Book Review: "Our Tribe"

As a lifelong Indians fan, thought living all but six years of that life away from the Cleveland area, I never really knew anything about Terry Pluto until I recently read "The Curse of Rocky Colavito" (which you might read about here).  After I read that book I sent it to my oldest brother.  He and I had our birth into sports fandom in our youth back in Bedford, Ohio, on the outskirts of Cleveland.  We would lie in bed listening to Pete Franklin talk sports, or Joe Taite telling us what was happening in an Indians or Cavalier's game.  Neither of us has very foul language, though we really liked Pete Franklin.  We also don't have official "I hate the Yankee" hankies.  Ah, well.

Where was I?  Oh, yes.  

When I sent that book to my older brother, he pointed out a few other books which Pluto had written.  Finding that they were primarily Cleveland-based, I dug into it a bit and reserved some at my local library.  The first to show up was "Our Tribe", a heart-warming story of not only Mr. Pluto's youthful sports fandom, but of the connection with his dad that it created in his youth, as well as the vibrancy that it brought between he and his aging, stroke-victim father in their later years.  

This isn't just another sports book.  Mr. Pluto demonstrates, by his own relationship with his father, some of the beauty of the connections that can happen between fathers and sons in connection with sports, and how those relationships can be kept enduring through those same events and commonalities.  Obviously such relationships can be kept enduring through other means, but "Our Tribe" shows it specifically in the connection that is made by being fans of a particular team for a lifetime.  Together.

A delightful read (even for this grown male who also, like Terry Pluto, cried when Jose Mesa blew it in game 7 of 1997).

Book Review: "They Call Me Sparky"

This book appealed to me as an Ohio baseball fan.  I cut my baseball teeth in 1975, the first of two World Series victories by the real Big Red Machine.  While the rest of my family visited with my grandparents, I was in their bedroom watching the games one night after another.  I don't recall whether I watched any games from our own home, three hours to the north.  I only remember watching my favorite players from that bedroom.  

I had my own Joe Morgan twitch.  Second base was my position at the time, though my hard-throwing arm led me to third eventually.  But, as a second baseman, my hero was very clear.  I also loved the stolen base, and who, on the Reds anyway, was better at that than Joe Morgan?  

Well... maybe Davey.

Hmm... I'm getting distracted.  

"They Call Me Sparky", by Sparky Anderson and Dan Ewald was a fun read for me mostly due to my Reds fandom, but also because Sparky was such an interesting character.  That character comes through in this book!

For the first few chapters, I had the impression that only a Sparky fan could endure the book.  It felt choppy.  But, as I continued reading, I found the format kind of fun, and began looking forward to the variety.  Every other chapter is written clearly in Sparky's voice (even down to the grammar), the other chapters being in the voice of Mr Ewald, narrating the stories of Sparky's life.  The more narrative chapters fill in some gaps in the stories, whereas the chapters in Sparky's voice seem like interviews.  

Miss those interviews with Sparky?  Those chapters are definitely for you.  Heh heh heh.

Fun read, especially for Reds or Tigers fans. 

Book Review: "The Curse of Rocky Colavito"

 

I just finished reading this book by Terry Pluto.  Previously, I had never heard of the author, but he caught me with his subject. The subject at hand?  My beloved Cleveland Indians.  

The story isn't merely about the Cleveland Indians, though.  It is of their historic defeat.  As you can tell by the subtitle, it all begins back in 1960 when an idiot (and Pluto may have actually referred to him as such) named Lane traded Rocky Colavito away for players who are now forgotten.  Colavito was the pride and star of the Indians in 1960, but Lane was a man who was part traitor and part trader.  Some of his bragging listed in the book has to do with how many trades he made.  As if trading was a good thing in and of itself.

Pluto tells quite a few stories beginning in 1960, and going all the way to the early seasons of the 90's--right before the Indians became successful (for too short a time) again.  Some of my favorite chapters are of the heroes I had in the 1970s--Duane Kuiper, Rick Manning, Dennis Eckersley, and, the most beloved of all, Andre Thornton.  If I were to pick one chapter to re-read, and I have, it would be the chapter called "The Conscience of the Indians."  That chapter is all about Andre, the greatest man to be on the Indians team in the last forty years.  And by "Greatest", I mean character, not simply as a ball player (though he was a great one).  

In fact, after I re-read that chapter later this evening, I'll probably have something to think about in terms of my own feelings of Loser (which I spoke of here a few years ago).  I've needed to really learn something from my Cleveland fandom for many years.  Just last night I apologized to Bronco's fans online, because I, a Cleveland fan, was cheering for Peyton Manning.  Peyton and the Broncos were absolutely slaughtered on the Super Bowl last night.  

And, like so many devastating Cleveland losses ("The Drive", for example, though I don't think I ever cried at a loss like I did the Jose Mesa blunder in '97), I felt this one too deep for a grown man to feel.  It wasn't even my team, but I felt like my personal "L" was stamped on a man for whom I cheered.  

This book gave me the courtesy of knowing that there are others out there who feel some of that angst.  I appreciate that.  And, after I re-read that chapter about Andre, I hope I can grasp a bit more of his perspective on life, and roll on past this giant L which haunts me.  I hope I can see past the L that tracks me in all my sports fandom, the L that keeps people interrupting me in conversation, the L that lingers as I painfully attempt to re-establish tools I've provided for hundreds, the L that keeps me under the 'leadership' of a control freak, the L makes me doubt something I've always said ("Luck is pagan"), the L that keeps me in the pile of disrespected former leaders... The L that tracks me down and gives me a beating in spirit over and over and over and over again.  I'm tired of being a giant L.

My L needs to die.  

I hope it will. 

L, L, L, L, L, W, L, ...

Come heck or high water, I am a Cleveland Indian fan.  

Many days ago, as the Indians were sitting on a record of 71 wins, 59 losses, I wrote the following on one brother's FB wall, tagging my other online brother in the note:

"The Indians would have to go 9 and 23 in the remaining 32 games in order to not get to .500 for the year. Get your bets in."

Immediately after that posting they won 1 and lost 6.  

We are Indians fans.  Losing has become expected, though still a disappointment.  Like the Cleveland Browns fan (of which we are also) who died a few months back and requested that six Browns lower him into his grave, so that they could let him down one more time, .... we have expectations of L.

Honestly, we need help.  Maybe psychological help.  That L stamped on our foreheads isn't healthy.  

~ ~ ~

If you follow baseball, though, you know that the season ended much better than I ever would have anticipated.  In the end, the Indians ended the season as the hottest team in baseball, reeling off ten straight wins.  In the end they were 92-70, beat out both Texas and Tampa for the top wildcard spot, but ended up losing that single game to the Tampa Bay Rays.  

Still, a satisfying season for this veteran Indians fan.

"Triple Crown" and historic seasons

I'm not a Miggy fan.  Haven't been since, I think, the drunk driving incident.  I have never lost someone to a drunk driver's irresponsible and reprehensible actions, but the whole incident was ... simply reprehensible.  The whole, "Don't you know who I am?!" thing... nah.  I like my heroes to have a bit of humility, as well as contrition for their massive mistakes.  Being drunk is one thing, but driving around as such?  No.  And the nonsense he pulled with the police... certainly not.  Not a hero.  And, being the 'old school' baseball fan that I am, character means something to me.  

Hence, I am totally not a Barry Bonds fan, but think very highly of Hank "The Hammer" Aaron.

Other than that, Miggy's a good hitter.  Okay, a great hitter.  But I've been wanting to check out where his season stands historically in comparison to other great seasons since the last time someone won a Triple Crown.  So, this is part of that research.  I had originally thought that Don Mattingly had a better season in the mid 80's, but... when one uses the word 'better', one must have some sort of standard.  Does one simply use the Triple Crown standards?  HRs, RBIs, and batting average are nice things, but... even for an old baseball fan like me, they don't say enough.

In 1967, Carl Yastrzemski won the Triple Crown and the American League MVP award.  He deserved the MVP indisputably, unlike Miguel Cabrera last year.  His numbers were so far superior to everyone around him that it would have been an absurdity for anyone to vote for anyone else.  Interestingly, though, somebody voted for Cesar Tovar of the Minnesota Twins.  I remember Tovar.  He wasn't an MVP.  How he got a #1 vote that year is inexplicable.  His big numbers included leading the league in games played (164), plate appearances (726), and at bats (649).  And if those numbers aren't compelling enough, how about these biggies?

Hits - 173
Runs - 98 (almost 100)
HRs - 6
Triples - 7
Doubles - 32
RBI's - 47
SB - 19
CS - 11
BB's - 46
SO - 51
Batting Average - .267
On Base % - .325

Pardon me, but this guy could be batting first or second on a team managed by Dusty Baker, eh?

Oh, for the record, the intentional walks that he received that year, the year in which he received one vote for 1st place on somebody's MVP ballot, was ZERO.  Apparently he was not a feared hitter.  

Go figure.

Yaz, though, received the other 19 first place votes.  He led the league in all kinds of categories.  Here's a brief list, including some of the sabermetric categories which compelled many to think that Mike Trout was the real MVP of last year's AL season.

• WAR - Yaz had 12.4, which made it an historic season.  Second place?  Brooks Robinson at 7.7.   
• Offensive WAR - Yaz, 9.9; 2nd place Killibrew, 7.3. 
• Batting Average - Yaz, .326.  2nd place was Frank Robinson at .311.  There were only two other players in the American League that year who bat .300 or better.
•  OBP - Yaz .418, 2nd place Al Kaline .411, and only Killibrew and Frank Robinson were also above .400.
• Slugging Pct.  Get this--Yaz .622, 2nd place Robinson at .576.
• That means he buried the field in OPS when he had 1.040 (in comparison, Miggy had 0.999 last year, which was lower than his previous two season!)
• Runs - Yaz 112, 2nd place Killibrew was the only other at or above 100, with 105.
• Hits - Yaz had 189, which was 16 more than 2nd place Tovar (maybe that's why?)
• Total Bases - here's separation.  Yaz had 360, 2nd place Killibrew had 305. Third place dropped off to Robinson's 276.
• Tony Oliva had first place in doubles at 34, with Yaz in third at 31.  Very low counts on doubles that year.
• Yaz and Killibrew tied at 44 HRs, nobody else hit 40 or more, and only two others hit 30 or more.
• Yaz was one of only 2 people with 100+ RBI's.  
• He was not in the top ten of people in the AL in striking out.  He struck out only 69 times.

Clearly, Yaz was the choice in 1967.  His season was historic not only because he won the Triple Crown, but because he led in so many other categories.  Harmon Killibrew had a very good year, but most would consider his to be a distant second best to the year that Yaz had.

One does not see a similar picture when it comes to 2012, and the argument between Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout.  In fact, if one compares the two in a broad range of categories, one is left wondering how the heck this happened.  The following comparisons are amongst all of MLB, not just the American League.

• WAR - Trout 10.9, Miggy 7.3 (fifth place)
• WAR amongst only position players?  Miggy got 4th
• Offensive WAR - Trout 8.8, Miggy in 2nd with 7.8
• Batting Average - Miggy in 2nd at .330, Trout in 4th at .326
• OBP - Trout's .399 was 6th, Miggy's .393 was 7th
• Slugging Pct - Miggy's .606 was 2nd, Trout's .564 5th
• Runs scored - Trout was 20 runs ahead of everyone at 129, Miggy in 2nd at 109
• Total Bases - Miggy led everyone with 377, whereas Trout, who began playing a month into the season, came in 9th at 315
• Trout led the majors in SBs with 49
• Miggy led both leagues in extra base hits with 84
• Miggy led both leagues in double plays grounded into at 28

Plenty of intriguing numbers involved.  Any accumulation stats, though, must also be passed through the simple fact that Trout did not get brought up to the big leagues until April 28th--a month into the season.  How he even got onto any accumulative top tens is unimaginable.

But, enough of about the present, I dug around a bit and found three seasons that were better in terms of the Triple Crown numbers alone.  These three seasons each have their tainted points.  Two were in the pre-humidor Colorado days, and one was from a known druggie.  All three seasons, though, were a good bit better than the season that Miggy had last year, and all three came since the last time a true Triple Crown winner occurred.  Here they are:

1. Todd Helton, 2001. 49 HRs, 146 RBIs, .336 BA.  He also scored 132 runs that year, had 54 doubles, OBP of .432, slugging percentage of .685, OPS 1.116, 402 total bases, and was ninth in MVP voting.  Did you hear me?  Ninth.  
2. Larry Walker, 1997.  49 HRs, 130 RBIs, .366 BA.  Larry also scored 143 runs, had 208 hits, 46 doubles, 33 SBs(!?), .452 OBP, OPS at an astounding 1.172, slugging percentage of .720, 409 total bases, and was the national league MVP.
3. Manny Ramirez, 1999.  44 HRs, 165 RBIs, .333 BA.  Manny was definitely Manny that year.  Always a big RBI guy, that was his finest season.  Also, 131 R's, 34 2B's, OBP .442, slugging percentage .663, OPS 1.105, and came in 3rd in the AL MVP race.

Frankly, Miggy's season isn't one of the top three seasons of the last forty years.  Not by Triple Crown standards.  Maybe not by larger standards.  As I was digging around trying to find the historic seasons that have happened since 1967, I found some lovely things.  

M

June 25, 2013

Well, honestly, I haven't been following baseball as tightly as I have for several years.  I got a new blackberry at work and ESPN's mobile site isn't nearly as useful and quick as it was prior to this blackberry.  I suppose that means this one is technically 'better', but I really preferred the old site.  I could read up on every game before and/or after, and never get thrown to one of those 'live' sites that keeps you updated on a game.  I could follow the game and simply hit 'refresh'.  

I can't figure out how to get BACK to that type of page, so ... haven't read as much on baseball this year.  Which is really too bad, because a couple folks are having a tremendous season, my Indians aren't horrible (again... like last year when they were 30-15 after 45 games, but sucked to the end), and the playoffs appear to be heading for new faces.

Chris Davis?  Whut.  His numbers right now, on June 25th, look good enough for a best season by most current major leaguers. 

Josh Hamilton?!  Albert?  Well...I guess I did sort of see the whole Albert thing coming, darn it.  I want them both to play up to their historic greatness, but that isn't working out thus far in 2013.

Will Adam Dunn be the first man ever to bat less than .200 but hit 40 HRs and get 100 RBIs?  That'd be wacky.  I may have to look to see whether anyone else has done that.

Hey, Yadier, keep improving with age, alright?

What's with Votto's slump?  I mean, really?  His OBP is down to .440!

Alright, enough for now.  I need to come up with a way to keep up on a more daily basis, since ESPN (which sometimes appears to stand for Egalitarian Sexual Preference Network) has muffed it for me.

Later.

Baseball's Top 100???

First of all, I looked through this whole list on ESPN.

As I did so, I found myself disagreeing with several positions.  Derek Jeter was way too high.  Why was Cy Young placed below so many pitchers?  Why did they neglect to make adjustments for the Drug Lords?  Why was Pete Rose, all time hits leader, but far over-rated, so high on the list? 

Clearly, any thinking baseball fan will have some issues with any such list.  But, most baseball fans also love the idea of someone putting together such a list. 

I love reading about the history of baseball.  I love reading about one man's opinion (or a group of men) on who the best players in history were.  There's something about the nostalgia of baseball that is like eating a good chocolate--do it slowly, enjoy every bite, savor every moment.  

Recently I read Larry Dierker's "My Team: Choosing My Dream Team From My Forty Years in Baseball".  The idea was similar to this Top 100 list.  The twist was that he chose two players from each field position, then a group of starting pitchers, and a group of relievers--for his team, then for a second team.  His list didn't include the Babe Ruths and Ty Cobbs of baseball, but men who played during his forty years (as indicated in the title).   He chose with things like "club house guy" in mind, made note of folks who had been sort of evicted from various teams, put together some folks based upon which would do better against right or left-handed pitching, etc.  He included numbers on folks, too, but those were not his only criteria.  He was able to go a bit deeper on some things, because he had a more intimate knowledge of the players of whom he spoke.

I would love to find more books like this.  Recently I was remembering that early in my life it was baseball that drove me to read.  I recalled getting a book about Hank Aaron when I was in third or fourth grade, reading it more than once, and going back to the library for more.  Aaron quickly became one of my biggest baseball heroes, though I learned of him at the end of his brilliant career.  But I read of other historic greats--Mantle, Mays, Ruth, Cobb, Gehrig, .....

What fun!

Speaking of fun, I've been contemplating the possibility of writing my own "best of" list.  I've often thought that we needed a new metric to capture the best-of-the-best.  WAR seems like a pile of I-can't-touch-this data.  It doesn't seem like something the casual fan can grasp.  The defensive metrics alone are well beyond the capability of a casual fan to capture.  I once tinkered with some ideas on Runs.  Maybe I will dig into some of those new-fangled numbers in Baseball Reference or something.

But, one thing keeps coming back to me--I want any list that I create to be casual fan-friendly.  There are metrics that the casual fan has used for ages that the sabermetric folks mock.  I listen to ESPN's Baseball Today podcast, so I've heard how nasty those mockers can be.  Their character is suspect. 
Are they right?  Well, they are probably right on the numbers.  But their nastiness really taints their message.  Plus, they love saying things like "Wins don't matter" for pitchers.  I understand their point, but that doesn't make me think they are intelligent.  Nobody can convince me that King Felix deserved the Cy Young award when he won 13 games.  Don't tell me a great pitcher cannot win for a bad team.  The 2010 Seattle Mariners were better than the 1972 Phillies.  Go tell Steve Carlton you can't win for a losing team.  Given a voice, I would have voted for someone like Price or CC.  Even Buckholz.  The mockers would mock me and audibly speak of my stupidity.  That's okay.  I have little respect for their hatred.  I just can't vote for someone who has a mere 13 wins.  What good did they do their team? 

But... dangit.  When it comes to the sabermetric numbers like WAR, King Felix was the best pitcher.  That's just another reason I can't quite trust that number.  It doesn't think the way Dierker could by his knowledge of individual players.  Who really wants a Barry Bonds in the clubhouse?  Nobody.  Who wants him in their lineup?  Everybody.  He is a cancer, like TO in football.  A team probably performs at a lower level with such horrific characters in their clubhouse--in spite of what he brings to the table in personal performance. 

The King Felix thing reminds me of having Miguel win the Triple Crown.  His season was far less impressive than many individual seasons that have happened since 1967, but nobody else stepped up this year.  Heck, even Mike Trout's year was more impressive.  He missed a month of the season, but set all kinds of rookie records.  He had a fabulous season for a veteran.  On that point, I stand with the WAR folks.  In fact, a quick browse of Baseball Reference shows no less than 38 seasons since 1967 that were superior to Cabrerra's this year.  Including, of course, Trout's season--which was shorted by one month. 

I'm going to think a bit about this Top 100 idea.  I suspect I will create something.  Eventually.  I will just need to think through what criteria I would use, what the point of my list will be (single team?  best of all time?  what what?), etc. 

Fun to come.