
Buckner).
Garrett
Atkins? OPS has been heading in the
wrong direction since 2006: .965, .863, .780, and last season .650.
Coming
out of the Rangers bullpen, Frank Francisco the last two seasons has averaged a WHIP of 1.136 and 11.2
strikeouts per 9 innings.
Over Jonathan
Papelbon?s first four seasons he
averaged 35 times a season having a runner on first less than two outs.
Last year he had 55 double play opportunities and produced no DPs.
1. Last season, the AL West teams averaged 86 wins; the AL East and the NL West teams averaged 84 wins; the NL East teams averaged 79 wins; the NL Central teams averaged 78 wins; and the AL Central teams averaged 76.4 wins. The division champs averaged 94.3 wins, the Wild Card teams averaged 93.5 wins, and all the postseason teams averaged 94.125 wins.
2. 2010 is the 25th anniversary season of Tom Seaver and Phil Niekro picking up their 300th wins, Rod Carew collecting his 3,000th hit, Nolan Ryan striking out his 4,000th batter, and Pete Rose breaking Ty Cobb?s record for most hits all-time.
3. Brian Giles last season hit .191, exactly .100 points beneath his lifetime average.
4. Jose Reyes? 73 triples are the most of any player in baseball history with fewer than 800 games played (Reyes has played in 791).
5. From 2000-2009 there were 24 players who averaged over .300, with a minimum of 3,000 plate appearances. No surprise that Albert Pujols (.334) leads them all, but some you may not think of include Sean Casey (.300), Michael Young (.302), Jose Vidro (.303), and Moises Alou (.310).
6. Of all the pitchers with less than 600 innings pitched, no one has more strikeouts than Brad Lidge who has 714 in 529 innings; he?s followed by Tim Lincecum who has 676 in 598.2 innings and Francisco Rodriguez with 660 in 519.2 innings.
7. Ryan Garko, who played behind Victor Martinez at Cleveland at first, signed a $550,000 contract with the Mariners to play first, DH and catch. In 2003, while at Stanford, Garko won the Johnny Bench Award as the nation's top college catcher.
8. Brad Penny should thrive in the NL with pitching coach Dave Duncan in the Cardinals big ballpark. Penny?s WHIP last season with Boston was 1.534 and with the Giants 0.960.
9. The 2007 Rays, 2006 Cubs, 2002 Cubs, 1998 Diamondbacks, 1997 Cubs, and the 1996 Giants are the six teams that went from 70 or fewer wins the prior season to the postseason since the advent of the Wild Card.
FROM THE BILL CHUCK FILES...By Baseball Newstalgist, Bill ChuckFebruary 5, 2010 NINE TO KNOW ABOUT VICTOR MARTINEZ
Overall last season, Victor Martinez hit .281 with 8 homers and 50 RBI while catching 83 games and having 317 at bats. His OPS was .783.
Overall last season, Victor Martinez hit .329 with 13 homers and 51 RBI while playing first base in 68 games and having 255 at bats. His OPS was .942.
Martinez was the first baseman for the Sox in 22 of the 56 games he appeared in for Boston.
Martinez hit four his eight Red Sox homers while playing first base.
According to The Bill James Handbook 2010 edition, Victor Martinez has an average of -11 as a catcher over the last three seasons.
V-Mart hit .303 with runners in scoring position last season with 4 homers and 82 RBI and RISP with 2 outs, he hit .274 with one homer and 29 RBI.
From the 7th to 9th innings, Martinez hit .329 with 11 homers and 46 RBI in 2009.
Martinez has four career homers off of each Carlos Silva, Justin Verlander, and Johan Santana.
V-Mart has one career walkoff, one career grand slam, and one career three-homer game.
59 DAYS UNTIL OPENING DAYBill Chuck
? Creator of Billy-Ball.com (www.Billy-Ball.com) - Subscribe to Billy-Ball free @ Billy-Ball.com
? Author of, ?Walk-Offs, Last Licks, and Final Outs ? Baseball?s Grand(and not so Grand) Finales,? published by ACTA Sports (2008)
? Contributor to NESN and NESN.com
? Bill@billy-ball.com">Bill@billy-ball.com; Twitter: @Billy-Ball; Skype: BillyBall; AIM: @Walkoffs44
THE BILL CHUCK FILES?By Baseball Newstalgist, Bill Chuck
February 3, 2010
Top Red Sox
Pitchers by WHIP 2000 - 2009
(Minimum 250
innings pitched)
PlayerWHIP IPFromTo
Pedro Martinez0.962936.220002004
Jonathan
Papelbon0.980298.020052009
Josh
Beckett1.205792.020062009
Curt
Schilling1.215675.020042007
Bronson
Arroyo1.243401.120032005
Rolando
Arrojo1.258256.020002002
Mike
Timlin1.271409.020032008
Tim
Wakefield1.3051747.020002009
Derek
Lowe1.320788.220002004
Jon
Lester1.333558.020062009
Frank
Castillo1.352301.020012004
Daisuke
Matsuzaka1.399431.220072009
John
Burkett1.404354.220022003
Matt
Clement1.463256.120052006
Bill Chuck ?Creator of
Billy-Ball.com (www.Billy-Ball.com)
?Author of, ?Walk-Offs,
Last Licks, and Final Outs ? Baseball?s Grand (and not so
Grand) Finales,? published by ACTA Sports (2008)?Contributor to NESN
and NESN.com?
January 29, 2010Here?s to
the old guys ?As we watched Kurt Warner and Brett Favre
stumble and tumble we are reminded of the mortality of all athletes, not of
their lives, but of their playing careers. It is rare to find pitchers who
excel past the age of 40. Today we watch better-conditioned pitchers try to
re-create themselves with their brains to compensate for the few yards lost off
their fastball. Or in the case of Tim Wakefield we watch him try to keep his back and his legs healthy
enough to make it through a season.So here?s to the old guys, those
who have pitched well from age 40 on up.
