Blog Archives
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – May 27, 2016
Boston Herald Staff photo by Matt Stone
Two Hall of Famers misbehaved the other day.
Wade Boggs bringing his Yankees World Series ring to a Red Sox celebration was playful needling.
Tony LaRussa crashing the Pirates broadcast booth was him being a jerk.
It is an “ain’t misbehaving” episode of The The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
George Springer, Jose Fernandez, J. A. Happ, Adeiny Hechavarria, Michael Bourn, David Ortiz, CC Sabathia and Mike Leake all added to their totals for Who Owns Baseball yesterday.
See the updated listing of WOB on MLB Reports
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast Archives Jan 1, 2014 – Jan 31, 2014 (Episodes 435 – 465)
Paul Francis Sullivan (please call him Sully) does a podcast 365 days a year – unless it is a leap year – then he will do another 1. He has done a show everyday since Oct.24/2012. This to date represents a streak of 1236 days consecutively!
Past the CLICK TO READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY are episodes 435 – 465 of the Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
We will also archive all of his podcasts to date (in coming weeks) so they are easily accessible for all his fans. Check out all his Archived info here.
Our website followers have grown larger each year for his podcast.
Follow Sully Baseball On Twitter Follow @sullybaseball
To subscribe on iTunes, click HERE.
To subscribe on SoundCloud, click HERE. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast Archives Dec 1, 2015 – Dec 31, 2015 (Episodes 1134 – 1164)
Paul Francis Sullivan (please call him Sully) does a podcast 365 days a year – unless it is a leap year – then he will do another 1. He has done a show everyday since Oct.24/2012. This to date represents a streak of 1235 days consecutively!
Past the CLICK TO READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY are episodes 1134 – 1164 of the Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
We will also archive all of his podcasts to date (in coming weeks) so they are easily accessible for all his fans. Check out all his Archived info here.
Our website followers have grown larger each year for his podcast.
Follow Sully Baseball On Twitter Follow @sullybaseball
To subscribe on iTunes, click HERE.
To subscribe on SoundCloud, click HERE. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast Archives Dec.1, 2012 – Dec.31, 2012 (Lost Eps 39 – 69)
Paul Francis Sullivan (please call him Sully) does a podcast 365 days a year – unless it is a leap year – then he will do another 1. He has done a show everyday since Oct.24/2012. This to date represents a streak of 1215 days consecutively!
Past the CLICK TO READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY are episodes 39 – 69 of the Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully starting posting his daily podcasts at the mlbreports.com on Feb.6, 2013. So we will add the dates between Oct.24, 2012 and Feb.6, 2013 in case you missed any of his awesome 1st 105 episodes.
But we will also archive all of his podcasts to date (in coming weeks) – so they are easily accessible for all his fans.
Our website followers have grown larger each year for his podcast.
Follow Sully Baseball On Twitter Follow @sullybaseball
To subscribe on iTunes, click HERE.
To subscribe on SoundCloud, click HERE. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – December 22, 2015
Baseball Hall of Fame
I help a town in North Carolina honor Hoyt Wilhelm and finally Wade Boggs will get his number retired by the Red Sox.
Meanwhile I fight my allergies.
It is a small deed leading to good things episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – July 29, 2015
Boston Herald Staff Photo by Matt Stone
Pedro Martinez had a wonderful number retiring ceremony, even if the arranging of the numbers in Fenway Park is a bit off putting.
Wade Boggs needs to have his number up there.
Plus Jonathan Papelbon’s trade does not have me confident in the Nationals and Cole Hamels will probably end up a Dodger.
It is a retired number episode 1,009 of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sonny Gray, Curt Casali, Noah Syndergaard, Joey Votto, Trevor Bauer, Brett Anderson, Aaron Hicks and Dexter Fowler all added to their totals for Who Owns Baseball
Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – June 15, 2015
(Photo by Rob Tringali/Getty Images)
The loss of Hunter Pence has made a startling impact on the Giants offense, at least in directly.
Plus I wish Wade Boggs happy birthday on Episode 964 of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Max Scherzer, Sonny Gray, Juan Lagares, Russell Martin, Cole Hamels, Chris Sale, Jace Peterson and Leonys Martin all added to their totals for Who Owns Baseball?
Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – January 26, 2015
DC Comics
The Red Sox should act more like me and my mom… find ways to AVOID tension. Do this by retiring Boggs and Pedro’s number.
How does that connect with the Batman enemy, Man-Bat?
It makes sense of this episode The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
It Is Time For The MLB To Eliminate Defensive Shifts + Why I Won’t Use Sabermetrics In My Posts
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
I am all for a good game of chess on the baseball field, but when one wonders how come games are 4 hours, you have to add defensive shifts into the mix.
Other big sports such as the NFL, NHL and even the NBA have implemented rules in order to preserve offense in the game.
It is time to make a rule having the 3B and SS not be able to shift over to the 1B and 2B side of the field, and vice versa, before a pitch is thrown.
Credit to MLB Broadcaster Seth Everett Follow @Seth_Everett, for being one of the only public figures I have heard that has also advocated this thought process.
Defense and technology have come light years ahead in the last 15 years or so, and it is affecting the game. Read the rest of this entry
Jeter Passes Yaz, Maybe Ties Wagner for 7th On ALL Time Hits List?: Plus #2’s Historical #’s
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Derek Jeter had 3 base hits in last night’s 4 – 2 loss to the Texas Rangers. In doing so, the man now has 3420 hits for his career.
Carl Yastrzemski had 3419 to hold onto the 8th spot previously, but Jeter’s 3420th hit seems to be confusing when you look at the websites of both http://www.mlb.com and http://www.baseballreference.com
BBREF has Honus Wagner listed at 3420, which would have El Capitan tying that mark for 7th last night, while MLB has Wagner listed at 3430 Career Hits.
All will be a moot point when Jeter passes the 3431 hits plateau in a few weeks, and shortly after that he should nestle into the 6th slot for good, when he passes Cap Anson. (3435)
For those that still don’t give Derek Jeter the respect he deserves, the man also is the Career Hits leader ever for an Infielder.
Of his 3420 base knocks. 3337 have come as a SS and 81 at the DH position, which is ahead of Wagner, Anson, and Eddie Collins.
The other 2 hits come via pinch hitting.
Wagner and Anson both saw some time in the Outfield during their time. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – May 12, 2014
I was at the DMV, waiting for my number to be called.
While waiting, I decided to record a podcast about numbers that should be retired.
Lots of numbers waiting to be called on today’s episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
,Derek Norris, Homer Bailey, John Lackey, Daniel Murphy, Dustin Ackley, Jeff Baker and Clayton Kershaw all added to their totals for Who Owns Baseball.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – February 4, 2014
(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
Don Mattingly might be batting Yasiel Puig in the leadoff spot. I think it is a great idea and could mean a change in attitude that I completely embrace.
Talking lead off hitting on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
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Passing The Torch From Greatest MLB Player To Player During The Years 1979 – 2013: From Brett To Cabrera
Cabrera has had back to back AL MVP seasons in 2012 and 2013. He has also won 3 straight AL Batting Titles. Cabrera is the best player offensively in the universe. He has put up 10 straight 100+ RBI campaigns, but he has racked in 276 RBI, and also 88 HRs – while featuring an OPS well north of 1.000. The 11 Year Veterans totals would have even been higher in 2013, but he fought a torn groin for the last half of the year. The 8 time ALL – Star and 5 time Silver Slugger Award Winner has improved even greater on his totals over the last decade. Cabrera has a Career 3 Slash Line of .321/.399/.967 – with 365 HRs and 1260 RBI in just 1660 Games Played.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
While watching Miguel Cabrera this year, I started thinking about the best players in the MLB over the last 33 years. I am talking the best player of the game at any point of time.
I tracked back to 1979 for this article. I may expand further back in follow-up articles. I didn’t rank defense as highly as offense when I came up with the players.
I agonized over players like Mike Schmidt, Jim Rice, Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken for some of the years given in specific time frames. These gentlemen were given every consideration.
In the end, we are talking about the best player in the game though and it is always subject to debate and personal opinion.
The criteria had to involve leading the league in several different offensive and/or defensive categories, followed by routinely being in the top 7 in MVP balloting (if not taking home the honor), All-Star Appearances for every year I listed them for and most of them won silver sluggers and/or Gold Gloves as well.
Cabrera’s 3 HR Game – 2013
Time To Elect Don Mattingly Into Cooperstown
Don Mattingly won 3 straight AL Sporting News Player of The Years – and was the best ALL-Around player in the game from 1984-1986 leading 13 Offensive Categories for the 3 years. His 145 RBI in 1985 was the most for a LHB since Stan Musial in 1949. He hit .340 with 656 Hits, 145 2B, 88 HRs, 368 RBI and only SO 112 times in 2131 PA’s. He also led the league in Doubles from 1984-1986. Mattingly’s 388 Total bases in 1986 had been the most in the Majors since Willie Mays back in the 1962 season. Mattingly won the first of 9 gold gloves in 1985.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Okay, it is time for me to make my argument for my favorite player of all time to be inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame.
There will be several people that will say that Don Mattingly’s career stats of: H-2154, HR-222, RBI-1099, AVG-.307 and 9 Gold Gloves are not enough in just 14 seasons.
I am not counting his 7 game-stint in 1982 with this. As a rookie in 1983, Don only .hit .283 with 4 HRs and 32 RBIs.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – October 12, 2013
Baseball Digest
Don Mattingly has unleashed his Grady Little within and it cost the Dodgers dearly in Game 1 of the NLCS.
That plus a plea for the Red Sox to embrace Wade Boggs on The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Carlos Beltran and Joe Kelly received full WOO’s last night. Zack Greinke got 1/2 a WOO.
Confused what a WOO is? An explanation for Who Owns October can be found HERE.
An updated WOO tally can be found HERE.
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2 And A Hook Podcast Ep #9: LAA, SD, MIA And SEA Chat With Great Guests
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Follow @mlbreportsFriday, June.28, 2013,
MLB reports and The Benchwarmers Show present 2 and A Hook Podcast.
‘2 And A Hook’ is an expression from Baseball: ‘Throw the guy 2 Fast balls and then a Hook’ (AKA Curve Ball, Wiggly one, Chair etc..)
By James Acevedo – Host (Podcast Veteran ) Follow @yankeeman1973
Guests On The Show
On today’s podcast, brought to you by MLB Reports ( www.mlbreports.com ) & yours truly The Bench Warmers Show, I talk to the boss man Chuck Booth as he returns to do his segment! 8 Minutes and a 18 Segment Follow @chuckbooth3024
Chuck makes a HUGE announcement about MLB Reports & then we talked about contract stuff like arbitration, Super 2, & service time…
Also we talk about these guys Wil Myers, Yasiel Puig & Chris Archer on why they should have been up in the major leagues since the beginning of the season!
Then I talk to LAA correspondent Joshua Jones (34 Minute Mark and a 18 Minute Segment) Follow @JoshJones4 about the Angels season & what might or might not happen…
Next up was Bernie Olshansky (53 Minute Mark and a 13 Minutes Segment) Follow @bernieolshansky about the padres & what moves they might make for the future…after that i talked to Mariners/Marlins correspondent.
The last guest of the show is the 2nd longest active writer on the MLB Reports website Sam Evans (1 HR and 12 Min Mark and a 25 Min Segment) ( @RJA206 ) as we get into the mariners/marlins & whats been going on with both of these teams!
I then get into everyone’s favorite segment Stats & Facts (29, Minute Mark (5 minutes) 1 HR, 7 Min Mark ( 5 Minutes ) and, 1 HR 37 MIN (20 Minutes) – so go check it out & SPREAD THE WORD!!! Thanks Read the rest of this entry
2 And A Hook Podcast #7: Ranking The 30 Ball Parks In The MLB + Giants And Red Sox Correspondent Interviews
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Follow @mlbreportsFriday, June.07/2013
MLB reports and The Benchwarmers Show present 2 and A Hook Podcast.
‘2 And A Hook’ is an expression from Baseball: ‘Throw the guy 2 Fast balls and then a Hook’ (AKA Curve Ball, Wiggly one, Chair etc..)
By James Acevedo – Host (Podcast Veteran News and Stats – 1st minute to 7 minute mark, 26 Minute Mark to 36 Minute Mark, and 1 Hour 4 Minute Mark to 1 Hour Minute 8.) Follow @yankeeman1973
People in this Podcast:
Jonathan Schifferle (MLB Reports Giants Correspondent – 7 Minutes in and a 18 Minute Segment) Follow @jonschifferle
Ryan Dana (MLB Reports Boston Red Sox Correspondent – 36 Minute Mark and a 27 Minute Segment) Follow @ryandana1
Chuck Booth (MLB Reports Owner and Lead Baseball Analyst – 1 Hour and 10 Minutes In and a 43 Minute Segment) Follow @chuckbooth3024
On today’s show, brought to you by MLB Reports (www.mlbreports.com) & yours truly The Bench Warmers, I get into the Alex Rodriguez/Anthony Bosch soap opera very briefly.
I then interviewed our (MLB Reports) Giants correspondent Jonathan Schifferle to talk about the giants team,”The Peapods” in the stands for Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, Angel Pagan and Hunter Pence also known as “The Killer Peas”. Read the rest of this entry
The Tampa Bay Rays: The Hitters 1998-2012: Part 2 Of A 5 Part Article Series
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Friday, December.21, 2012
Note from Chuck Booth: I am attempting to bring the history for each of the 30 MLB Franchises into a 5 part series that will focus on 1. The teams history. 2. The hitters 3. The pitchers. 4. The Teams Payroll going into 2013 and 5.The Ball Park that they play in. (The stadium articles will all be done next summer when I go to all of the parks in under a month again.) Be sure to check my author page with a list of all of my archived articles section here.
Carl Crawford Leads as the ALL-Time Club Record Holder in most offensive categories. Will Evan Longoria run him down for all of the team records..or will the club trade him in a few years when his contract escalates in pay?
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
The Rays have only been around for 15 years, however they have seen their share of talent grace the club. In their inaugural year, the club signed Free Agents Fred McGriff and Wade Boggs. A few years later when Boggs retired, they added Vinny Castilla, Jose Canseco and Greg Vaughn all to the club. This movement did not work out. It was the drafted talent of the club that started to surface in the early 2000’s. Aubrey Huff and Carl Crawford emerged as AL offensive threats. Other picks like Rocco Baldelli, Jorge Cantu and Jonny Gomes started out on fire, yet quickly flamed out. The club saw other guys come and go before the 2007 started to show what the team was really capable of. Carlos Pena gave them a bonafide HR guy. Soon Evan Longoria was called up to the Major Leagues and the club featured one of the best attacks in all of Major League Baseball.
The offense has suffered a bit of a drop-off in the last few years, but newly acquired Wil Myers is one of the best offensive prospects in the game of baseball. Longoria is signed through 2023 and Ben Zobrist is a great all-around offensive talent signed for the next 3 seasons. While the team will still be predominantly based with great pitching, the club should see some well-rounded offensive players.
Tropicana Field is one of the harder places to put up great numbers, so we will see what the future holds. We must look at the past. In these Series I have been doing for the teams, a lot of criteria had to be met to be included in the Franchises best hitters or pitchers. Obviously with a 15 Year Old team, the stakes are not raised as high. I still looked for significant contributions to the team. Of course if anyone ever leads the American League in any category, that is usually grounds for inclusion.
Franchise Series Article Links:
The Tampa Bay Rays: The Franchise 1998-2012: Part 1 Of A 5 Part Article Series
The Pitchers: The Tampa Bay Rays: The Pitchers 1998-2012: Part 3 Of A 5 Part Article Series
2013 Team Payroll Part 4: Tampa Bay Rays Payroll 2013 And Contracts Going Forward: Updated for Myers Trade Dec.11/2012
Tropicana Field Expert: An Interview with Tropicana Field Expert Kurt Smith
Part 1 of a Series: All-Time All-Star Teams By Regionality
Friday November 23th, 2012
Note from Alex Mednick: I am going to be putting together a small project that accumulates all the best players of all time, and puts them together on teams according to their birthplace. For example, in this first edition I will be breaking down players from the United States of America into teams from the 1) Northeast, 2) Southeast, 3) Midwest, and 4) Southwest…(sorry, there really is not enough quality coming out of the northwest to compete with these teams…maybe I will put a Northwestern United States team in a later edition with less competitive teams). Later on I will bring you teams assembled from the all-time greats out Central and South American (Mexico, Venezuela, Panama, Panama Canal Zone, etc.) and the All-Caribbean Team (Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Curacao, etc). Also look forward to teams from Japan, Canada and the EU. Should be fun to sort of assemble an “Olympics” of Baseball. I love watching the World Baseball Classic and seeing players fight for their nations pride…but by grouping the teams by region, it might make the teams more competitive. Of course, this is all for the sake of speculation; Babe Ruth was a great player, but I don’t think he will be taking any at-bat’s soon. (Also, please note that I do not lend consideration to relief pitchers in this analysis). Read the rest of this entry
The Time Has Come to Induct Dwight Evans into Cooperstown
Sunday July 22nd, 2012
By Patrick Languzzi (Guest Baseball Writer):
As we embark on baseball’s most exciting weekend, the eyes of baseball fans everywhere will be on Cooperstown, NY for the induction of Barry Larkin and Ron Santo into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Larkin was elected through the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) and Santo via the Veterans Committee after falling off the ballot in 1998.
The Veterans committee consists of 16 members made up of veteran media members, executives and current members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. For a player to be elected, they must receive 75 percent or 12 of 16 votes.
But there’s another player that I’ll take a special interest in come the winter meetings of 2013. That’s when the Expansion Era ballot (Veterans) finalists are announced. It’s also when former Red Sox great Dwight “Dewey” Evans becomes eligible again. Evans fell off the BBWAA ballot back in 1999. Now his chance to shine comes up again very soon. Read the rest of this entry
Passing of the Torch as The Greatest Player in The MLB: From Pujols to Hamilton
Wednesday June.6, 2012
Josh Hamilton is on pace for 64 HRs and 177 RBI in 2012 with a .345 AVG. He has taken over as the best player in MLB from Albert Pujols -Photo Courtesy of http://www.real-fans.com
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)- While watching Josh Hamilton this year, I started thinking about the best players in the MLB over the last 33 years. I am talking the best player of the game at any point of time. I tracked back to 1979 for this article. I may expand further back in follow up articles. I did rank defense highly when I came up with the players. I did agonize over Mike Schmidt, Jim Rice, Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken for some of the years given in specific time frames. These gentlemen were given every consideration. In the end, we are talking about the best player in the game though and it is always subject to debate and personal opinion. The criteria had to involve leading the league in several different offensive and/or defensive categories, followed by routinely being in the top 7 in MVP balloting(if not taking home the honor), All-Star Appearances for every year I listed them for and most of them won silver sluggers and/or Gold Gloves as well.
George Brett won batting titles in 3 different decades and flirted with .400 in 1980 while hitting .390 for the year. -Photo courtesy of lanius.wordpress.com
George Brett 1979-1983-George Brett was the best hitter in the game from 1979-1983. He hit for a .320 average and slugged his way to having the Royals as perennial contenders. He led the league in triples (20) and hits in 1979. In 1980, he hit .390 with a .454 OBP, 664 SLG and a 1.118 OBP which led the league. In 1983, Brett led the league in slugging an OPS once again. Brett won the MVP in 1980 and was the runner-up in 1979. In 1985, George Brett would lead the Royals to a World Series. He later won a batting title at age 37 with a .329 average. This was the toughest time frame to judge from 1979-1983. Mike Schmidt was an incredible force at third base with huge power and Jim Rice also put up mammoth numbers, but in the end I chose George Brett because he was more consistent out of 3. Read the rest of this entry
The Top Players Used to Play the ‘Hot Corner’: The Sad State of Third Base in 2012
Monday March. 12, 2012
Douglas ‘Chuck’ Booth (Baseball Writer): When I was a kid, the best players in the game of baseball all seemed to play Third or First Base. Think back to the mid-eighties, where George Brett, Wade Boggs, Mike Schmidt, Howard Johnson, Terry Pendleton and Paul Molitor were some of the better players in the game. Even Bobby Bonilla broke into the Majors at third base. The next wave of third baseman were impressive too, guys like: Chipper Jones, Ken Caminiti, a young Scott Rolen, Vinny Castilla and Robin Ventura. As little as five years ago, there was Alex Rodriguez and David Wright both being top-5 players in baseball. When you added Miguel Cabrera and Mike Lowell to the mix, it was a pretty formidable bunch of players at the Hot Corner. Read the rest of this entry
Time to Elect Don Mattingly into Cooperstown
Monday December 5, 2011
Doug Booth- Guest Baseball Writer: Okay, it is time for me to make my argument for my favorite player of all time to be inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame. There will be several people that will say that Don Mattingly’s career stats of: H-2154, HR-222, RBI-1099, AVG-.307 and 9 Gold Gloves are not enough in just 14 seasons. I am not counting his 7 game-stint in 1982 with this. As a rookie in 1983, Don only .hit .283 with 4 HR’S and 32 RBI’s. In Donnie’s first year as a full time first baseman, he led the AL with a .343 AVG-with 23 HR’S and 110 RBI’s, also leading the league in hits with 207 and 2B’s with 48.
They say that if you have a shortened career-(and Mattingly’s back injury in the late eighties certainly robbed him of a definite Hall of Fame Career,) then you better have an incredible stretch as the best player in baseball. It is my belief that Don Mattingly was the best all-around player from 1984-1989, with apologies to Rickey Henderson, Wade Boggs, Tony Gwynn and Dale Murphy, Don’s incredible consistency during this 6 year stretch included these numbers. A .327 AVG with 160 HR’s and a staggering 682 RBI’s with 257 doubles and 1219 hits. Nobody had more RBI’s and extra base hits in that time frame. Only Wade Boggs had more hits. The 6 year AVG breaks down to an AVG of .327 with H-204, 2B-43, HR-27 and RBI-114. What is most impressive is that Mattingly only averaged 33 strikeouts a season/or about 1/23 Plate appearances in this stretch.
During this stretch-Mattingly was also an All-star for 6 straight seasons-and was a Gold Glover for 5 years straight from 85-89. Donnie led the league in doubles three times, (84-86), hits twice, (84-86), total bases twice, (85-86), AVG in ’86, slugging and OBP in 1986. Don’s 145 RBI’s in 1985 were the most RBI’s by a left hander since the 1960’s. The same could be said for his 388 total bases in 1986. Other dominant stretches included his 1987 power streaks, in which he hit a record-6 grand slams(since equaled by Travis Hafner,) and also is still tied for homering in a record-tying 8 straight games (and should be the official leader because only Don hit 10 HR’S in that stretch of 8 games.) Mattingly is a silver slugger three times over (84-86), and The Sporting News Player of the Year for the seasons of (84-86). Don was the AL MVP in 1985, and finished 2nd in 1986 to Roger Clemens, but for hitting he was listed as #1. His 1984 and 1987 seasons also garnered serious MVP considerations. All impressive for a man who was not considered a power hitting prospect.
Back injuries slowed Mattingly down from 1990-1995, where he lost most of his power, but he was a .290 contact hitter who would still drive in about 80-85 RBI’S per year. If he could have kept playing healthy, instead of retiring at the age of 34, he would have had nearly 3000 hits, and probably would have hit 600-700 2B, and 300 HR’s-with about 1600 RBI’S. He probably would have finished up career with an AVG. that was near .300. You could probably add 3-5 more Gold Gloves as well. Instead, he finished with 2154 hits. His .307 career average will be one of the higher averages never to be in the Hall of Fame if he is not voted in. Don’s average season is still .307 with 20 HR’S, 97 RBI’S, with close to 200 hits and 40 doubles.
Another fact that gets overlooked was Don’s strikeout ratio to plate appearances. Mattingly only struck out 444 times in 7721 PA’s, or
once every 19 times. This stat is unbelievable for a modern age hitter-and 444 Strikeouts is only 2 less doubles than the man hit in his career with 442. Only Tony Gwynn has had a better ratio for striking out in the last 50 years. You add the 9 Gold Gloves-(2nd all-time for a 1B), and this man should be gaining more consideration for the hall.
Other comparisons in numbers for players already in the Hall, would be Jim Rice and Kirby Puckett, Puckett for average and power, while Rice has similar offensive numbers for his 162 game AVG. Rice had a few more HR’s and RBI’s while Mattingly had a better AVG. and had more hits/doubles for an average season. Both played 14 seasons.
For all of those kids watching Donnie Baseball play live, or on TV, we saw a guy that exemplified a professional hitter. Amongst fielding 1st baseman that I have seen, no one has ever been better. His swing was pure poetry in motion, even when he older, it must have drove pitchers crazy that they could not strike him out. I am only sad that Don Mattingly has missed out on all of the Yankees championship seasons.
At least his fans can always recall his last at bat in the 1995 playoffs where he crushed a homer in a 5th game loss to the Mariners in the ALDS. It was a great career shortened by back injuries. If defensive prowess is deemed a lot more lucrative for a Hall of Fame bid, once again they have to consider ‘Donnie Baseball.’
*** Thank you to Doug Booth for joining us today on MLB reports. To learn more about “The Fastest 30 Ballgames” and Doug Booth, you can follow Doug on Twitter (@ChuckBooth3024) and click here for Doug’s website, fastestthirtyballgames.com***
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