Week Two Points and Highlights

Week two of the MLB season is in the books here are a few things that stood out to me:

- Kris Bryant Gets The Call Up
Chicago Cubs phenom Kris Bryant finally got the callup to the big league team on April 17th (which happens to be the anniversary of Mickey Mantle's debut in 1951) and proceeds to go 0-4 in with three strikeouts against the San Diego Padres. What does that mean? Not a damn thing. Chalk his debut to nerves. Bryant finished the weekend batting .300 with three hits including a double. He showed plate discipline by walking three times and only striking out four times, with three of those in the first game he played in. I think Bryant will be fine as long as people realize that he is indeed only 23-years of age.

The expectations by the Cubs faithful need to stay realistic. Winning will take time with the young team they have. They need to do things taking baby steps at first and then developing into a winning team. That takes time and patience. I mean the Cubs haven't won a World Series in over 100-years. What's waiting a few more to get it done right.

- Red Sox’s Rusney Castillo Sidelined Indefinitely With Shoulder Injury
While the buzz is high in Chicago with the promotion of prospect Kris Bryant, the buzz is down with Boston's phenom Rusney Castillo. The word on Castillo wasn't if he was getting called up but when. To the point that on a recent ESPN broadcast, the analysts were debating on which current Boston Red Sox outfielder would become the odd-man out when the eventual call-up was made.

Now the word from Beantown is that Castillo has been shut down due to a shoulder injury. According to the article Red Sox’s Rusney Castillo Sidelined Indefinitely With Shoulder Injury by Ricky Doyle from NESN dated April 14, 2015, Castillo's had an An MRI which revealed only inflammation and no structural damage in Castillo’s right shoulder.

Unlike the aforementioned Bryant who is under contractual control by the Cubs at a bargain rookie rate, Castillo is not. Castillo was signed last August by the Red Sox as a free agent at the tune of seven-year, $72.5 million dollars. While I'm sure there are many a member of the Boston faithful wondering if the Bosox will get their money's worth from Castillo, patience needs to be shown. This injury didn't come through negligence. It came while on the field.

- Alex Rodriguez's Performance
I had a brief discussion about this early last week. It really is hard to root for Alex Rodriguez. For years I rooted for him. I felt that he had hit rock bottom with his admission of PED use in 2009 and that he a reached redemption with his performance coming back from injury and helping the Yankees win the 2009 World Series. But the shenanigans from the last few years including those that led to a circus of a hearing which led to a year long suspension really soured me on him. The joke among Yankees fans was that Derek Jeter was retiring to avoid the A-Rod media circus that would start upon his reinstatement for the 2015 season. But I have to admit, throughout Spring Training and in the first two weeks of the season, A-Rod has been an exemplary and productive member of the team.

He's played everywhere manager Joe Girardi has asked him to play and he has been very productive at the plate, showing flashes of plate discipline and the powerful swing that propelled him to the superstar level in MLB. A-Rod finished this weekend with a slash line of .316/.447/.711 with 12 hits in 38 at-bats including three doubles and four home runs. He does have 15 strikeouts but also 9 walks so he is showing discipline at the plate.

Perhaps A-Rod has gotten tired of the media circus and the drama that he seems to bring upon himself. Maybe he can redeem himself with a productive end to his illustrious and disappointing career, walking off into the sunset with his head held high.

- Defending Champs Losing Ways
Giants' fans are wondering what has happened to their three time World Series Champions. The Gigantes have had a bit of a rough stretch in terms of both injuries to vital players and in games lost. Its best to have a losing streak in April rather than one in September. I know many like to invoke the "Odd Year Curse" for the Giants. In case you don't know what that is, since 2010, the Giants have won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014 with a second place 86-76 season in 2011 and a fourth place 76-86 season in 2013. Both odd year seasons resulted in no post-season appearance for the Gigantes. Now if you believe in that sort of thing, then you might as well stop watching now. Even thought the NL West is reloaded for bear this season, the 2015 campaign is only two weeks in. So climb off the ledge fans of the Gigantes and have faith in your team.

- Mike Trout becomes the youngest player to 100 homers and 100 stolen bases
Trout reached the 100 homers/100 stolen base plateau this past Friday night. In doing so, he became the youngest player to do so. at 23-years and 251-days old, he eclipsed the aforementioned Alex Rodriguez who was the prior fastest to 100 homers/100 stolen bases. Rodriguez did so at 23-years 309-days old in 1999. According to Alden Gonzalez in his article Trout Smashes 100th Career Home Run from MLB.com dated April 17, 2015, Trout is the second player in Angels history with triple digits in homers and steals. The other Angel is Darren Erstad who had 114 homers and 170 stolen bases.

Trout had a 30/30 season in 2012 with 30 homers/49 stolen bases and narrowly missed another 30/30 season in 2013 with 27 homers/33 stolen bases. Last season Trout's stolen base production dropped significantly as he became a major run producer. He had 36 homers with only 16 stolen bases. Will Trout utilize his speed more this season to try and steal more bases or will he just focus on driving in runs with his power. That will remain to be seen.

- The Kansas City Royals Finally Lose
And in the most surprising news of the fledgling 2015 season, the American League Champion Kansas City Royals had their hopes for a 162-0 season dashed in a loss against the Minnesota Twins. The same way I tell Giants fans to just chill out about their team losing, I need to tell the same thing to those jumping off the Royals bandwagon after not only losing one game against the Twins, but losing two games and the series to the Twinkies.

Its good that the Royals are feisty (having a bench clearing incident against Mike Trout and the Angels) and are winning games but let's be honest. Its only two weeks in. Historically, how many teams have gone undefeated in the first week or two of the season and not make the playoffs. Probably quite a few. I'm not saying this is what will happen to the Royals. But eight straight wins is only roughly 5% of the games played in the season. There are WAY too many games to be played to stress out. They are playing good ball. Enjoy it!!! We'll check back and see where they are in June.

I know some Mets' fans will take me to task for not mentioning their current run. I don't want to jinx the Metropolitanos. I promise to mention them in the post for the third week of the Major League season.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

2014 Most Valuable Player Awards

Ok, so I'm a couple of days late with this post. Now that I am back at work, writing time has been curtailed for things like work and sleep. The nerve. But here are my thoughts on the 2014 MVP vote.

-2014 American League MVP Award

Mike Trout's elusive career long chase for the American League is over!!!! Granted this is only his fourth season in the league, but after playing the bridesmaid the last two seasons to the two-time AL MVP Miguel Cabrera, Trout brings the trophy home to New Jersey having received all 30 first place votes. In doing so, Trout at the age of 23 is the youngest to win the AL MVP in unanimous fashion.

Trout received all 30 first-place votes and 420 points. Victor Martinez of the Detroit Tigers came in second with 229 points and Michael Brantley of the Cleveland Indians came in third with 185 points. The voting was conducted by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Trout is first player to win the AL award unanimously since Ken Griffey Jr. did so in 1997. Trout is the second ever to win it after two consecutive second-place finishes. Mickey Mantle was the first to do so with his runner up seasons for AL MVP in 1960-1961 and his MVP season of 1962 (Mantle had already won the award twice back-to-back in 1956-1957).

Trout is the third Angels player to win the MVP award after Don Baylor in 1979 and Vladimir Guerrero in 2004.

Looking at Trout's statistics, I find something interesting.

Could this be the first time that an MVP award winner has a season with significantly lower numbers than his previous runner up season? Look at Trout's statistics, courtesy of Baseball Reference's Mike Trout page:

This is no way saying that Trout did not have an MVP type season. He definitely did. But there is no denying that his numbers dropped compared to his freshman and sophomore seasons. While Trout had the same number of doubles and triples this season  and he hit 9 more home runs and drove in 14 more runs in 2014 (36/114) than he did in 2013, he a had glaring drop in batting average from .323 to .287. He had more at-bats this season than last (602-589) but also had less hits this season compared to last season (173-190). Trout led the league in both runs scored (115) and total bases (338).

What stands out to me is the significant rise in strikeouts. Where Trout was consistent in the 130 strikeout range in 2012 and 2013, he struck out 48 more times to finish at 184. At the same time, his walks dropped from 110 in 2013 to 83 in 2014. His slash line (.377/.561/.939) while consistent in the Slugging Percentage portion ..557-.561 his on base percentage dropped from .432 to .377.

Again, I'm not saying Trout didn't have an MVP time season. He did. Could the dips in his stats be a one season thing or is it a sign of things to come. Maybe pitchers have found a weakness in Trout's armor? Who really knows but it is something that has been mentioned before. Ben Lindbergh's article Scorsese’s Oscar: Mike Trout Finally Won the MVP, But Could He Already Be in Decline? from Grantland.com dated November 14, 2014 touches on this and other potential factors for Trout winning the 2014 MVP award. Its definitely an interesting read.

- Click Here to access Mike Trout's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access the article Angels' Mike Trout, 23, wins MVP from ESPN.com dated November 13, 2014

- 2014 National League MVP Award
After I thought I couldn't say anything more about the two-time reigning National League Cy Young Award Winner Clayton Kershaw, wouldn't you know I forgot three letters: M.V.P.!!!! I know this pisses off many purists who don't think a pitcher should win the Most Valuable Award since pitchers have their own specific award: the Cy Young Award. Well, technically the hitters have their own award as well, known as the Hank Aaron Award. According to MLB.com's listing for Hank Aaron Award Winners:

Awarded annually to the best overall offensive performer in both leagues, the award was introduced in 1999 to mark the 25th anniversary of Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's all-time home run record. Aaron, along with a panel of other Hall of Famers, determine the winners along with a fan vote.

Giancarlo Stanton was the 2014 recipient of the award. So based on that, the MVP is open to all players. Even pitchers. Hate to disappoint the purists but not only is Kershaw two-time reigning National League Cy Young Award Winner but now he is also the 2014 National League Most Valuable Player.

Kershaw received 18 out of 30 first-place votes and 355 points to win the award. Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins came in second with 8 out of 30 first-place votes and 298 points with Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates coming in third with 4 out of 30 first-place votes and 271 points. The voting was conducted by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Kershaw is the first NL pitcher to win both the Cy Young and MVP awards in the same season since Bob Gibson achieved the feat in the magical year of 1968. He is the fourth National League pitcher overall to do so with Dodger pitchers Don Newcombe doing it first in the history of MLB in 1956 and Sandy Koufax in 1963. Kershaw is also the first pitcher league-wide since Justin Verlander to win the Cy Young and MVP in the same season since 2011.

With his third NL Cy Young Award in four years and now the 2014 NL MVP Award in his trophy case, Kershaw is making himself quite the convincing case of being the best in-season starting pitcher of our generation, all at the tender age of 26.

- Click Here to access Clayton Kershaw's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access the article Clayton Kershaw wins NL MVP from ESPN.com dated November 14, 2014

Both league MVP are under the age of 30 and the sky is the proverbial limit on what we can see both players do in the years to come.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

Mickey Mantle Hit The Ball OUT of Tiger Stadium September 10, 1960

From The Cards
That Never Were

On this day in Baseball History September 10, 1960: At Briggs Stadium (later known as Tiger Stadium) in Detroit, Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees strides to the plate with two men on base and two outs against Detroit starter Paul Foytack in the seventh inning. Mantle being a switch hitter took his place in the left-hand hitter box.

Yankees announcer Phil Rizzuto described Mantle's swing as "putting good wood on the ball" as Mantle swung at the 2-0 offering by Foytack and put the ball over the right field roof of Briggs Stadium. Let me repeat that, he hit the ball OVER the roof of Briggs Stadium. The ball landed at a lumberyard across the street. Though not measured at the time, a measurement "after the fact" estimated that the ball traveled a distance of 643 feet. The article Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs by Lewis Early from The Mick.com describes the story in detail about Mantle's homer and the measurement:

Detroit's Tiger Stadium (the name was changed from Briggs Stadium) was a favorite Mantle hunting ground for legendary home run blasts. On September 10, 1960, with two out and two on in the seventh, Mickey worked the count to 2-0. Righty Paul Foytack fired a fastball right into the Mick's killing zone and he jumped on it. He crushed a spectacular drive that easily cleared the right-field roof (something Mickey had done several times by this point in his career), crossed Trumbull Avenue and landed at the base of a shed in the Brooks lumberyard across from the ballpark.

For spectators that day it was another of many tape measure homers Mantle hit during his career. For the Yankees the win - coupled with a Baltimore Orioles loss - put them back in first place in a tight pennant race. This overshadowed the magnitude of Mickey's blast in the stories that appeared in newspapers the next day. That plus the fact that spectacular Mantle home runs were becoming somewhat commonplace. So much so that Yankees' PR director Bob Fishel (Red Patterson's successor), who had many other duties, couldn't keep up with every tape measure blast Mantle hit. For that matter, Fishel wasn't with the Yankees in Detroit on that trip, so there was no one to emphasize to the press what Mickey had accomplished, and the Tigers certainly had no motivation to point it out.

But this one turns into quite a story a quarter of a century later. As told by Mark Gallagher in his excellent book, Explosion!, Dr. Paul Susman, a true Mantle fan, was convinced that this home run was special. As part of Dr. Susman's research for Gallagher's book, he went to Detroit to see if he could get the necessary information to calculate the exact distance the ball traveled.

It turns out that the story of Mickey's historic drive was well known at Brooks Lumber. Paul Borders, a Brooks employee, saw exactly where the ball landed. Susman and fellow researcher Robert Schiewe calculated the distance through Schiewe's use of the Pythagorean Theorem. The result was a prodigious 643 feet. This is the longest home run to have actually been measured from the point it was hit to the point at which it landed. Although it was measured after the fact, the point of impact was well-known and we believe this distance to be completely reliable. This is no computer estimate. This is the distance the ball traveled in the air from home plate to the place where it landed. The Guinness Book of Sports Records notes it as the longest home run in a major league game to be measured "after the fact." It is the longest home run ever hit in a major league game where it was possible to get the exact measurement. Considered along with the Bovard Field homer, it demonstrates that Mickey's unheard of home run distances are no flukes.

Now as the article Tigers beaten 5-1 by John Drebinger in the New York Times of September 11, 1960 states:

In one of Mantle's two previous clouts over this same roof, Foytack was also the victim. That occurred on June 18, 1956. Mantle's second one was hit off of Jim Bunning on Sept. 17, 1958.

Prior to that, only one homer cleared that Detroit rampart and this took place more than twenty-one years ago. (Ted) Williams did it on May 4, 1939.

Here is the box score for the September 10, 1960 game between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers from the September 11, 1960 New York Times:

Mantle would go on to hit a total of 536 homers over an 18-year career. In doing so, Mantle sits at the top of the list of the most home runs by a switch-hitter in the history of the game (Eddie Murray is second with 504 homers). Mantle would retire in 1968 and would be inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974 with 88.2% of the vote (322/365 ballots).

Ok, let me rant for a minute. How the hell does Mickey Mantle not get at least 90% of the vote for induction. We're talking about Mickey "F'n" Mantle here. You ever get into a discussion with a person who believes that the Hall of Fame should have less members and their criteria is "If you have to think about someone being a Hall of Famer then they shouldn't be in"? If I'm going by that, the Mick is a no-brainer. You don't have to think if the Mick was a Hall of Famer. He was. HE IS!!! Bar none. His getting 88.2% of the vote is downright embarrassing. Mays got 94.6% of the vote (409/432 ballots) and in my mind, I think Mays and Mantle goes hand-in-hand. I know the Yankees dominated during Mantle's time with the era, so the Yankees hate must have been really strong. LOL. Getting off the soapbox now.

Many people wonder if we'll ever see a player like Mickey Mantle. Switch-hitting aside, I think Mike Trout is as close as we'll get this generation to a player of Mantle's caliber. Now only time will tell if Trout will continue on the pace he's playing at to make this a fair comparison.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading:
- Click here to access Mickey Mantle's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click here to access the article Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs by Lewis Early from The Mick.com
- Click here to access Distance of Longest Batted Baseball from The Physics Factbook Edited by Glenn Elert -- Written by his students from the Physics Factbook website

My Two Cents on Mike Trout's Raise

By now the internet is full of opinions from talking heads to bloggers about the raise that second year player and American League Rookie of the Year Mike Trout received from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Apparently his agent was upset with the amount that Trout was given and believed that he should have gotten a higher raise. According to the Collective Barganing Agreement as posted by Alden Gonzalez in his article Dipoto Responds to Trout's Agent on Renewal from MLB.com:

Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams are free to assign whatever salaries they want to players in their pre-arbitration seasons -- between zero and three years of service time -- provided that it's no less than the 2013 minimum of $490,000.

Based on that, According to Mike Trout’s agent angry after Angels renew superstar’s contract at $20K over league minimum by Mike Townsend of Big League Stew:

The number the Angels ultimately settled on was $510,000, which is just $20,000 over the league minimum, about $28,000 more than he earned in 2012 

I am in no way, shape or form doubting Mike Trout's abilities. But let's look at it this way. Trout is coming off his impressive rookie season where he not only won the AL Rookie of the Year but also came in second to Triple Crown Winner Miguel Cabrera in the American League Most Valuable Player vote. Correct? Ok, but doesn't the team have the right to see what Trout does this year (and possibly the next) before opening the vault on him? Again, not that I am doubting Trout's abilities, but how many times has a rookie gone lights out in his first year only to slump badly in his second or even worse, flounder the remainder of his career. I believe (and this is my opinion) that the team has the right to feel that Trout show that his performance is the going to be the norm rather than a fluke. The Angels have a system in place on paying players within zero and three years of service and paying Trout what they did with the pay increase is within the rules they apply to all players. 

Now obviously, based on Trout's performance this past season he's just not "another rookie". Trout hit .326 with 30 homers and 83 RBI. In 559 at-bats, trout had 182 hits (27 2B/8 3B/30 HR) with 129 runs scored and 49 stolen bases. His OPS was .963 (.399 OBP/.564 SLG) in just over five months of action.

Whether or not this becomes a problem in the future causing Trout to seek his fortunes elsewhere remains to be seen. Only time will tell that story. To me, Trout just needs to go out there and show everyone that last season was the beginning of many more outstanding seasons rather than a fluke or aberration. If he does that, all the money will come on its own. Agree? Disagree?

Sisco Kid

For Further Reading:
- Click Here for Mike Trout's Career Statistics from Baseball Reference.com