Joltin' Joe DiMaggio and the 56-Game Hit Streak

Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio has always been an intriguing figure to me. From my early recollections of his being the spokesperson of Mr. Coffee and the Bowery Savings Bank to his marriage to Marylin Monroe to the rumors of his being standoffish to fans looking for autographs ($100 dollars or a steak dinner was rumored to be his line to autograph seekers) DiMaggio was always shrouded in mystery. So when I read that May 15th marked the 70th anniversary of the beginning of his still untouchable 56-game hit streak, I decided to look into how DiMaggio hit during the streak. (Image credit goes to James Fiorentino of JamesFiorentino.com. Check his site out for other beautiful sports images available for sale)

The streak lasted for a period of two months and two days from May 15, 1941 to July 16, 1941 and the Yankees played a total of seven doubleheaders during that span (May 30, June 1, June 8, June 29, July 1, July 6, July 13). Unlike today's day/night doubleheaders which provide a few hours of rest for players in between games, these games were played with a small break in between treating fans to two games for the price of one. In addition, travel during those days differed from today with traveling coming in the form of cross country trains and city to city buses. Keep in mind that St. Louis was the Westernmost city in the majors so train travel to or from New York City took some time. No five or six hours flights via first-class in those days or first-class accommodations either. So life for a ballplayer was a little harsher. Given those details, here is how DiMaggio's production during the streak breaks down.

DiMaggio went 91 for 223 for a batting average of .408. The 91 hits were made up of 53 singles, 15 doubles, 8 triples and 15 homeruns. DiMaggio drove in 55 runs and crossed home plate 50 times. He also drew 22 walks and struck out an amazing 5 times during the streak. His plate discipline is what I find truly amazing since DiMaggio struck out only 13 times during the entire 1941 season. Keep in mind that some current players will strike out 13 times in a month if not a few weeks.

For the 1941 season, DiMaggio hit .357 with 30 HRs and 125 RBI and 122 runs scored. In 541 at-bats, DiMaggio had 193 hits (43 2B/11 3B/30 HR) with 76 walks and the aforementioned 13 strikeouts. His OPS was 1.083 (.440 OBP%/.643 SLG%). DiMaggio led the Yankees to a 101-54 record winning the American League pennant and defeating the Brooklyn Dodgers in six games in the World Series. For his accomplishments, DiMaggio won the 1941 American League Most Valuable Player award over such stiff competition as Ted Williams who batted .406 for the season, as well as leading the league in runs, home runs, walks, on base and slugging percentages and Bob Feller who went 25-13 with 2 saves and a 3.15 ERA in 44 games (40 started) with 343 innings pitched with 260 strikeouts and 194 walks and 284 hits for a WHIP of 1.394.

When I hear about records that will stand the test of time, I have to agree that Joe DiMaggio's 56-game streak is going to be one of those that does stand up against time.

On a side note, I would like to thank the fine people over at BaseballReference.com for their invaluable work. Checking out statistics, box scores and details for games 70 years ago and later is made easier due to their continued efforts. Thank you very much.

FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here to access Joe DiMaggio's career statistics from BaseballReference.com
- Click Here to access Zell's Pinstripe Blog for an article named DiMaggio, Mr. Coffee and The Bowery Savings Bank dated July 3, 2010 for links to various commercials made by Joe DiMaggio for Mr. Coffee and Bowery Savings Bank.

The Current State of Jorge Posada

It was announced during tonight's Red Sox-Yankees game that Jorge Posada had taken himself out of the lineup due to being lowered in the lineup to the 9th position. Upon doing so, Posada asked for some media time after the game to make an announcement. This set up a flurry of assumptions on whether or not Posada was going to retire. The act of taking himself out of the game without an apparent injury added an additional angle of Posada being a selfish player who took offense to being dropped to 9th in the lineup. It was later revealed that Posada took himself out due to a stiff lower back. We won't know for sure until he says something. I personally believe that his .165 batting average with 6 HRs and 15 RBI are the reasons for his being placed in the 9th spot in the lineup. The team is playing poorly and something needs to be done to wake-up the bats. As it stands, Posada has made it be known that he hates DH'ing but where else is he going to play on this Yankees team. To make matters worse, free agent signing Russell Martin has been a godsend for the team both at bat and behind the plate and AAA prospect Jesus Montero is tearing up minor league pitching at Trenton. The Yankees are a better team with Posada's bat in the lineup and Martin behind the plate. Period.

What does any team do about their veteran players when the time might come to move on. Reality has a way of hitting hard when the talent dims and the body starts to slow down. Factor in the Yankee mystique when it comes to Posada and his place in the Yankee pantheon of legendary players. He's a pivotal member of five world championship teams (1996/1998/1999/2000/2009) but the team historically has moved on without legends like Ruth, DiMaggio, Berra, Mantle and Mattingly to name a few. Maybe Posada needs to look at his catching counterpart in the visitor's dugout. Jason Varitek is also in a similar position to Posada and has taken his demotion in stride during the last few seasons. I can only imagine how hard it is for any professional to be told that he can no longer perform at a particular level and that he needs to move to another job with no opportunity to show his worth behind the plate.

Based on Bryan Hoch's twitter feed, he says that "Posada said he had a stiff back and saw a chiropractor today. Also needed a mental day off". If that was the case and it was not presented in that manner then it was a miscommunication on the part of Posada and the issue should be closed. Cashman talking during the game seemed to irk Posada who according to Hoch said he was "a little bit" upset at Cashman for talking during the game. Said you're not supposed to do that.

In the end time will tell if the team can move on from this latest drama. Maybe this will be the motivating factor to Posada and the team breaking out of their doldrums. We will see.

FH

For Further Reading:

- Click Here for Brian MacPherson's blogpost Circus at Yankee Stadium shows a stark contrast between two franchise icons for an interesting take on Posada and Varitek from soxblog.projo.com dated May 14, 2011
- Click Here for Peter Botte's article Yankees' Jorge Posada refuses to play vs. Red Sox; Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez key 6-0 Boston win from the New York Daily News website dated May 14, 2011

Happy 80th Birthday Willie Mays

If ever there was a reason to use a time machine to go back in time is to watch Baseball players from prior eras in person and in glorious color. Granted, we have news reels and newspaper clippings to refer back to the exploits of many former players. But nothing comes close to saying that I saw so and so hit that massive homerun, steal that pivotal base, throw that no-hitter or make that amazing catch. Speaking of amazing catches, today is the Birthday of arguably the best Baseball player there has ever been. Willie Howard Mays, Jr was born on May 6, 1931 in the town of Westfield, Alabama. From his teenage years, the exploits of Mays' speed and baserunning were known throughout the Negro Leagues. Mays played with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League while he was still a high school student in 1948. After signing with the New York Giants in 1950, Mays played minor league ball with class B Trenton, New Jersey and the AAA Minneapolis Miners of the American Association. Nays made his big league debut for the New York Giants on May 24, 1951 against the Philadephia Phillies. After a slow start and some self doubt, Mays' career picked up and he never looked back.

Playing in the same Golden Era of New York City Baseball as the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees, the New York Giants made the World Series in 1951 and 1954 winning the 1954 series against the heavily favored 111-43 Cleveland Indians. In arguably the most famous catch in a World Series game, Mays made an unbelievable over the head catch to rob Vic Werth of an extra base-hit and keeping the two runners on base from scoring keeping the game tied. The Giants would eventually win Game 1 and sweep the Indians to win the 1954 World Series. Mays would never play in the World Series again. Until the Giants moved to San Francisco, the New York Baseball seen was dominated by the trio of great outfielders of Mays, Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees and Duke Snider of the Brooklyn Dodgers.



Mays would play for the Giants until 1972 when he returned to New York City playing for the New York Mets for one season before retiring at the end of the 1973 season. His final career line is a so:

.302 Batting average with 660 HRs and 1903 RBI. Mays had 3208 hits (523 2B/140 3B/660 HR) with 338 stolen bases (in 441 attempts), 1526 strikeouts with 1464 walks. His career OPS was .941 (.384 OBP%/.557 SLG%). Mays was also a defensive marvel finishing with a .981 fielding percentage making only 141 errors in 7095 career putouts in the outfield. Mays won the Rookie of the Year award in 1951, won two National League MVP awards (1954, 1965) finishing in the top ten in MVP voting 12 times. Mays was a 20-time All-Star and won 12 consecutive Gold Glove awards. Willie Mays was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown in his first year of eligibility in 1979 with 94.7 percent of the vote (409 of 432 votes).

As hard as it is to me to believe that he would not get the other remaining 23 votes, Mays was only the 14th person at that time to be elected to the Hall of Fame in his 1st year of eligibility. I would just like to thank Wille Mays for all he has done for the game of Baseball and for the generations of Baseball fans who grew up reading and watching footage of his exploits. I wish I was able to see him play live but at least I can say that I had the privilege of seeing Mays in any way shape or form. Maybe I'll get lucky and someone will invent that time machine so I can sit down in the Polo Grounds and watch the marvel that is Willie Mays. Thank you and Happy Birthday

FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here to access Willie Mays' career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Willie Mays' page from the National Baseball Hall of Fame website
- Click Here for a blogpost that I wrote on April 30, 2007 on Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente and the 1954 Puerto Rican Winter League season that they played together in the outfield from my Latinoball blogpage

1984 American League Batting Race

In my last post I mentioned how the 1976 AL Batting Race came down to two different sets of teammates whose teams played each other during the last series of the season. In my opinion it was arguably the most exciting batting race that I knew of. Well folks, I believe that the American League Batting race of 1984 comes in at a close second. Why? It involves my hometown team and two of my favorite players of all time: Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly. 

The 1984 New York Yankees team was in flux. Veterans Craig Nettles and Rich "Goose" Gossage from the Yankees glory years of the late 1970's had moved on to San Diego. New manager and Yankee legend Yogi Berra had the unenviable task of replacing another Yankee legend in the form of Billy Martin. The team was a mixture of veterans and young players and coming off of a strong 1983 season with a record of 91-71, the sky was the limit. Now, at the start of the 1984 season, no one expected the Detroit Tigers to start the season with a 35-5 record. In an era without Wild Card teams, this left the rest of the pack in the dust to play out how the rest of the American League East would end up. Though the Yankees would finish in third place with a respectable 87-75 record, the bright spot for the team was the battle for the AL batting title between veteran outfielder Dave Winfield and up and coming first baseman Don Mattingly.

Winfield was in the middle of (the then record) 10-year $23-million dollar contract signed during the 1980-1981 offseason after having played his first eight seasons with the San Diego Padres. Mattingly had been a mid-season call up in 1982 and played in 91 games in 1983. The 1984 season would be his first full season in the majors and gave us Yankee fans a glimpse of what Donnie baseball would bring to the team. 

Winfield would start the season battling a hamstring injury and a horrible slump to eventually reaching the .370 plateau in the month of July. At around the same time Mattingly seemed to make the most of his opportunity and was cruising along near the .350 mark. By September, both teammates traded the batting lead among themselves during the weeks leading up to the end of the season.

By the time September 30th rolled around, the race was still tight with Winfield at .341 and Mattingly trailing at .339. On the last game of the regular season against the Detroit Tigers, Mattingly went 4-5 with two doubles, three runs scored and one RBI to finish the season at .343 while Winfield went 1-5 with two runs scored and ended at .340 crowning Don Mattingly  as the American League batting champion. 

I remember reading the papers at the time and feeling as if there was some kind of division in terms of who to root for. I understand that people have their favorite players on a team but it seemed that the majority of fans pulled behind Mattingly over Winfield. I'm not saying that Winfield wasn't a fan favorite in his 10 seasons with the Yankees. Far from it. God knows he was loved for in the very least just putting up with the Boss all those years. Mind you, this wasn't the grandfatherly Steinbrenner that people grew to love. No, this was the nasty Steinbrenner who due to his issues with Winfield would get himself suspended for his association with Howard Spira in trying get information to use against Winfield.

Maybe the fans just leaned in favor of the young player over the veteran. I should know, I had a "Hitman" framed poster on my wall of a clean shaven Don Mattingly dressed in a white pinstriped suit with a black shirt and holding a black baseball bat in a style reminiscent of how 1930's gangster would hold his Tommy-gun with his guitar case full of baseballs. Then again, I traveled on numerous trains and buses to get to Kings Plaza Mall (from Astoria) just so I can meet Dave Winfield in person and get his autobiography signed for me and my neighbor Anne who was a lifelong Yankees fan (May she always rest in peace). By the way, I still have the poster and the book. 

In the end, here are the final statistics for both players: 

Mattingly: .344 with 23 HRs and 110 RBI. In 603 at-bats, Mattingly had 207 hits (44 2B/2 3B/23 HR) with 91 runs scored, 41 walks and 33 strikeouts. His OPS was .918 (.381 OBP%/.537 SLG%)

Winfield: .340 with 19 HRs and 100 RBI. In 567 at-bats, Winfield had 193 hits (34 2B/4 3B/19 HR) with 106 runs scored, 53 walks and 71 strikeouts. His OPS was .908 (.393 OBP%/.515 SLG%). 

On a side note, allow me a small look into how much things have changed in Baseball from then to now. In the September 10, 1984 issue of Sports Illustrated, an article by Steve Wulf named And May the Best Man Win, Mattingly attributes his power surge to working on his mechanics with hitting coach Lou Piniella. Now fast forward 25 years to Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays who attributes his newly found success and power surge at the plate to hitting coach Duane Murphy. The difference? Where people took Mattingly's statements at face value in the 1980's, some people today continue to doubt Batista's accomplishments due to the effect of the Steroid Era on Baseball.

In the end, Yankee fans were witnesses to one of the most exciting and close batting races in history.

FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here to access Dave Winfield's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Don Mattingly's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Steve Wulf's article And May the Best Man Win from Sports Illustrated dated September 10, 1984 from the SI Vault website
- Click Here to access Ira Berkow's article It's Two For the Crown from the New York Times dated August 20, 1984.

Lyman Bostock Jr 1950-1978

Having been born in the early 1970's and buying and trading baseball cards during the late 1970's and 1980's, I am fairly familiar with most players who played during those eras. Every once in a while there are a few that pop up on the radar and I say to myself "Who is that". One particular player keeps popping up and before I can research him, something else comes along and I forget him. I was researching George Brett for a future post and once again this player's name is featured prominently. I'm not going to let him slip away again. This gentleman has a very short but productive career that was tragically ended during the 1978 season in the city of Gary, Indiana. This player's name was Lyman Bostock.

Bostock was the son of former Negro Leaguer Lyman Bostock Sr., and was born in Birmingham, Alabama on 11-22-1950. After living in Gary, Indiana for a few years, his mother moved the family to Los Angeles, California where there were ample job opportunities and for Lyman's teen years the climate was ideal for playing Baseball. 

After graduating High School, Bostock attended San Fernando Valley State College (now known as the California State University, Northridge (CSUN)) and was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1970 amateur draft. Bostock decided to stay in school instead of signing with St. Louis. He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1972 amateur draft and played in the Twins' minor league system until he made his major league debut on April 8, 1975.

Bostock spent three seasons with the Minnesota and was known for his defensive prowess in the outfield having made 15 errors. Bostock was also known for being aggressive on the basepaths having hit a total of 26 triples and stealing 30 bases in 46 attempts over that span. 

Bostock was also a part of arguably the most exciting batting race that I know of. On the last day of the 1976 season, four players were vying for the American League batting title: Bostock, teammate Rod Carew, George Brett and his teammate on the Kansas City Royals Hal McRae. Both teams played each other and Brett eventually won the batting title with a .333 batting average (McRae .332, Carew .331, Bostock finished fourth at .323). Bostock was again in the thick of the AL batting race the next year finishing with a .323 batting average coming in second to teammate Rod Carew who had an astounding .388 batting average. From 1975-1978, Bostockhit .318 with 18 HR and 175 RBI. In 1436 at-bats, Bostock had 456 Hits (78 2B/26 3B/18 HR) with 112 walks, 128 strikeouts and 30 stolen bases (in 46 attempts). Bostock's OPS was .812 (.366 OBP%/.446 SLG%). His performance while with the Twins made him a highly sought after free-agent after the 1977 season.

Bostock signed with the then California Angels for five-years $2.5 million dollars which compared to current salaries is paltry but during the 1977 offseason that was a very lucrative deal. Bostock only played the majority of one season with the Angels before being shot and killed while with relatives in Gary, IN on September 23, 1978. His final statistics with the Angels at the time of his death was .296 with 5 HRs and 71 RBI. In 568 at-bats, Bostock had 168 Hits (24 2B/4 3B/5 HR) with 59 walks and only 36 strikeouts and 15 stolen bases (in 27 attempts). His OPS was .741 (.362 OBP%/.379 SLG%).

Not only was the effect of his death felt in Baseball but also in his community since Bostock was very charitable. For example, upon signing his free-agent deal with the Angels, Bostock donated $10,000 to the church of his youth in Birmingham, AL and when he felt he wasn't earning his salary at the beginning of the 1978 season, he decided to donate it to charity. At the time of his death he was 27-years old.

FH

For Further Reading
- Click Here to access Lyman Bostock Jr's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Jeff Pearlman's article Fifth and Jackson from ESPN.com for an in-depth biography on Lyman Bostock.
- Click Here to access Among Twins, Bostock's death most senseless from the Cool of the Evening webpage for an interesting article on Lyman Bostock Jr.
- Click Here to access the Tim Connaughton biography of Lyman Bostock Jr from the The Baseball Biography Project from SABR.org

Stan Musial Best of the 1950's?

My buddy Jake approached me the other day and asked me a question based on something that he has heard. Where he read this is unsure, but the gist of the article was that due to an East Coast bias in Baseball during the decade of the 1950's, players like Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle received most of the accolades while players like Stan Musial were often overlooked. I decided to look into Musial's numbers and I was astonished at what I saw. Before I go into Musial, I want to touch on the subject of Baseball's geography in the 1950's.

I would agree that there is some validity to the statement of the existence of an East Coast bias during the 1950's. Granted, players like Williams, Mantle and Mays deserved all the accolades and press they received but keep in mind, the Baseball landscape was different from what we see today. Consider in 1950 there were only 16 teams. Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and St. Louis each had two teams. New York City had three. Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Washington D.C., each had one. The Reds were the main southern town and St. Louis was considered at the edge of the western frontier. The concentration of teams along the Northeastern part of the country was a representation of where the majority of the population resided. It was until 1952 that an extra team was added to the "West" with Milwaukee's addition of the Braves (who moved from Boston). The numbers equalized to Pre-1952 numbers in terms of East and West with the St. Louis Browns' move to Baltimore becoming the Orioles. True East-West representation came in the form of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants playing for their respective new cities Los Angeles and San Francisco in 1958. Other expansions and movements South and West came in subsequent years as the nation's population expanded into older cities and grew into new areas. It would stand to reason that with the concentration of the teams in one particular area and the media presence surrounding those teams it would lend credence to an East coast bias (for the record, TV broadcasting in terms of times of sporting events is still based on the Eastern part of the country). Now that I have given some background on Baseball's movement West, let me shed some light on Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals.  

Stan "The Man" Musial was born on November 21, 1920 in Donora, PA. He was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1937 and after playing on various minor league teams Musial made his major league debut on September 17, 1941. In a twenty-two year career (Musial missed the 1945 season to military service) Musial cemented his status of one of the best to ever play the game. This left-handed power hitter was a career .331 hitter leading the league in hitting seven times (1943, 1946, 1948, 1950-1952, 1957) with the highest being .376 in 1946. Musial also led the league in hits six seasons (1943-1944, 1946, 1948-1949, 1952), doubles eight times (1943-1944, 1946, 1948-1949, 1952-1954) with 53 being the highest in 1953. Musial was also an aggressive runner on the bases having led the league in triples five times (1943, 1946, 1948-1949, 1951) with 20 being the highest in 1943 and 1946. Though Musial never led the league in homers, he has a total of 475 career homers with his largest season total being 39 in 1948. 

Musial led the league in OPS seven times (1943-1944, 1946, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1957) with his career OPS at .976. Musial's best OPS occurring in 1948 with 1.152 (.450 OBP%/.702 SLG%). Musial also led the league in OPB six times (1943-1944, 1948-1949, 1953, 1957) and in SLG six times (1943-1944, 1946, 1948, 1950, 1952).

Not surprising, Musial won three National League MVP awards (1943, 1946, 1948) and a twenty-four time All-Star (1943-1944, 1946-1960). The Major Leagues had two All-Star games per season from 1959-1962 in which Musial played in both each year).

Defensively, Musial split his career between the outfield (13 seasons in LF and RF with a fielding percentage of .983 with 16 errors in total) and first-base (14 seasons with .992 Fielding percentage with 78 errors). 

So based on that basic breakdown concerning Musial's statistics, did he get his just credit as one of the best players of the 1950's. I believe that Musial benefited in the 1940's of playing in a league that was weaker due to many of it's better players entering World War II. His best seasons were during the mid to late 1940's and he maintained consistent statistics through the early to mid 50's. Though his numbers didn't start to tail off after the 1958 season, the league itself grew stronger with the integration of the Negro League players starting with Jackie Robinson in 1947. The National League was even stronger than the American League since they were much more aggressive in integrating and signing the beat players they could get from the Negro Leagues. The Dodgers and Giants were two of the most aggressive teams to do so in the 1950's and their combined seven pennants during that decade is a testament to the effect of the influx to the league of the new players. 

In no way am I taking away from Musial's accomplishments by saying so but the bar of competition was significantly raised. Musial went from being one of the few great players in the 1940's to be joined by other great players in the 1950's. His place in Cooperstown is undeniable. I think the more accurate discussions whether or not Musial is one of the best players of the 1940's rather than the 1950's. Anyone agree? Disagree?

FH

For Further Reading
- Click Here to access Stan Musial's statistics page from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to read David Schoenfeld's article The List: 10 cases of East Coast bias from ESPN.com which touches upon the Musial/East Coast bias discussion

Are the Texas Rangers Baseball's Best Team?

Well, seven games in and the Texas Rangers are making me look downright wrong. Here I thought that the Rangers would be severely weakened by the departures of Cliff Lee and Vladimir Guerrero. Plus I thought that the poor handling of the Adrian Beltre, Michael Young and Neftali Feliz situations would play an adverse role on the team. All the Rangers have done is start the season 7-1 by clubbing the Boston Red Sox (who I thought would be strong to start but have been real stinkers), the Seattle Mariners and the surprising Baltimore Orioles. 

Can they keep up the pace? Who knows. They're healthy and playing good ball while the Oakland Athletics, who I thought would win the A.L. West are tied for last with the Mariners at 2-5 while the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are 3-4. Granted, the season is only a week old. But if the Rangers can play this well losing Lee and Vlad, then how stronger will they get when they really hit their stride and gel fully as a team. They play the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees next week. Let's see how they look after these upcoming series.

FH