THE SAM BOWIE AWARD GOES TO THE 401 PLAYERS DRAFTED BEFORE ALBERT PUJOLS IN THE 1999 BASEBALL DRAFT

For those of you who have never heard of Sam Bowie, he was a University of Kentucky basketball player drafted in 1984 by the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA. Their scouts felt he was the best player available. Bowie's claim to fame--or infamy if you will--was to be picked immediately before a North Carolina player named Michael Jordan. Other players picked after Bowie included Charles Barkley and John Stockton, both in the Hall of Fame. The unfortunate Mr. Bowie was plagued by injuries throughout his career and never lived up to his potential. Today he is a successful race horse owner in Lexington, Kentucky. _______________________________________________ Recently 60 Minutes ran a segment about St. Louis Cardinals star first baseman Albert Pujols who many consider to be the best player in baseball. A native of the Dominican Republic, Pujols came to the U.S. as a teen and went to high school in Kansas City. He starred in baseball in high school and at community college when he was entered in the 1999 major league amateur player draft. Although he was a local star, most major league scouts didn't rate him highly, and he was overlooked until the 13th Round when he was the 402nd player drafted, right after shortstop Alfred Amezaga (a .251 lifetime hitter). This rankled Pujols as well as costing him money, although he did get a $60,000 bonus to sign with the Cardinals. ___________________________________________________ Considering the scouts thought 401 amateur players were better than Jose Pujols, as he was known then, I decided to look up how those 401 players fared in their baseball careers. The 1999 draft went through 50 rounds, and 1474 players were drafted. As you can imagine, most of them never played in the big leagues, and the lower the round, the fewer players made it. In some rounds, none of the players went on to play in the majors. The first round featured the elite amateur players, and some of the names are recognizable star players today. Number 1 was Josh Hamilton, now a star outfielder with Texas and the 2010 Most Valuable Player in the American League. He recently came into his own after several seasons of injuries and substance abuse issues. Second was pitcher Josh Beckett, who is a fine pitcher today. Other significant names from the first round included pitcher Barry Zito a Cy Young Award winner, and also Ben Sheets, a solid starting pitcher. There were 51 players drafted in the opening round which included 21 supplemental picks. Of those 51, only 23 ever played in the majors. the Chicago White Sox drafted pitchers Jason Sturm and Matt Ginter 15th and 22nd. Ginter has pitched in the majors but has essentially been a marginal player. _________________________________________________ The Chicago Cubs drafted the infamous Ben Christiansen who was best known for intentionally hitting (and severely injuring) a batter in the on-deck circle with a pitch. (The victim, Anthony Molina, another potential draft choice, was partially blinded, ending his career. He sued and Christiansen reportedly paid a $400,000 settlement.) What goes around comes around. Christiansen suffered from frequent arm trouble. He also had problems with control and was released in 2005 without ever making it above Double A ball. _________________________________________________ The Cardinals, with the 30th overall pick went all in with Chance Cagle, a right handed pitcher. What, you've never heard of him! My favorite moment was when the KC Royals gobbled up left handed pitcher Jimmy Gobble with the 43rd pick. He pitched in the majors but didn't gobble up many innings, mostly working in short relief, facing one or two batters at a time. __________________________________________________ In the Second Round, 33 players were drafted, and 16 made it to the majors, if only for a short time. The significant names included 52nd pick Carl Crawford, now an All-Star outfielder, and journeyman second baseman Bobby Hill, drafted 66th. The Third Round saw 30 players drafted of which 12 made it to the bigs. Justin Morneau an MVP with the Twins went 89th, light-hitting Willie Bloomquist went 95th, and slugger Hank Blalock went 105th. Only 8 of 30 in the Fourth Round made it to the majors, including Kevin Mench and Angel Pagan. ___________________________________________________ The Fifth Round did better--11 made it, including two good left handed pitchers, Nate Robertson and Joe Saunders. Of the 30 drafted in the Sixth Round, pitchers J.J. Putz at 185, Eric Bedard at 187 and Aaron Harang at 195 have pitched well in the major leagues. Besides Putz, 20 others in that round were just putzes who didn't make it. But immediately before Harang went outfielder Shane Victorino who starred in the 2009 World Series with the Phillies. Notably in the Seventh Round, the Redbirds picked No. 222 Coco Crisp, a good player, but not Albert Pujols. The Eighth and Ninth Rounds produced a total of 10 big leaguers but none of consequence. In the Tenth Round, the No. 306 choice was outfielder Marlon Byrd who is now the Cubs' best hitter. The Eleventh and Twelfth Round produced a total of 7 big leaguers, but no stars. ________________________________________________ There were a few solid players drafted after Pujols, including No. 472, pitcher Jake Peavy, a Cy Young Award winner, pitcher Rich Harden at No. 1145, and infielder Adam LaRoche (.271 lifetime BA) at No. 1254. _______________________________________________ What all this shows is that baseball scouting is an inexact science. Nevertheless a few scouts were embarrassed, and some lost their jobs when they missed Pujols. For example, Tampa Bay Rays' scout Fernando Arango raved about Pujols, then a shortstop at Maple Woods Community College. He persuaded the Rays' management to bring him to Tampa for a tryout. Because Pujols was a big guy, they asked him to perform in catching equipment which he reluctantly agreed to do. They let him hit and he focused on line drives and didn't hit any out of the park. He had a bad day and the Rays passed on him. Arango was still high on him, and when the Cardinals drafted him, Arango submitted his resignation. He said, "I was a little frustrated....To me, it was very simple. If I can't get a guy like that, even in the 10th Round, maybe I should take a sabbatical from amateur scouting." _________________________________________________ The Colorado Rockies' scout Jay Darnell told his team that he thought Pujols would hit for power. His scouting report described Pujols as "heavy legged" and stated that his throws "often tail and sink as fingers are not on top of the ball." The Cincinnati Reds scouting department reported that Pujols had power but was undisciplined at the plate--a free swinger. Over his ten year major league career, Pujols seldom strikes out, unusual for a power hitter. ___________________________________________________The Kansas City Royals, his hometown team was especially upset about missing him. According to Herk Robinson, then the General Manager, "We had someone in our engineering department here at Kauffman Stadium who actually lived with Albert for about three months. You can't get much more in your backyard than that." Hey guys, he was STILL available in the 12th Round! The Rockies' scouting director Bill Gayton said that some teams were concerned that Pujols was actually somewhat older than he claimed (Latinos often don't have birth certificates). Well they could have done some due diligence! ___________________________________________________ These things happen in every draft because some players are late bloomers. Other star players were also drafted late, like perennial Cy Young Award candidate Roy Oswalt who went in the 23rd Round in 1986. He was picked at No. 684, and another good pitcher Ted Lilly went at No. 688 the same year. ___________________________________________________The prime example of this was catcher Mike Piazza, a Hall of Fame candidate who waited until the 62nd Round in 1988. His father Vince, a wealthy Pennsylvania car dealer was a boyhood friend of Dodger Manager Tom LaSorda. Vince Piazza recognized some potential in his then 12 year old son, Mike and hired the legendary Ted Williams to tutor him in hitting. (Williams told him not to change his swing.) Even so, nobody outside his family recognized the potential of the young first baseman at Miami Dade Junior College, and Vince asked LaSorda to draft his son as a personal favor. LaSorda probably rolled his eyes and groaned but drafted him, insisting on making him a catcher to have an easier path to the majors. Of the Dodgers 61 draft choices that year, only 11 actually made it to the majors. The only other one with a significant career was first baseman Eric Karros. So, for the rest of the story, Piazza, the 1390th player drafted (out of 1433), went on to become perhaps the best hitting catcher in baseball history (427 HR's and .308 lifetime BA) and made LaSorda look like a genius. ___________________________________________________ Now that I've embarrassed the major league scouting programs, I'll go one step further. Since the draft was instituted in 1965, 46 players have been drafted Number 1, and these guys should be surefire stars, right? Well 41 have played in the majors. the five who washed out included the 1966 top pick, catcher Steve Chilcott (Mets), 1991's left handed pitcher Brian Taylor (Yankees), 2004's shortstop Matt Bush (Padres) and 2008's shortstop Tim Beckham (Reds). Some did become big stars as expected, like Harold Baines (2830 hits), Darryl Strawberry (335 HR's), Ken Griffey Jr. (630 HR's), Chipper Jones (436 HR's and .306 BA), Alex Rodriguez (616 HR's), Adrian Gonzalez and Joe Mauer (.326 BA, 2 batting championships). ___________________________________________________ Others were average or slightly above average players like the Cubs' Shawon Dunston (.269 BA), Pat Burrell (288 HR's, .254 BA), Darin Erstad (.282 BA), Phil Nevin (208 HR's, .270 BA), B.J. Surhoff (.282 BA) , Ben McDonald (78-70, 3.91 ERA), Mike Moore (161-176, 4.39 ERA), Floyd Bannister (134-143, 4.06 ERA) and Bill Almon (.254 BA). In some cases players failed through no fault of their own. They suffered injuries that shortened or hampered their careers. The jury is still out on some recent Number Ones like pitchers Stephen Strasburg, David Price and Luke Hochevar, and outfielder Delman Young. ___________________________________________________One thing is certain, if a scout can come up with the NEXT Albert Pujols--seeing something the other teams have missed--he'll have fans buying him dinner and drinks for life. KENNETH SUSKIN 4/15/11

UNUSUAL BASEBALL RECORDS--LONGEST BATTING STREAK--A MAN NAMED JOE

Baseball season is back, and we celebrate one of professional baseball's oldest records--the longest hitting streak in history. A beacon of consistency, Joe got at least one hit in an incredible 69 straight games. Yes, former Major Leaguer Joe Wilhoit (you thought DiMaggio?), playing for the Wichita Witches of the Western League in the 1919 season pulled off this amazing feat. By the way, the second longest hitting streak in the minor leagues was performed by the other Joe--DiMaggio, in 1933 when he batted safely in 61 games. DiMaggio, playing for the San Francisco Seals, was only 18 years old at the time. __________________________________________________ Thanks to research and articles by Bob Rives of the Baseball Biography Project, and by Bill Rabinowitz (Wilhoit, the Wichita Wonder), I'm able to bring you the details of this incredible feat. Joe Wilhoit was born in 1885 in Hiawatha, Kansas, just across the river from St. Joseph, Missouri, where well known baseball fan Jesse James had recently been killed before he had a chance to meet Sandra Bullock. But that's another story. Wilhoit went to college in Chicago where he became the first DePaul alumnus to play in the big leagues. His major league career consisted of just 4 seasons, mostly as a reserve outfielder. He was a respectable hitter, batting .285 in 1917 and .274 in 1918. It was a long road, but the high point came when he played in two games for the NY Giants in the 1917 World Series. The Giants lost the Series to the Chicago White Sox who didn't win it again until 2005, a span of 88 years. ___________________________________________________The next season was a war year and the big leagues were depleted of talent. Wilhoit, being married, was less likely to be drafted, and he won a semi regular position with the Giants, alternating with Jim Thorpe. You may remember Thorpe because he won several Olympic gold medals and Hollywood made a movie about him. They even named a town in Pennsylvania after him, (Mauch Chunk, PA became Jim Thorpe, PA.) but it wasn't because of his hitting. In 1919 when the regular players came back from World War I, Wilhoit was demoted to the minors--Seattle in the Pacific Coast League. __________________________________________________ Joe went into a batting slump there and was soon traded to Wichita in a lower minor league. At that point, deep in the bush leagues, most ballplayers would think about another line of work, but Joe was happy back in Kansas and was determined to stay the season. After 25 games with the Witches, management was ready to bring out the brooms. Joe's average was below the Mendoza Line, and Mario Mendoza wasn't even born yet. The unemployment line was looking like a distinct possibility. The only thing Joe had going was that the team carried only 14 players, and the only spare outfielder was hospitalized after being beaned by a fastball. ___________________________________________________ The team owner and manager, Frank Isbell was also a former big leaguer, a star with the 1906 Chicago White Sox World Champs. Isbell worked with Wilhoit on his hitting, switching him to a lighter bat. Apparently he pushed the right button because the outfielder began to hit. It started slowly, with an infield hit on June 14th against Oklahoma City. After that, Joe went bonkers! Over the next 12 games, he had multiple hits in each game. In a doubleheader against Des Moines, he collected 8 hits in 9 at-bats. During the course of the Streak, Wilhoit had 153 hits in 297 at-bats, an other-worldly .515 batting average. During that time, he hit 24 doubles, 9 triples and 4 homers. (For the whole season, he led the Minor Leagues in hitting with a .422 batting average.) News of the Streak spread like a prairie fire. Fans began pouring into the ballpark to cheer him on. The national press began covering Joe's games. __________________________________________________ Getting a hit every game is very difficult because there is an element of luck--good and bad. Line drives can be caught; sharply hit ground balls are often hit directly at fielders. In Game 62, Joe didn't get a hit until the 11th inning--it was a game winning homer. In Game 63, he went hitless his first three tries. In his fourth, he bunted the ball to Omaha third baseman, Bert Graham who was playing an unfamiliar position when the regular third sacker got hurt. Omaha had a big lead in the game, and although Graham probably could have thrown Joe out, he elected to hold the ball. The scorekeeper charitably credited Joe with a hit, extending the Streak. The crowd applauded Graham's "sportsmanship". Whether Graham helped him or not is open to question, but Joe was a fan favorite and one of the most popular players in the league. ___________________________________________________ In any event, the Streak continued until August 19th when he was stopped by Tulsa pitcher Elam Vanglider who later pitched for 11 years in the Majors. Joe struck out, grounded out sharply to the shortstop and flied out in his first three appearances. In his fourth try, facing relief pitcher Mutt Williams in the seventh inning, he drew a base on balls. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Wichita rallied to take the lead with two out. The pitcher, Paul Musser was due up, and Isbell elected not to use a pinch hitter. Musser made the last out with Joe in the on-deck circle. Musser retired the side in the ninth inning, and Joe never got another chance to hit. When the Streak ended, the fans passed the hat and collected $600 for Joe--a large sum considering his monthly pay was only about $200. ___________________________________________________ The Streak drew the attention of Major League clubs who got into a bidding auction with owner Isbell for Wilhoit's services. After the Streak, Isbell sold Joe's contract to the Boston Red Sox, and he wasn't in Kansas anymore. He finished the season with the Bosox, getting 6 hits in 18 at-bats. In the 1920 season, he found himself back in the minors where he finished his professional career in 1923 with Salt Lake City of the Pacific Coast League, batting .360 in his final season. He bought a luggage shop in Santa Barbara, California which he operated until his untimely death from cancer in 1930. ___________________________________________________ Today, the Streak is practically unknown because nobody has ever seriously threatened it. It was overshadowed by the great Joe DiMaggio, who set the more famous Major League hitting streak of 56 games back in 1941. DiMaggio, of course, was the premier center fielder of his generation and may have been even better known for marrying the premier sex siren of his generation Marilyn Monroe. No average Joes here.

UNUSUAL BASEBALL RECORDS--MOST TRIPLES

As the baseball World Series has dragged on into November, baseball fans are preparing for the off season with discussions about arcane facts of this wonderful sport. For example, in this year's World Series, the Giants' Freddy Sanchez set a record. Get this! He smacked a double in each of his first three World Series at-bats. It's never happened before. Most likely, aside from Mr. Sanchez and his team, nobody cared either. Actually, in his fourth trip to the plate, Mr. Sanchez apparently hit another double, but the official scorer ruled that he went to second base on an error by the right fielder.

One record most fans consider untouchable was set by the Chicago Cubs' Hack Wilson when he batted in 191 runs in the 1930 season. Back in the 1930's, a couple players came close--the great Lou Gehrig drove in 186 for the NY Yankees and Hal Trosky of Cleveland drove in 184. They played 154 games a season then. Now they play 162, but nobody has come within 30 runs of the record in recent years. Even with the steroid fueled home run derby a few years back, Barry Bonds hit 73 homers and Mark McGwire hit 70, but they never approached Wilson's RBI record.

My vote for the most untouchable record, however was set by another Wilson--Owen "Chief" Wilson who hit 36 triples for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1912, breaking the old record of 31 set in the 1890's when the outfields didn't even have fences. Even the minor league record for triples is only 32, set by Jack Cross in 1925.

Mr. Wilson, who is not believed to be related to movie actor Owen Wilson, grew up on a ranch in Texas in the late 19th Century. He had a strong throwing arm and began his professional career as a right handed pitcher in the Texas League in 1905. Like Babe Ruth, when his manager found Wilson could hit well, he converted him into an outfielder. His manager Fred Clarke gave him the nickname "Chief" because Clarke said he looked like a "Chief of the Texas Rangers." Wilson was not a Native American.

In 1908, he joined the Pittsburgh Pirates as their regular right fielder. In his rookie season, he was one of the weakest hitters in the league and the fans booed him regularly. The Pirates contended for the pennant, and Wilson's strong defensive play kept him in the lineup. By 1911, Wilson improved his hitting enough that he hit 34 doubles, 12 triples and 12 homers (a team record in that dead ball era), and led the National League in RBI's with 107. On July 24th of that year, Wilson hit 3 triples in one game at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field.

But that was nothing compared to his 1912 season. Although a big strapping man, Wilson was not considered especially fast, but he apparently hustled enough to convert many of his doubles into triples. He hit only 19 doubles and 11 homers (of which 2 were inside-the-park homers). By the end of May, he had 11 triples. In June he hit a total of 6 triples in 5 consecutive games, a record. By August 27, he had hit 33 triples and still had 34 games to go. His fans were rooting for him to hit as many as possible, and on September 14th, the Pittsburgh Post commented, "Wilson attempted to triple, but tapped the pellet a trifle too hard and it floated over the right field wall." Dang! That knucklehead hit a homer, we wanted a triple!

In the last game of the season, with the bases loaded in the 9th inning, Wilson hit a long drive, clearing the bases, but he was thrown out at home plate trying to stretch a triple into an inside-the-park grand slam homer. He had to settle for his 36th triple.

Wilson's record was possible because in those days, the ball fields were much larger than today. In Pittsburgh's Forbes Field, for example, where Wilson hit 24 of his 36 triples, the center field fence was 462 feet from home plate, and the right and left field power alleys were over 400 feet. A left handed hitter, Wilson hit the ball solidly to all fields. Although the ball was thought to be less lively than it is today, there is some controversy about that. At that time, a whole game would be played with just a few baseballs which became scuffed up and discolored. Prior to 1920, when foreign substances were outlawed, pitcher would often spit on the ball or apply other substances like Vaseline to make the ball break sharply. It was difficult for batters to hit the ball solidly. Unlike hitters of today, most hitters did not swing for the fences, but attempted to hit line drives for singles or doubles. Outfielders played shallow, and if a hitter could hit one over or between the outfielders, a triple was very likely. Even inside-the-park homers were common. Wilson hit most of his triples over the heads of outfielders in cavernous Forbes Field.

In modern baseball, the fences have been brought in closer to encourage more homers. Outfielders play deeper. Balls hit over outfielders' heads are usually retrieved quickly, and batters are held to doubles. Nowadays, triples are quite rare and usually occur when a ball takes a bad bounce or an outfielder falls down or is slow to recover the ball for any other reasons. When a batter hits one, it is usually an exciting play because he is racing around the bases while the throw is coming in for a close play at third base.

Since World War II, only 7 players have hit as many as 20 triples in a season. Most notable were the 4 players since that time who hit more than 20 doubles, triples and home runs in the same season. Hall of Famer Willie Mays hit 26, 20 and 35 in the 1957 season. Hall of Famer George Brett hit 42, 20 and 23 in 1979. More recently, Curtis Granderson of Detroit and Jimmy Rollins of Philadelphia both accomplished the feat in 2007. Granderson had 38, 23 and 23, while Rollins had 38, 20 and 30.

While we're doing triples, I should mention that the forgettable Earl Webb of the Boston Red Sox hit 67 doubles in 1931, and nobody has approached that record either in over 70 years. The closest was Todd Helton of Colorado who hit 59 in 2000. Don't get me started on that!

BASEBALL'S HALL OF SHAME--THE WORST HITTERS AND PITCHERS

Most baseball fans are familiar with the star players, but who are the worst players? Keep in mind that a player must be good to even make it to the major leagues. Even the worst players were stars in high school or college. In most cases, they worked their way up through the minor leagues to become among the 600 or so best baseball players in the world. This article highlights those players with major shortcomings in their game who had other skills enabling them to stick around the big leagues for awhile.

WORST HITTERS

The longest hitless streak belongs to former Chicago Cubs pitcher Bob Buhl who went 88 times without a hit over a two year period. But then pitchers aren't supposed to hit well. Although Buhl had the longest streak, another pitcher, Ron Herbel of the San Francisco Giants was actually a worse hitter. At the beginning of his career Herbel went hitless in 55 at-bats, got a hit, and then went hitless another 50 times. So he was 1 for 106 at the start of his career. Herbel's lifetime batting average over an 8 year career was a pathetic .029. These guys were hired for their pitching ability, not their hitting, and they were good pitchers. Buhl won 166 games in his career, and Herbel won 42 while losing 37.

Among position players, the worst hitter by far was Bill Bergen, an outstanding defensive catcher with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the early 20th Century. During the 1909 season, Bergen went hitless in 46 at-bats;, the longest slump among position players. His 1909 batting average was only .139, the lowest in history among full time players. Amazingly, Bergen kept his job for 10 years, compiling a lifetime batting average of .170 with an on-base percentage of .194, the lowest in baseball history. The only modern player to approach that record for futility was Detroit shortstop Ray Oyler who batted a pathetic .135 in 111 games for the 1968 World Champions. Oyler batted 215 times as a utility infielder with only 29 hits. Oyler, a good glove man, parlayed his fielding ability into a major league career lasting 6 years with a lifetime batting average of .175.

Other inept hitters include San Diego third baseman Dave Roberts, the opposing pitcher's best friend, who hit .167 in 1974 in over 300 at-bats. Even worse was fellow San Diego infielder Dwain Anderson who in 1973 batted only .121 in 124 at-bats with no extra base hits. San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium is considered a pitchers' park, but this is ridiculous! Not surprisingly, the Padres lost 102 games in both seasons, finishing in last place.

Other players, some of them stars, suffered through long hitless streaks. For example, the Hall of Fame shortstop Luis Aparicio went 44 times without a hit in 1971 with Boston near the end of his career. Robin Ventura, a star third baseman with the Chicago White Sox went 41 times without a hit in his rookie season of 1990. Ventura received 10 walks during that streak, so his on-base percentage for that time was over .200. Slugger Jose Canseco went 40 times without a hit in the 1986 season.

Barely over the Mendoza line throughout his career, infielder Lenn Sakata, a Hawaii native, was one of the first players of Japanese ancestry to play in the majors. Ichiro he wasn't, but Sakata played 10 years in the bigs, mostly with Milwaukee and Baltimore, compiling a lifetime batting average of .230 with 25 homers. However, against the Chisox, Sakata couldn't buy a hit. From the start of his career in 1977 until 1983--six years--Sakata went hitless against Chicago pitching for 66 at-bats. On August 11, 1983, he finally singled off southpaw Floyd Bannister who was immediately removed from the game. Over his career, Sakata got 7 hits in 108 at-bats against Chicago for an .069 average. After his playing career, Sakata successfully managed several teams in the California League and holds the record for lifetime wins in that league.

Sakata was the unsung hero in a couple of major league records. He was the starting shortstop for Baltimore when they decided to play Cal Ripken Jr. instead. Ripken didn't miss another game for about 17 years. In another game with the O's on August 24, 1983, Sakata was inserted as the catcher for the only time in his career when the O's ran out of catchers in an extra inning game against Toronto. The pitcher was lefthander Tippy Martinez. The first three Blue Jays reached base and each thought it would be easy to steal second base against an inexperienced catcher. They never got the chance to test Sakata's arm, as Martinez picked each one off first base. In the bottom half of the inning, Sakata hit a home run to win the game.

FEWEST HOMERS IN CAREER--POSITION PLAYER SINCE LIVE BALL ERA

Johnny Cooney started his career as a pitcher, and later became a center fielder and first baseman. Cooney batted 3372 times over a 20 year career beginning in 1921 and hit 2 homers which came in successive games in 1939. He was a good hitter, compiling a lifetime batting average of .286. The fewest career homers for a Hall of Fame position player was longtime Chicago White Sox catcher Ray Schalk with 11.

WORST PITCHER

Allan Travers, a 20 year old college student from St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia was unable to make the school's varsity baseball team, although he was a violinist in the school orchestra. He also played third bass in the band. On May 18, 1912, in a Walter Mitty scenario, Travers was recruited off a street corner to pitch for the Detroit Tigers against the Philadelphia A's when the Tigers team went on a one-day strike to protest the suspension of star player Ty Cobb for attacking a heckling fan. Cobb was unaware that the fan was handicapped--the fan was missing a hand and two fingers on the other hand from an industrial accident. Nearby fans pleaded with Cobb to stop beating a man with no hands. Cobb replied, "I don't care if he has no feet!"

Travers pitched a complete game against the A's who went on that season to win the World Series. He surrendered 26 hits, 24 runs (14 earned), 7 walks and 1 strikeout, and suffered the loss in a 24-2 rout. His catcher was tigers manager Hughie Jennings who advised him to throw slow curves and no fastballs because he was afraid the young man would get killed. Travers was paid $25 for the game. He never pitched again in the majors. He later became a Catholic priest and eventually was promoted to Dean of Men at the Jesuit college.

WORST PITCHER ON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM

Dennis Martinez of the 1983 World Champion Baltimore Orioles would qualify. He won 7 and lost 16 with an earned run average of 5.53. Other than that season, Martinez had a distinguished pitching career, winning 245 games, including a perfect game. Won-lost records aren't always a reliable measure of a pitcher's ability. In 1953, Don Larsen won 3 and lost 21 for the St. Louis Browns who couldn't hit at all. After he was traded to the NY Yankees, Larsen became a respectable pitcher , best known for pitching a perfect game in the 1956 World Series. Jose de Leon went 2 and 19 with with a somewhat respectable 4.70 ERA, for the 1985 Pittsburgh Pirates, a team that lost 104 games. DeLeon also became a decent pitcher in later years with Chicago and St. Louis.

MOST STRIKEOUTS BY A BATTER

Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Mark Reynolds struck out 223 times last season, breaking his own record of 204, set one year earlier. Why do they keep this guy in the lineup? Well, his 44 homers and 102 RBI's is a good reason. This season, he is striking out even more--41% of the time--109 times in his first 75 games. He has 18 homers, but he's batting only .219. I personally find it painful to watch a guy like that--constantly fanning the air and not moving runners along. Reynolds broke the previous record of 199 strikeouts set one year before that--2008--by Phillies' slugger Ryan Howard. Once again, the Phillies can live with the guy because he is perhaps the best power hitter in the league with 58 homers one season. Sammy Sosa used to drive me crazy with his strikeouts, but he hit over 60 homers in three different seasons. The worst hitter in terms of strikeouts was Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax who struck out approximately 50% of the time during his career. But then he was perhaps the greatest pitcher of his era, holding most of the pitching strike out records. He was a fine athlete who could hurl the ball 100 mph, but at the plate, he just couldn't get wood on the ball.

No article of this type would be complete without mentioning Milwaukee Brewer announcer and former third string catcher Bob Uecker who created a second career describing his ineptness on the ball field. (See KENSUSKINREPORT, April 22, 2007). "Mr. Baseball", a notoriously weak hitter, joked that the high point of his career was receiving an intentional walk from the great pitcher Sandy Koufax. Although he didn't mention it, Uecker had homered off Koufax earlier in the game. In one season, although he warmed the bench for more than half the games, Uecker still led the league's catchers with 27 passed balls and 11 errors, and was a candidate for Least Valuable Player if there were such an award. In fairness to Uecker, he had to catch for knuckleball pitcher Phil Niekro, and none of the other catchers relished catching his difficult serves which were compared to eating jello with a fork. Uecker hit one grand slam homer in his career--off the aforementioned Ron Herbel.

MORE OF BASEBALL'S DUBIOUS HONORS

FEWEST STRIKEOUTS BY A PITCHER

That dubious honor goes to Ted Wingfield of the 1927 Boston Red Sox who, in 75 innings pitched, struck out exactly 1 batter. My research didn't uncover the identity of that unlucky hitter, or whether or not he was called out on strikes. I've seen more hitters strike out in Tee-ball! Mr. Wingfield won 1 and lost 7 for the season with an ERA of 5.06. Look at it another way: he faced 346 hitters and 345 either walked or put the ball in play. One needs to consider that, unlike today, most hitters of that era were contact hitters who didn't swing for the fences. Two seasons earlier, Mr. Wingfield had pitched 254 innings and struck out only 30. Among modern day pitchers, Dan Serafini of the 1999 Chicago Cubs struck out only 17 in 62 innings, while walking 32. As you can imagine, he didn't stick in the majors for long.

MOST WALKS ALLOWED BY PITCHER IN NO-HITTER

A no-hitter is a good thing, of course, but today's managers will remove a pitcher after 100-110 pitches even if he is working on one. On August 19, 1965, Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds pitched a 10-inning no-hitter against the hapless Chicago Cubs but walked 10 batters (and struck out 12). Maloney threw 187 pitches in the game. Actually, it was his second 10-inning no-hitter of the season. On June 19th, Maloney shut down the NY Mets for 10 innings but lost the game when John Lewis led off the 11th inning with a homer. Maloney struck out 18 batters in that game but walked only 3. He also pitched a one-hitter against the Braves on Opening Day.

LAST INFIELDER WITH A SUB .900 FIELDING AVERAGE FOR A FULL SEASON

Third baseman Butch Hobson of the Boston Red Sox made 43 errors and fielded .899 in 1978 in 133 games in the field. It wasn't his lack of experience--it was his third full season in the majors.

MOST ERRORS BY A TEAM IN A SEASON

The 1883 Philadelphia Phillies made 639 errors in only 99 games, an average of more than 6 per game. Keep in mind that fielders didn't wear gloves in those days. In modern times, with improved equipment, teams don't make a lot of errors. The last team to commit more than 200 errors in a season was the 1963 last place NY Mets with 208 in 162 games.

WORST HITTER

Ron Herbel, a pitcher with the San Francisco Giants, had the worst career batting average for all players with over 100 at bats--a pathetic .029 over his 8 year career. He began his career by going hitless in 55 at bats. After he got a hit, he went hitless another 53 times. Thus, he started his career 1 for 109. He collected a total of 6 hits in 206 at bats, including 2 doubles over his career. Herbel's other claim to fame was that on June 21, 1967, he served up a grand slam homer to third string catcher and notoriously weak hitter, Bob Uecker, now a radio and TV personality and the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers. Uecker frequently tells humerous stories about his lack of hitting prowess during his playing career. Herbel's dubious distinction was that he gave up the only grand slammer of Uecker's career.

Mr. Herbel made Bob Buhl look like a good hitter. Buhl, a good starting pitcher for the Milwaukee Braves and Chicago Cubs, won 166 games in his 14 year career. But in the 1962 season, mostly with the Cubs, Buhl went oh for 70, although he did have 7 sacrifice bunts, 1 sac fly and even stole one base. Over two seasons, Buhl eventually batted 88 times without a hit. He did get 76 hits in his career with a lifetime batting average of .089.

MOST GAMES BY A BATTER WITHOUT CROSSING HOME PLATE

The great pinch hitter, Smoky Burgess of the Chicago White Sox batted in 148 games between June 30, 1965 and June 23, 1967 without scoring a run, until he hit a home run. During that period, he batted a respectable .283 with an on-base percentage of .373. But than, the overweight Burgess was extremely slow and was always removed for a pinch runner. (see KENSUSKINREPORT June 1, 2008)

Among regular players, Mario Guerrero of the Oakland A's batted at least twice in 42 straight games without scoring a run. He batted 150 times between August 11, 1978 and April 30, 1979 without crossing the plate. In the 1978 season, Guerrero had 546 plate appearances and scored only 27 runs, although he batted a solid .275. Place the blame on the inept hitters who followed him in the batting order.

The baseball season is winding down, the Sox and Cubs aren't in danger of making the playoffs, so let's work on football.

KENNETH SUSKIN
9/28/09

BASEBALL'S OLDEST ROOKIES

Baseball, like most sports, is a young man's game. By the time a player gets to middle age, his skills diminish, and you'll find very few players over age 40 in major league baseball, or football and basketball, for that matter. Obviously teams are reluctant to invest in the future of a 30 something athlete who probably won't be playing for much longer. Thus, it is remarkable when a player makes it to the big time at an advanced age.

Although 40 years old is young for most careers in the real world, when it comes to sports, older players often find that, in the media, their ages are attached to their names. For example, "40 year old Brett Favre leads the Vikings to victory!" or "45 year old Jamie Moyer pitches the Phillies to the championship," or even "48 year old Julio Franco hits grand slam homer." In my regular monthly poker game, the leading winner the past three months was 91 year old Herman V., a retired toy store owner. Experience counts for something.

This season, the New York Mets signed a 40 year old rookie relief pitcher, Ken Takahashi, a southpaw, who had previously starred with the Hiroshima Carp for 14 years. Takahashi adapted well to his LOOG (Lefty One Out Guy) role in the Mets' bullpen. Forty year old rookies are unusual in sports, and the next logical question was: Who was the oldest player to debut in the major leagues?

The oldest rookie to debut was the legendary Leroy "Satchel" Paige, who broke in with the Cleveland Indians in 1948 at age 42. He pitched well that season, winning 6 and losing 1, with a fine earned run average. Although he was considered a rookie, Paige, a member of baseball's Hall of Fame, was the best pitcher in the old Negro Leagues for many years, so he wasn't exactly inexperienced. He helped the Indians win the World Championship that year. Paige pitched well enough for about 5 more years, even making the All-Star team in 1953 when he was 47. He was brought back in 1965 to start a game for Kansas City against the Boston Red Sox and pitched 3 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit. He was 59 years old. (See KENSUSKINREPORT, March 23, 2009).

The next oldest was the Pittsburgh Pirates' Diomedes Olivo, who debuted in 1960 at age 41, appearing in 4 games in the September pennant drive with a team that ultimately won the World Championship. Olivo was sent back to the minors the next season where he was the Player of the Year in the International League. In 1962, as a 43 year old rookie, Olivo returned to the Pirates where he appeared in 62 games, won 5 and lost only 1, with an excellent ERA of 2.77. In all fairness, Olivo wasn't inexperienced either. He was the greatest pitcher in the history of the Dominican Republic up to that time and is in that country's Hall of Fame.

Recently, a movie was made about Jim Morris who was a promising minor league pitcher until he hurt his arm. He retired from baseball and pursued a career as a high school science teacher and baseball coach. After several years he found that his arm had healed, and he could fire a 98 mph fastball, faster than he could throw when he was younger.

Fulfilling a promise to his students, Morris tried out with the Toronto Blue Jays and was signed to a contract. He made his rookie debut at age 35 and pitched in 21 games for the Jays in 1999 and 2000 before more arm troubles ended his career. In the 2002 Disney movie The Rookie, Morris was portrayed by actor Dennis Quaid. The movie is very inspiring.

FASTER THAN LIGHTNING--STEVE DALKOWSKI AND HIS 105 MPH FASTBALL

In every era of baseball a pitcher or two stands out as the hardest thrower. Baseball's Hall of Fame has several of these legends like Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, Bobby Feller, Goose Gossage--pitchers who could deliver the ball at speeds of 100 mph or more. But the virtually unknown Steve Dalkowski was acclaimed the fastest of all by such baseball luminaries as Ted Williams, and Baltimore Orioles managers Cal Ripken Sr. and Earl Weaver. He earned the nickname, "White Lightning" for his lightning fastball which was estimated at 105-110 mph (they didn't have radar guns at that time). He wasn't all that big--only 5'11" and 170 pounds, but his wrist action was exceptional.

Pitchers who can throw that hard are few and far between, and baseball managers are always scouting the bushes, seeking that raw young talent who can develop into a star pitcher. A pitcher who can strike out enough hitters doesn't have to worry about defense. Years ago, Sports Illustrated wrote an extensive article about Sidd (short for Siddartha) Finch who, by practicing yoga and Eastern religions, learned to throw the ball at a speed of 164 mph. He was supposedly signed by the New York Mets. After the article appeared, the phone lines lit up, and eventually the story was exposed as an April Fools' joke.

Steve Dalkowski was real, however. He starred in football and baseball in high school in New Britain, Connecticut in the mid 1950's. He was a left handed quarterback for a New Britain High team which won the division championship in 1955 and 1956, On the pitcher's mound, he struck out 24 batters in one game, a Connecticut record that still stands.

When he graduated in 1957, the Baltimore Orioles signed him for a $4,000 bonus and sent him to the minor leagues where he was to spend his entire career. At his first stop in Kingsport, Tennessee, he pitched 62 innings, allowing only 22 hits and striking out an incredible 121 batters. His problem was the 129 walks he allowed. A normal pitcher who walked a batter every inning would soon find himself out of a job. With Dalko, however, his potential was so great that the O's had coaches swarming all over him, giving advice. Unfortunately, all that coaching confused him, and he never did learn to control his wildness.

He careened around the bush leagues for several years at various whistle stops--Aberdeen, SD; Stockton, CA; Elmira, NY: Pensacola, FL. At most places, he racked up huge numbers of strikeouts, and even huger numbers of bases on balls. For example, on August 31, 1957, at Kingsport, Dalkowski struck out 24 Bluefield hitters and lost the game 8-4. He walked 18, hit 4 batters and threw 6 wild pitches. Nowadays, managers remove the pitcher from the game after about 100 pitches--but not then. In fact, in an extra inning game for Elmira in the Eastern League, he threw 283 pitches (27 strikeouts and 16 walks).

The Orioles organization took him to Aberdeen Proving Grounds in an effort to measure the speed of his fastball, but in a 40 minute pitching performance, he was unable to aim the ball through the radar machine to get an accurate reading.

The following year at Stockton, Dalko's wildness continued. He pitched 170 innings, allowing only 105 hits, but walked 262 batters while striking out an equal number. His earned run average was 5.14. He won 7 and lost 15.

At Elmira, NY, in 1962, under the tutelage of Earl Weaver, Dalkowski's game started to improve. Weaver ordered IQ tests for all his players and found that Dalko's was significantly lower than normal. Taking that into account, Weaver made it simple--just aim the fastball down the middle--batters couldn't hit it anyway. Dalkowski had his best season, 7 wins, 10 losses, with a 3.04 ERA. In 160 innings, he struck out 192 with 114 walks and only 117 hits. It was his first season with fewer walks than innings pitched.

That earned him a promotion to Spring Training with the big club in 1963. In one game he pitched 6 hitless innings and the Orioles announced that they were calling him up to the big leagues. But in a pre-season game on March 23rd, pitching against the NY Yankees, he injured his arm throwing a slider and was out for the season. He never pitched in the majors. In his only appearance in a major league stadium, in a 1959 pre-season game he struck out the side on 12 pitches against the Cincinnati Reds.

Stories about his wildness abound. Former Yankees' manager Bob Lemon said Dalkowski once hit a man in the back with a pitch. The man was in the stands getting a hot dog.

At Aberdeen, he once pitched a one-hitter and lost the game 9-8 because he walked 17 (and struck out 15).

Heck! Two Hollywood films were made about this guy! Teammate Ron Shelton later became a Hollywood writer and director and made Dalkowski the model for the Tim Robbins character Nuke Laloosh in his 1988 movie Bull Durham about a minor league baseball team. In the film, which starred Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon, LaLoosh was the offbeat pitcher who unlike Dalkowski, finally did make it to "the Show".

In the 1994 movie, The Scout, Albert Brooks plays a baseball scout who discovers a talented but troubled pitcher, Steve Nebraska, played by Brendan Fraser, who winds up in daily therapy sessions with a psychiatrist hired by the team. The character is believed to be loosely modeled after Mr. Dalkowski.

Dalkowski's problems were many, both on and off the field. One reason for his wildness on the mound was his poor eyesight. He wore thick glasses when he pitched, which of course intimidated batters even more. Could he see where he was throwing? His behavior was self destructive. The team paired him up with the notorious southpaw Bo Belinsky who in his future major league career pitched a no- hitter for the California Angels but became better known for carousing in nightclubs and marrying C-movie actress Mamie Van Doren. As a roommate, Belinsky probably wasn't the best influence for a young, impressionable player like Dalkowski who began drinking heavily. The drinking got so bad that after his baseball career, he couldn't hold a job, became a migrant worker and had little contact with his family. He was arrested numerous times for drunkeness and other reckless behavior.

Eventually alcohol induced dementia rendered him unable to work at all. He periodically went through rehab, courtesy of the Association of Professional Ballplayers of America. He was married to a motel clerk named Virginia, and that's all we know about her. In 1994, his wife died, and Dalkowski's sister and a former teammate found him in Oklahoma City and brought him home to Connecticut and placed him in a nursing home. He was only 55, but not expected to live much longer. Cut off from booze, however, his health improved although, because of the brain damage caused by his long term alcoholism, he remembers little of his last 30 years. In 2003, he was able to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before an Orioles game against Seattle. His legendary fastball was a distant memory, and his old teammates dreamed of what could have been.

KENNETH SUSKIN

18 PERFECT GAMES--WHAT ABOUT THE NEAR MISSES?

While driving home last Thursday after Mark Buehrle's perfect game no-hitter, we got to talking about some of the near misses involving Chicago teams. For a brief moment in the Buehrle game, it appeared this would be one of them. DeWayne Wise saved the day, of course, with his sensational catch over the left field wall.

With the help of the Internet, I researched games in which no-hitters were broken up in the ninth inning and found that it's a lot more common than you'd think. Since 1961, when Major League Baseball expanded, there have been 123 no-hitters and another 129 broken up in the ninth inning. After the second out of the ninth inning, 80% of the pitchers were able to complete the no-hitter.

The Cubs have had a few interesting ones. On May 22, 1955, in Milwaukee's County Stadium, the Cubs' Warren Hacker took a no-hitter into the ninth inning. With one out, Braves' pinch hitter George Crowe hit a home run, but the Cubs won 2-1. Incredibly, Hacker didn't strike out anybody and only walked 1 batter. In fact, 16 of the Braves' 29 batters either lined out or flied out to the outfield. Hacker wasn't fooling many hitters, but sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

On September 2, 1972, the Cubs' Milt Pappas had a perfect game going against the San Diego Padres, retiring the first 26 batters. The 27th, pinch hitter Larry Stahl worked the count to 3 and 2 and walked on a marginal pitch. The umpire wasn't in a hurry to go home. Pappas retired the next batter for his no-hitter. To this day, Pappas is still bitter about the umpire's call in the 9th inning.

The NY Mets Hall of Fame right hander Tom Seaver had a no-hitter going at Wrigley Field on September 24, 1975. With 2 outs in the ninth inning, the Cubs' pinch hitter, "Tarzan" Joe Wallis somehow reached a low outside pitch and stroked an opposite field single. Unfortunately for "Tarzan", for the rest of his brief career, he hit more like Jane. Seaver had earlier pitched a near no-hitter against the Cubs on July 9, 1969 which was broken up by Jim Qualls with one out in the ninth inning.

The legendary Nolan Ryan, author of 7 no-hitters in his long career, had one into the ninth inning on August 7, 1974 at old Comiskey Park in Chicago. White Sox slugger Richie "Dick" Allen swung hard and trickled a slow roller down the third base line. The Angels' third baseman made a terrific play, but Allen beat the throw for an infield hit. The next hitter, Carlos May smacked a sharp grounder off the first baseman's glove for an error. Ryan became unglued at that point and served up base hits to Ken Henderson and Bill Sharp and lost the game 2-1. Over his career, Ryan had 4 other no-hitters broken up in the ninth inning, all with one out. In fact, on 24 occasions, including the above, the overpowering righthander carried no-hitters into the seventh inning.

On April 15, 1983, the Detroit Tigers righthander Milt Wilcox carried a perfect game for 26 hitters against the White Sox. Pinch hitter Jerry Hairston, who hadn't gotten a hit in 7 tries for the season, lined a clean single to center field to break up the perfect game.

On June 27, 1958, the White Sox great lefthander Billy Pierce retired the first 26 Washington Senators one warm evening. The Nats sent up reserve catcher Ed FitzGerald to pinch hit, and on a checked swing, he lined an opposite field double over the first base bag, just inside fair territory. Pierce struck out the next man for the victory.

Some other interesting near misses include hard luck Toronto pitcher Dave Stieb who lost a no-no against the Chicago White Sox on August 24, 1985 when Rudy Law got a hit leading off the ninth inning. Several years later, Stieb lost two no-hitters in one week, on September 24th and 30th, 1988, both with 2 outs in the ninth. Cleveland's Julio Franco broke up one, and Baltimore's Jim Traher got a bad hop single in the other.

On August 21, 1973, Chisox workhorse pitcher Stan Bahnsen lost his no-hitter against Cleveland when Walter "No-Neck" Williams bounced a hit over third baseman Bill Melton's head with two outs in the ninth.

Older folks like me might remember "Toothpick" Sam Jones of the Chicago Cubs who pitched a dramatic no-hitter against Pittsburgh in his rookie season on May 12,1955. He used to chew on toothpicks when he was pitching. He was called "Toothpick" to distinguish him from "Sad" Sam Jones, a pitcher from an earlier era (who pitched a no-hitter in 1923--with zero strikeouts) , and Celtics basketball star Sam Jones. Toothpick was the first Black pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the major leagues. I watched the ninth inning of that game on TV after school. The reason I called it "dramatic" was that Jones walked the first three hitters in the ninth inning and then struck out the the heart of the Pirates batting order, Dick Groat, Roberto Clemente and Frank Thomas.

I don't know how many pitches Jones threw in that inning, but it was a lot. Jones walked 7 in that game. In those days, pitchers were expected to work out of their own jams, rather than the manager calling in a string of relief pitchers. Jones led the National League in stikeouts, walks and hit batsmen in 1955. In 241 innings, he walked 185 (an NL record) and hit 14 batsmen, while striking out 198. He was "sad" also because he lost 20 games that season. He may have been wild, but he had the best curveball in the league, according to Hall of Famer Stan Musial.

Some of the guys who spoiled no-hitters are noteworthy. The Toronto Bluejays' Nelson Liriano broke up 2 ninth inning no-hitters in one week in April, 1989. The NY Yankees' Horace Clarke broke up 3 no-hitters in the ninth inning within a month in 1970.

The early 1970's was sarcastically called the "Horace Clarke Era" in Yankees' history, named after the leadoff man who was the symbol of their ineptitude until they returned to championship form in the late 1970's. Clarke was a good player, but wasn't Mickey Mantle or Joe DiMaggio. The most significant trade the Yankees of that era made was their two best pitchers swapped wives, kids and even their dogs. That's newsworthy, even in New York. Not long after that both pitchers were traded away.

The bottom line is, as Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over 'til it's over."

KENNETH SUSKIN

EYEWITNESS TO HISTORY--BUEHRLE'S PERFECT GAME

Until today, I hadn't been to a baseball game this whole season. Today, I was an eye-witness to history, or at least, baseball history. Jennifer M., my sales representative for Ticor Title Insurance Co. invited me to go see the Chicago White Sox-Tampa Bay Rays game at U.S. Cellular Field. We went to the game with Marcelino, an attorney, and Carmelo, a mortgage banker. We drove slowly down the construction clogged Chicago expressway system, arriving at the game during the National Anthem. We quickly located our seats in the 33rd row down the left field line.

Because it was a day game following a night game, the White Sox, although battling for first place, were resting several of their regular players. Slugger Jim Thome was on the bench, as was first baseman Paul Konerko who played designated hitter. The weaker fielding strikeout prone Josh Fields played first base in his stead. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski sat on the pines, replaced by the weak hitting Ramon Castro. Scott Podsednik was inserted in center field, not his best position. The second team is somewhat weaker defensively.

As it turned out, none of this was a problem for Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle who fields his position flawlessly. The ace lefthander breezed through the Rays' lineup the first 3 innings like it was child's play. He went to a 3 and 0 count on 9th place hitter Jason Bartlett before retiring him on a popup. Meanwhile, the White Sox loaded the bases in the second inning on a single by Konerko, a walk to Carlos Quentin, then 2 strikeouts and a single by Castro in which the slow footed Konerko had to stop at third base. The ninth place hitter, Fields, worked the count to 3 and 1 and crashed a 400 foot homer deep into the left field stands. At that point, with the score 4-0, the game was effectively over for the Rays. Fans who wanted to leave early and beat the rush hour traffic could do so. Not many did.

The second time through the Rays' lineup, Buehrle was on cruise control. Aside from a hard hit foul ball now and then, they hit weak pop-ups and bouncing balls to the shortstop.

After the fifth inning, there was a buzz among the 28,000 fans present. People stopped going to the refreshment stands and restrooms while the Rays were batting. They took their seats to watch the Rays flail away against Buehrle's offerings. The lefthander worked quickly, pitching from the stretch without winding up. He wasted no time out there.

In the seventh inning, Buehrle had to face the top of the Rays' lineup--their best hitters--for the third time. He got the dangerous Carl Crawford on a weak tap back to the mound and star third baseman Evan Longoria on a gentle grounder to third base.

By the eighth inning, the fans were on their feet. The Rays' Pat Burrell hit a rocket past third base that landed foul by inches. Both the third base umpire and our group had a perfect view and the call was correct. We were screaming in delight when Burrell then hit a soft liner to third baseman Gordon Beckham to end the inning.

The White Sox had to bat in the bottom of the eighth, but nobody paid attention. Let's get these guys outta here so we can watch Buehrle pitch the ninth inning!

Buehrle came out of the dugout to the mound to start the ninth inning, and the fans gave him a standing ovation. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. Manager Ozzie Guillen made a defensive move, removing the sore footed Carlos Quentin from left field and moving Scott Podsednik there from center field. He inserted Dwayne Wise, a little taller with a little more range, in center field. The move turned out to be brilliant.

The first batter in the ninth inning, Gabe Kapler, worked the count full and hit a tremendous drive to left center field that appeared to be a home run. The collective silence of the crowd was deafening as eveyone's heart dropped. Center fielder Wise was Superman for one brief moment as he streaked toward the left field wall. At the last possible moment, he leaped up on the wall, with his glove extended over the top, and he brought the ball back in play. For Sox fans, it was a miracle as Wise juggled the ball on his way down, holding the ball high as he rolled over on the ground. Tears of joy filled our eyes. Almost a religious experience! Buehrle might actually do this!

The next hitter was the catcher Michel Hernandez, who struck out swinging, the sixth strikeout of the day for Buehrle. 26 batters up and 26 down! The fans were chanting "Buehrle!, Buehrle!" as the 27th batter for the Rays stepped into the batter's box. Although he was batting ninth, the talented shortstop, Jason Bartlett, a .342 hitter, was not someone you'd want to face with the game on the line. With the count 2 and 1, Bartlett hit a bouncing ball directly at shortstop Alexei Ramirez who threw to first for the final out. A perfect no-hit game!

As you can imagine, the fans were in partying mood. The White Sox players swarmed the field, mobbing Buehrle. Even his wife was on the field. The fans milled around for a long time, savoring the event. During the post game interview, Buehrle was interrupted by a phone call from President Obama, a Sox fan himself, from the South Side of Chicago. Apparently, the phone number is on the President's speed dial. He was coincidently in Chicago today for a fund raiser, but he regretfully didn't make it to the game.

The Sox victory propelled them into a tie for first place with Detroit. In the long run of a pennant race, it's just one game, and they'll have to win many more. But for just one magical moment of perfection we'll worry about the rest of the season tomorrow.

MORE OBSCURE BASEBALL RECORDS

Here are a few records that you probably didn't realize they kept.

MOST FOUL BALLS HIT BY ONE BATTER

The Hall of Fame shortstop of the Chicago White Sox, Luke Appling was famous for his ability to foul off pitches, which drove opposing pitchers crazy. On September 19, 1940, a hot humid day at old Comiskey Park in chicago, Appling came to the plate with 2 runners on base, facing the NY Yankees star pitcher, Hall of Famer Red Ruffing. Appling fouled off the first 4 pitches, took ball 1, fouled off 6 more pitches and took ball 2. With the count even at 2-2, he then fouled off 14 more pitches and took balls 3 and 4 for a walk. As Ralph Berger described it in the Baseball Biography Project, "the profusely sweating Ruffing finally walked Appling and gave up a grand-slam homer to the next batter. Ruffing was in a cool shower immediately after." Appling said, "he cussed me all the way to the dugout." On another occasion during the same season, Appling fouled off 15 pitches against the fireballing Bob Feller (also a Hall of Famer) of the Cleveland Indians.

FEWEST PITCHES IN 9 INNING GAME--APPLING WOULD HAVE USED HALF OF THEM

Righthander Red Barrett of the old Boston Braves pitched a 2-hit shutout on August 10,1944 against the Cincinnati Reds, winning 2-0. He threw only 58 pitches, walking nobody and striking out nobody. He didn't fall vbehind in the count on any batter. His fielders were up to the task. He induced 13 ground ball outs, 5 fly balls, 7 pop-ups (4 were foul) and 2 line drive outs. He finished the game in 1 hour and 15 minutes. Since the game was not televised, there were no commercials to hold up the game.

MOST RUNNERS LEFT ON BASE IN 9 INNING SHUTOUT

Sixteen. This happened twice in recent years. On May 7, 1998, Toronto's Roger Clemens blanked the Seattle Mariners 6-0. The Mariners collected 11 hits, 3 walks and 2 hit batsmen, but couldn't deliver the timely hit. On May 24, 1994, the Philadelphia Phillies, using 4 pitchers, blanked St. Louis 4-0, allowing 9 hits and 8walks.

MOST INTENTIONAL WALKS IN A CAREER TO A PITCHER

This pre-dated the designated hitter rule in the American League, but former Chicago White Sox pitcher Gary Peters received 3 intentional walks in his career. Peters, a fine pitcher and a career .222 hitter was a dangerous pinch hitter who won several games with late inning homers.

FEWEST WILD PITCHES IN CAREER

The Kansas City Royals ace relief pitcher Dan Quisenberry had only 4 wild pitches in his 12 year career, spanning 674 games and 1043 innings. He usually pitched in crucial game saving situations where a wild pitch could be the difference between winning and losing. A significant share of the credit should go to his catcher.

Despite his unorthodox submarine balling delivery, Quisenberry had great control. He gave up only 92 un-intentional walks in his career which ranks him 20th all-time in bases on balls per 9 innings.

Incidentally, the most wild pitches, by contrast were thrown by the great Nolan Ryan 277 times in his 25 year career.

The record for fewest wild pitches in a season is held by an old timer, Joe McGinnity of the NY giants in 1906 with zero in 340 innings pitched. The most wild pitches in a season were thrown by Juan Guzman of the Toronto Blue Jays with 26 in the 1993 season.

MOST TIMES CAUGHT STEALING IN ONE GAME

You'd think he would have given up by the 4th attempt, but the apparently slow footed Robbie Thompson of the San Francisco Giants was thrown out stealing 4 times in a 12 inning game on June 27, 1986. Actually, there's a story behind this record. Despite his ineptness on the bases, the Giants won the game over Cincinnati 7-6, and Thompson was instrumental in the win. He collected 3 hits, drove in 2 runs and threw out a baserunner at third base in the 9th inning to save the game. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the first three times he was thrown out by Reds' catcher Bo Diaz when the next batter, the slumping Jeff Leonard missed the hit-and-run signal. Maybe Manager Roger Craig deserves some share of the blame. Was he giving the signs in a foreign language?

In the 11th inning, Thompson reached base when he struck out on a wild pitch. The pitcher, John Franco then picked him off first base and he raced to second where he was easily thrown out, setting a record which he is not exactly proud of.

FEWEST DOUBLES IN FULL SEASON--150 OR MORE GAMES

The weak hitting St. Louis Cards' shortstop Dal Maxvill hit only 5 doubles in 1970 while compiling a .201 batting average. Maxvill didn't scare many pitchers in his 14year major league career, with a lifetime batting average of .217. He kept his job, not because he was related to anyone in the front office, but because of his slick fielding. Playing a key position like shortstop, it's more important that he can catch the ball. Maxvill played in 3 World Series, and in postseason play 5 times while underwhelming opposing pitchers at a .114 clip.

MOST TIMES GROUNDED INTO DOUBLE PLAYS IN CAREER

Last time we noted that Baltimore Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson hit into 4 triple plays in his career. His teammate Cal Ripken grounded into 350 double plays in his career. Those two Hall of Famers killed off a lot of rallies in their careers. Despite that, the Orioles managed to win a couple of championships in that time. That National League record is held by home run king Hank Aaron with 305 double plays.

ONLY RIGHT HANDED HITTER TO GROUND INTO NO DOUBLE PLAYS IN SEASON

Craig Biggio of the Houston Astros played more than 150 games in 1997 and must have put the ball into the air when hitting with men on base. He did collect more than 3,000 hits in a long illustrious career. His other claim to fame is that he was hit by more pitches than any other player in MLB history.

BATTER WITH MOST CONSECUTIVE STRIKEOUTS

We can forgive this one because pitchers aren't supposed to hit well. The legendary Sandy Koufax, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955, struck out 12 times in a row. He got his revenge for that later in his career by striking out 8 Chicago Cubs in a row while pitching a perfect game. (Interestingly, in that game, the Cubs' Bob Hendley pitched a 1-hitter and lost 1-0. The hit did not figure in the scoring.) Getting back to Mr. Koufax, he was the best pitcher in baseball for several years in the 1960's and set the single season strikeout record, which has since been broken.

I hope you've had enough.

KENNETH SUSKIN

EVEN MORE UNUSUAL BASEBALL RECORDS

It's time for baseball season again, and more unusual records for stat freaks.

MOST TRIPLE PLAYS HIT INTO IN CAREER

Hall of Fame Third Baseman Brooks Robinson holds this record all by himself. A triple play is one of the rarest plays in baseball. Robinson hit into 4 in his career, eclipsing Hall of Famer George Sisler's previous record of 3. Incidentally, Ty Cobb hit into 2 triple plays, and Babe Ruth hit into 1.

ONLY LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM WITH 2 FUTURE HALL OF FAME STARS

That honor goes to the 1967 version of the Denker Park Giants of Los Angeles in the under 12 league. The team featured slugger Eddie Murray and defensive whiz Ozzie Smith, both switch hitters who both made the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. The team was coached by Earl Brown Jr. who schooled them well in fundamentals. On the same team was Chet Lemon, later an all-star outfielder with the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers. Needless to say, the team went undefeated. Murray and Smith went on to star at Locke High School in Los Angeles. Playing together on the junior varsity as freshmen, they regularly beat up on the varsity. Years later, in the majors, Murray banged out over 3,000 hits including more than 500 homers, while Smith pounded out more than 2,700 hits and was the slickest fielding shortstop of his generation.

ONLY PITCHER TO HAVE 58 INNING SCORELESS STREAK ENDED BY WEAKEST HITTER ON OPPOSING TEAM.

In 1968, the LA Dodgers pitching star Don Drysdale set a record (since broken by Orel Hershiser) of 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings pitched. The streak ended when Philadelphia outfielder Howie Bedell drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. It was his only RBI of the whole season. He had only 3 RBI's in his whole career in 145 at-bats, with a lifetime batting average of .193. Bedell had to do something to get to the Majors in the first place. His claim to fame was that, playing for Louisville in the American Association in 1961, he hit safely in 43straight games, and he holds the record for that minor league which folded in 1997. Unfortunately, that hitting prowess didn't carry over to his major league career.

OLDEST MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYER

The immortal pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige signed on to play for the Kansas City A's. in 1965, at age 59, although he may have been a year or two older (his mother told conflicting stories of his birth). On September 25th, he started the game against the Boston Red Sox. He still had his mojo. He pitched 3 scoreless innings, allowing 1 hit (a double by Carl Yastrzemski) and striking out one. Paige, in his heyday in the 1930's and 40's was the best pitcher in the old Negro Leagues and often faced major leaguers in barnstorming games. Joe DiMaggio called him "the best and fastest pitcher I've ever faced."

MOST GRAND SLAM HOMERS BY ONE PLAYER IN 1 INNING.

This really happened. St. Louis Cardinals Third Baseman Fernando Tatis hit 2 in the second inning on April 23, 1999 against Los Angeles. Both came off pitcher Chan Ho Park who gave up 11 runs (6 earned) that inning to wipe out a 2-0 lead. The Cardinals won 12-5. The winning pitcher was Jose Jimenez (not the Bill Dana character). Tatis went on to enjoy his best season in an injury plagued career, batting .298 with 34 homers and 107 RBI's, which included 8 in that one inning.

BACK TO BACK HOMERS BY SINGLES HITTERS OFF HALL OF FAME PITCHER NOLAN RYAN.

On August 11, 1990, Ozzie Guillen and Craig Grebeck, the 8th and 9th place hitters in the Chicago White Sox lineup, went deep against Nolan Ryan, who was going for his 301st lifetime victory. It happened in the second inning, giving the Chisox a 4-0 lead which held up for a 5-2 win. Not only was it Grebeck's first major league homer, but it was the only homer of the season for both players. The next time Grebeck came to the plate, Ryan drilled him in the ribs with his first pitch.

FEWEST WALKS IN A FULL SEASON.

Current White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen apparently didn't scare many pitchers in his career. He made the record books on this one also by receiving only 10 bases on balls in 150 games in the 1996 season. He batted 528 times that season. In an earlier season, he walked only 11 times. Old timer Whitey Alperman of Brooklyn went to the plate 442 times in the 1909 season and walked only twice, although he made up for it by being hit by pitches 6 times. Among modern players, Oakland shortstop Rob Picciolo also walked twice in 1980 in 281 plate appearances. In Picciolo's career, spanning 9 seasons, he walked only 25 times.

MOST UNINTENTIONAL WALKS IN CAREER

The speedster Rickey Henderson received 2123 unintentional walks in his career (plus 67 intentional walks and 98 hit by pitches)). Recently admitted to baseball's Hall of Fame, he played 25 years and holds the record for most stolen bases with 1406 (he was caught 335 times and holds that record too). In second place is Babe Ruth with 2062 unintentional walks. Ruth didn't get many intentional walks with Lou Gehrig batting after him. Barry Bonds holds the record for most walks in a career. He received 1842 unintentional walks plus 675 intentional ones.

Finally, here's a football record by a baseball player.

MOST KICKOFF RETURN TOUCHDOWNS IN ONE GAME

Roger Maris, playing for Stanley High School in Fargo, North Dakota, in 1951 returned 4 kickoffs for touchdowns in one game. This high school record still stands. Maris was recruited for the gridiron by the football powerhouse Oklahoma Sooners. Maris took the bus to Norman, Oklahoma, but was upset when nobody was there to greet him. He turned around and went back to Fargo and devoted his attention to baseball. Of course, we remember him for breaking Babe Ruth's long standing home run record with 61 homers in 1961. He received no intentional walks that season with slugger Mickey Mantle batting after him.

KENNETH SUSKIN

ST.LOUIS BROWNS--GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Probably the least successful major league franchise in history was the old St.Louis Browns, although the old Philadelphia Phillies could have competed for that dubious honor. But the Phils are still around and popular despite 10,000 losses (KENSUSKINREPORT Aug. 18, 2007), whereas the Browns morphed into the Baltimore Orioles who did everything possible to erase the losing legacy of the Browns.

The American League was started in 1901, and a year later, the Milwaukee Brewers franchise moved to St. Louis. They revived the name of the successful St. Louis team of the 1880's. The similarity ended there. Over the next 52 years of the Browns' stormy existence, they finished last or next to last 26 times, and they had only 12 winning seasons. First in shoes, first in booze and last in the American League. was the fans derisive slogan for the team. For most of those years, they shared a stadium (Sportsmen's Park) with the more successful Cardinals, and although the Browns actually owned the ballpark, the success didn't rub off on them.

In the early years, they hired the brilliant Branch Rickey to manage the team. It was his first job in baseball. Three years later, the team was sold to Phillip Ball who owned the St. Louis Terriers of the defunct Federal League. In a clash of egos, Ball made a colossal blunder by firing Rickey. Rickey then accepted the General Manager job with the cross town Cardinals where he built a dynasty. In 1920, the Cardinals ownership decided to sell their ball park and rent from the Browns. They used the money from the sale to allow Rickey to create a minor league farm system which became the most successful in baseball and the prototype for what every team does today. Rickey proved to be a baseball visionary in other areas also, later signing the legendary Jackie Robinson and after that, Roberto Clemente.

Meanwhile, through dumb luck or whatever, for a couple of years in the early 1920's the Browns challenged the New York Yankees for the pennant, always falling short. They had Hall of Famer George Sisler who set a record with 257 hits (recently broken by Ichiro Suzuki) and Kenny Williams, the first player to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in the same season. He was not believed to be related to Chicago White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams. Wheather he was or not, the St. Louis Kenny Williams beat out Babe Ruth for the home run title in 1922.

Their brief success was fleeting and the team degenerated into mediocrity and worse. Marketing was not their strong suit, and the fans stopped coming to the games. Of course the reduced income made it difficult to sign good players. In the 1936 season, for example, they drew less than 81,000 fans for the whole season (77 home games). For quite a few games in the 1930's, the paid attendance was less than 100, and on one occasion, only 33 fans turned out for the game. They were consistent--they lost over 100 games almost every season. In 1941, their owner tried to move the team to Los Angeles. The Browns' bad luck continued--the league meeting to approve the move was scheduled for December 8th. When the league scheduled the meeting, Pearl Harbor was not on the agenda. The Browns' move to the West Coast was denied.

During World War II, baseball carried on but team rosters were depleted, placing the teams on somewhat equal footing which benefited the penurious Browns. Most major league players went into the armed forces and baseball had to sign whatever players they could find--often teenagers, older major leaguers who had previously retired, and other players with various disabilities which rendered them ineligible for military service. The 1944 Browns pieced together a group of alcoholics and 4-F's which turned out to be one game better than the Detroit Tigers, and they won their only pennant.

They had guys like catcher Frank Mancuso who injured his spine at Fort Benning, Georgia in a parachute jump. He could not look straight up without passing out. If an opposing player hit a pop up, someone else had to catch it. Then there was pitcher Sig Jakucki, who was signed after being out of baseball for 4 years. He worked in a defense plant during the week and pitched on weekends. He won 13 games, plus another in the World Series against the Cardinals in the "Trolley Series". The Cards, who still had some of their stars like Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter, blew past the National League and then beat the Browns in the World Series 4 games to 2.

The wartime Browns lost more players in 1945, and were forced to use the one-armed outfielder Pete Gray as a regular player. He lost his right arm in a farming accident as a kid. Gray batted .218 and stole 5 bases, but in the outfield, although a good fielder and athlete, it took him an extra moment to take off his glove and throw the ball, allowing alert base runners to take the extra base. That fact alone was believed to cost the Browns several victories in close games.

After the war, the Browns bad luck continued. The team was sold a couple of times because of poor attendance and eventually purchased in 1951 by showman Bill Veeck. Veeck pledged to drive the Cardinals out of town, and for awhile that looked possible. The Cards' owner Fred Saigh was convicted of tax evasion and sent to the Federal pen. But Augustus Busch of Budweiser fame stepped up to buy the team and keep it in St. Louis. The writing was on the wall for Veeck. No way Veeck could drive Anheuser Busch out of town.

A fan once called Veeck on the morning of a game to ask what time the game started. Veeck reputedly answered, "What time can you be here?"

But he made a lot a noise to generate fan enthusiasm. He hired midget Eddie Gaedel to play. Gaedel was 3'7" tall. He came to bat once against Detroit and walked on four pitches. Jim Delsing, the answer to a trivia question, was sent in to pinch run for Gaedel. The American League president banned Gaedel and any other midget from baseball, a move which would be illegal today under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Browns lost 102 games that year, but incredibly they had one good pitcher, Ned Garver who won 20 games and lost just 12. The Browns were the only team in 100 years to have a 20 game winner on a team with over 100 losses. Garver also batted .305 with a .365 on base percentage. The following year he won only 7 games and was traded to Detroit and never duplicated his 1951 success.

To drum up more fan support, Veeck signed the legendary pitcher Satchel Paige, in his mid-40's, ready for the rocking chair. Paige won 3 and lost 4 with a respectable earned run average. The following season, the 46 year old Paige was the Browns' best pitcher, going 12-10 for a team that lost over 90 games. In the Browns' final season, 1953, the most significant event occurred when rookie pitcher Bobo Holloman pitched a no-hitter in his first major league start. He didn't follow it up and found himself back in the minors to stay a few weeks later.

Veeck wanted to move the team to Los Angeles or Milwaukee, but his promotional stunts angered the stodgy fellow baseball owners. They refused to allow him to move the team unless he sold it. Eventually, he had to do so, and the owners quickly approved the move to Baltimore in 1954.

I recall, years ago, visiting Ric Riccardo's Restaurant on Rush Street in Chicago which had a room devoted to the St. Louis Browns past glory (if one could call it that). Riccardo was also part owner of the famous Uno's and Due's pizzerias in Chicago and one of the few Browns fans around.

KENNETH SUSKIN

EVEN MORE UNUSUAL BASEBALL RECORDS

MOST GAMES WITHOUT STRIKING OUT

I can't imagine any player today breaking this record, which was set by the great Chicago White Sox second baseman Nelson Fox, who is now in the Baseball Hall of Fame. This feat is inscribed on Fox's plaque in Cooperstown.

Fox, during the 1958 season, played an incredible 98 straight games without ever striking out. Fox came to the plate 451 times during that stretch and batted .293, collecting 116 hits and 34 bases on balls, as well as 9 hit by pitches, 10 sacrifices and 2 sac flies, but no strikeouts. In my mind, this feat is comparable to Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak. Fox struck out 11 times that season. There are players in the major leagues who strike out that often in a weekend.

On May 16, 1958, Fox, facing the forgettable Dick Tomanek of the Cleveland Indians, went down swinging. Then, on August 23rd, in the first inning against the immortal southpaw, Whitey Ford of the world champion New York Yankees, Fox was fooled again and went down on strikes. But then, Ford, who was known as the "Chairman of the Board" and one of the all time great money pitchers, fooled a lot of batters over the course of his Hall of Fame career. Incidentally, of Fox's 11 strikeouts that season, 8 occurred in the first innings of games, and all were off different, mostly average pitchers like Jack Urban, Duke Maas, Billy O'Dell, Hank Aguirre and Bobby Shantz.

Fox was the ultimate contact hitter. A left handed hitter, he stood in the batter's box with his feet spread like a duck, holding up a thick handled bat, and took a short compact swing. He could hit the ball off the thick handle and still put it into play. He hit few home runs, although he once hit 2 in a game in Detroit, which had a short fence in right field. The Sox lost that game 10-9. Fox struck out 216 times in his 19 year career, in over 9200 at bats. Heck, Ryan Howard struck out 199 times in 2006 alone (but hit 58 homers). Fox led the league in fewest strikeouts for 11 straight seasons.

Fox, who died of cancer in 1975 at age 48, had his name immortalized in the 1989 Steven Seagal movie, Above the Law, where the spy, Seagal's nemesis, was named Nelson Fox. The story is that the director, Andrew Davis, an old friend of mine from the South Side of Chicago, is a Sox fan although he lives in California now. About 5 years ago, at a party, Davis and I had some laughs about that when I brought it up to him. Davis, known for action films like The Fugitive, with Harrison Ford, and Collateral Damage, with Gov. Schwarzenegger, often sneaks in those types of hidden treasures in him movies, which are usually filmed in Chicago.

FEWEST INTENTIONAL WALKS FOR 2 TIME MVP PLAYER WITH OVER 60 HOMERS IN A SEASON

Zero. This could only happen to New York Yankee outfielder Roger Maris in his record breaking 1961 season, who batted with the great Mickey Mantle in the on-deck circle. Opposing pitchers, caught between a rock and a hard place decided that Maris, despite his 61 home runs and 141 RBI's was the lesser of two evils. Mantle, batting behind him, collected 53 homers that season.

MOST PLATE APPEARANCES IN A SEASON WITH NO EXTRA BASE HITS

One of the weakest hitters ever--Dwain Anderson, a shortstop with St. Louis and San Diego, came to the plate 144 times in 1973, and batted a pitiful .121 with no extra base hits. Mercifully for the fans, they sent him back to the minors the next season. More recently, Mike Gallego of the Oakland A's came to the plate 120 times and batted .233 with no extra base hits.

FRANK THOMAS ENTERS THE RECORD BOOKS

He may or may not be proud of this one, but former Chisox slugger Frank Thomas now holds the all time record for most plate appearances without a sacrifice bunt--approximately 10,000 and counting. But he does have 520 homers. No manager in his right mind would expect Thomas to bunt--or play the field, for that matter.

ONLY PLAYER TO HIT 4 DOUBLES IN ONE GAME AND 2 TRIPLES IN ONE INNING

They didn't occur in the same game, but outfielder Al Zarilla hit 2 triples in one inning for the St. Louis Browns in 1946. Playing for the Boston Red Sox in 1950 against the St. Louis Browns, he hit 4 doubles and a single in one game. Boston won that game 29-4 in Fenway Park.

Zarilla, a journeyman outfielder, batted .276 over a 10 year career. His other distinction, while we're on unusual baseball records, was to play in the same outfield with Gus Zernial with the 1951 Chicago White Sox, thus creating the only outfield in baseball history to have 2 players with names starting with "Z" playing together. Carlos Zambrano was not born yet.

That's all for now.

KENNETH SUSKIN

MORE UNUSUAL BASEBALL RECORDS

HIGHEST BATTING AVERAGE IN ONE SEASON--40 AT-BATS OR MORE

That award goes to Rudy Pemberton who was promoted from the Toledo Mud-Hens to the Boston Red Sox in the closing days of the 1996 season, and in 13 games, smacked 21 hits in 41 at-bats for a .512 batting average. He had 8 doubles, 1 homer, and 10 runs batted in. His on-base percentage was .556. Instead of punching his ticket for the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, the Red Sox sent him back to the minors in 1997 after 27 games and a .238 average. His major leaguie career ended with a total of 52 games and an excellent .336 lifetime batting average. He signed on to play in Japan with the Seibu Lions, but was slowed by injuries and didn't make it there either. Eventually he drifted to the Mexican League where he achieved some success, leading that league in RBI's.

MOST CONSECUTIVE HITS AT START OF MAJOR LEAGUE CAREER

The forgettable Ted Cox of the 1977 Boston Red Sox got 4 straight hits in his first game. He started out his second game with 2 more hits. Unfortunately, reality set in and he became mortal again. His career consissted of parts of 4 seasons with a lifetime batting average a very ordinary .245.

HIGHEST LIFETIME BATTING AVERAGE--MORE THAN 75 AT-BATS, AND IT'S NOT TY COBB
Left handed relief pitcher Terry Forster pitched in 614 games over 16 seasons for several teams in the 1970's and 1980's and in his infrequent trips to the plate batted an incredible .397 over his career. He came to bat 78 times, collecting 31 hits, which included 4 doubles and one triple, but no homers. He drove in 7 runs. Actually, he went hitless in 4 trips in his final season, 1985. His lifetime average at the end of the 1984 season was off the charts at .419 (in 74 at-bats).

Forster hit the only infield double I ever saw. Playing for the Chicago White Sox, he came to the plate in the late innings of a close game, with a runner on first base. The opposing team, anticipating a bunt, had their third baseman charging up toward the plate. Forster faked a bunt and swung away, smashing a line drive off the poor guy's knee. The ball bounced up into the stands for a ground rule double.

As a pitcher, he was fairly successful, with 127 career saves, and he led the American League in saves in 1974 with Chicago. Later in his career, he grew more portly, close to 300 pounds, prompting David Letterman to make fun of him. Forster later appeared on the Letterman Show with his attractive wife to show that even fat guys can get pretty girls.

ONLY 4-TIME BATTING CHAMPION NOT IN THE HALL OF FAME

Bill "Mad Dog" Madlock came to the Chicago Cubs in 1974 in a trade for Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins. He replaced Cubs legendary third baseman Ron Santo. Madlock led the league in batting in 1975 and 1976, and in fact holds the Cubs' franchise record for highest batting average for players with over 400 games (.336). Madlock was then traded by the tight-fisted Cubs owner Phil Wrigley when he asked for more money. He got his nickname for his fiery temper. He was extremely competitive, often sliding hard into second base to break up double plays.

Several themes kept recurring in his career--he feuded with team management, umpires, opposing players and even his own teammates. If he was unhappy, it showed on the field. When he was happy, usually shortly after being traded to a new team, he played like a superstar. He won two additional batting championships with Pittsburgh in 1981 and 1983. Besides his 4 batting titles, he was in the top 5 hitters in 3 other seasons. He was ejected from games 18 times in his career and suspended several times. His lifetime batting average was .305, with more than 2000 hits and 168 homers. In his first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame, he received only 4% of the sportswriters' votes and was dropped from the ballot. His stats speak for themselves, and I believe he will eventually make the Hall of Fame.

ALL PRISON BASEBALL TEAM

PETE ROSE, who holds many baseball records including 4256 hits, went to the Federal Pen for tax evasion for not reporting the income from signing autographs at card shows. Everybody knows about him, so I won't expound on his career.

DENNIS MCLAIN, like me, from the South Side of Chicago, was the last pitcher to win over 30 games. In 1968, playing for Detroit, he won 31 and lost 6. He lost his last two starts by 2-1 and 1-0 scores. His secret: he drank a case of Pepsi every day.
Detroit Manager Chuck Dressen introduced him to the ponies and he was hooked. Late in the 1967 season, he got his toes broken by mobsters collecting gambling debts. At the time, he gave conflicting stories of how it happened, but the true story surfaced several years later in Sports Illustrated. In any event, he couldn't pitch the rest of that season, and that may have cost Detroit the pennant. After his great 1968 season, he drifted into a life of crime, "befriending" characters like John Gotti Jr. and Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, getting suspended from baseball and doing several terms as a guest of the government for racketeering, gambling, drugs and embezzlement.

FERRIS FAIN, an outstanding defensive first baseman, played for the Philadelphia A's and Chicago White Sox between 1947-55. He won consecutive batting championships in 1951 and 1952 but he remained largely anonymous except for frequent fights and temper outbursts. In 1954, with the Sox, he missed half the season when he broke his hand in a barroom brawl. Fain was a good hitter, drew many walks and rarely struck out. His lifetime on-base percentage wsa .424 which is 13th best of all time. The 12 players ahead of him are all in the Hall of Fame or will be soon. They include such greats as Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb. Fain's average placed him ahead of other legends like Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial and Shoeless Joe Jackson. The reason Fain is largely unknown is that he hit very few homers--only 48 in his 9 year career. In later life, he merited several years of Federal time for drug trafficking and running a marijuana farm.

ORLANDO CEPEDA, the only Hall of Famer in this group, did time for drugs. Among his hitting credentials was that he hit over .300 with over 30 homers for the first 4 years of his career. Late in his career, he was traded by Oakland to Atlanta for the aforementioned Dennis McLain.

THE WORST PITCHER EVER TO THROW TWO NO-HITTERS AND A ONE-HITTER IN THE SAME SEASON--5 WINS AND 19 LOSSES

This award goes to Virgil "Fire" Trucks, a powerful right handed pitcher with the Detroit Tigers in the 1940's and 1950's. He had some outstanding seasons in the
1940's. He was released from the Navy 2 weeks prior to the 1945 World Series. He started Game 2 against the Chicago Cubs and pitched a complete game victory, 4-1. The Cubs haven't been back since, but that's another story. By 1952, the Tigers, along with the Cubs of that time, had gone straight downhill--they couldn't hit or catch the ball, and their pitchers got no run support.

Trucks pitched a no-hitter in May, 1952, against the Washington Senators in front of only 2000 fans (there was a parade for Gen. MacArthur that day in Detroit). They won 1-0 on a homer by Vic Wertz in the bottom of the ninth inning. Several weeks later, also against Washington, Trucks gave up a single to leadoff hitter Eddie Yost and then retired the next 27 hitters. Detroit won 1-0 again. Then in August, in New York against the World Champion Yankees, he pitched another no-hitter in another 1-0 victory. He also pitched a 2-hitter that season. In his 5 victories, he allowed only 9 hits combined. In his 19 losses, he yielded a whole bunch of hits. Despite his miserable won-loss record, his earned run average was a respectable 3.97.

Incidentally, his nephew, Butch Trucks founded the Allman Brothers Band.

That's all for now.

KENNETH SUSKIN
6/4/08