Two Pitchers Hurl Tonight While Making History

Tonight there are two pitchers who are starting while having historic 2014 seasons. Let's see who they are.

- Johnny Cueto

Cueto faces the Washington Nationals in Washington D.C. with his current streak of seven innings pitched and two runs or fewer allowed over his first nine starts. This feat had not been done since Harry Krause of the Philadelphia Athletics set the mark in 1909. Opposing hitters batting .135 with an on-base percentage of .194. Lack of run support is the reason Cueto sits at 4-2 in 9 starts with a 1.25 ERA with 76 K's, 18 walks with 33 hits for a WHIP of 0.71. Cueto has three complete games with two of them being shutouts.

David Schoenfield of the in his article Johnny Cueto a thoroughly dominant force of the SweetSpot Baseball Blog on ESPN.com states that:

Only three pitchers have ever had an ERA below 1.50 and an opponents' batting average below .150 through nine starts -- Cueto, Don Sutton in 1972 and … Luis Tiant in 1968. 

That's some pretty impressive company Cueto is standing with. If Cueto keeps on with this kind of pitching performance for his next two starts, he will tie the mark set by Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown who in 1908 had his first 11 straight starts with at least seven innings pitched and two runs or fewer allowed for the Chicago Cubs.

- Masahiro Tanaka

Tanaka is proving his doubters wrong with an amazing start to his rookie 2014 campaign. Picking up from where he left off as ace of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, Tanaka has established himself as the most reliable starter in the Yankees rotation. Coming off his first complete game shutout in the Majors, Tanaka is 6-0 in 8 starts with a 2.15 ERA with 66 strikeouts with only 7 walks and 46 hits for a WHIP of 0.91. According to MLB.com, Tanaka is the first starter since 1900 to earn 6 wins and at least 60 strikeouts in his first eight major league starts.

In total since August of 2012, Tanaka has not lost a game at any professional level going 33-0 in both Japan with Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball regular season games. While going 24-0 in 28 games with a 1.27 ERA with 183 strikeouts with 32 walks and 168 for a WHIP of 0.94 in 2013, Tanaka won 21-consecutive games establishing a new NPB record.

According to Jason Coskrey in his article Eagles’ Tanaka sets NPB record by winning 21st straight decision from the Japan Times website dated August 16, 2013:

The victory gave Tanaka (17-0) sole possession of the longest winning streak in Japanese baseball history, moving him past former Yomiuri Giants pitcher Kiyoshi Matsuda, who had a 20-game streak over the 1951 and 1952 seasons, and Kazuhisa Inao, who won 20 straight in 1957 for the Nishitetsu Lions.

In total Tanaka had 8 complete games with two shutouts and a "cherry-on-the-top" 1 save in 2014.

Let's see if both Cueto and Tanaka can continue of their successful march in the history books tonight against the Nationals and Cubs respectively.

Until Then Play Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading
- Click Here to access Johnny Cueto's career statistics from the Cincinnati Reds page on MLB.com
- Click Here to access Masahiro Tanaka's career MLB statistics from the New York Yankees page on MLB.com
- Click Here to access Masahiro Tanaka's career NPB statistics from the NPB website 

4 Mets Have Had 7 or More All-Star Appearances

With the Subway Series looming over the horizon, I've decided to do a Mets-centric post. I originally saw this on Google+ and decided to expand on it little a bit. +New York Mets posted that Mets third baseman David Wright has 7 All-Star appearances, there are three other Mets players that have made 7 or more All-Star appearances while with the Mets. Who were they? First I'll go into Wright.

- David Wright

Currently in his 11th season with the Metropolitanos, he is the only active player on this list. Wright made his first All-Star appearance in 2006. He would make five straight All-Star appearances from 2006-2010 while missing the game in 2011. Wright has made two straight All-Star appearances since 2012. Of his 7 appearances, Wright was voted the starting third baseman in 5 of them including last year's game played at Citi Field.Wright has a .389 batting average with 7 hits in 18 at-bats including a homerun.

- Click Here to access David Wright's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access David Wright's All-Star statistics from Baseball Almanac.com

- Mike Piazza

Former Mets catcher and future Hall of Famer Mike Piazza made 7 All-Star appearances for the Mets. His first All-Star appearance for the Mets in 1998, the year that he was traded twice (Dodgers to the Marlins then Marlins to the Mets). He would make five straight appearances from 1998-2002 and then two more from 2004-2005. Piazza was voted the National League starting catcher in six of his seven appearances with the Mets. In total, Piazza made a total of 12 All-Star appearances (5 Dodgers/7 Mets). In total he would hit .240 with 6 hits in 25 at-bats with a double and a two homeruns. Piazza was the All-Star MVP of the 1996 game that was played at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia.

- Click Here to access Mike Piazza's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Mike Piazza's All-Star statistics from Baseball Almanac.com 

- Darryl Strawberry

Strawberry made his debut with the New York Mets on May 6, 1983 winning the National League Rookie of the Year. In 1984 he would make his first All-Star Appearance. In total Strawberry would have 7 All-Star appearances for the Mets and he would be the only player on this list to do so consecutively from 1984-1990. Strawberry was voted the starter for five consecutive games from 1984-1988. In total, Strawberry made 8 straight All-Star appearances (7 Mets/1 Dodgers). He batted .333 with 4 hits in 12 at-bats.

- Click Here to access Darryl Strawberry's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Darryl Strawberry's career statistics from Baseball Almanac.com 

- Tom Seaver

Hall of Famer Tom Terrific made his debut for the Mets in 1967 and would make his first All-Star appearance as a rookie. This would be the first of seven straight All-Star appearances from 1967-1973. He would make another two straight appearances for the Mets from 1975-1976. Seaver was named the starter of the 1970 All-Star game that was played at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati. He would have probably made a 10th appearance as a Met but he would be traded to the Cincinnati Reds on June 15, 1977 in a heartbreaker of a trade for Seaver and Mets fans alike. Seaver would make a total of 12 All-Star teams (9 Mets/3 Reds). Seaver went 0-0 with 4.85 ERA 14 hits (3 homers) allowed in 13.1 innings pitched with 16 strikeouts and 4 walks.

- Click Here to access Tom Seaver's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Tom Seaver's career statistics from Baseball Almanac.com

Well there you go. Thanks to +New York Mets on Google+ for the question and inspiration for the post.

Until Then Play Ball,
Baseball Sisco

Latinos Making History May 9, 2014

As I wrote on my Baseball Sisco blogpage on May 8, 2014 in the post Five Players to Hit 100 Homers With Three Different Teams, Adrian Beltre became the fifth player to hit 100 homeruns for three different teams. In doing so he joined Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, Darrell Evans, Alex Rodriguez and Jim Thome in that exclusive club.

The Cuban Beisbol renaissance continues in MLB with Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox being selected the American League player and American League Rookie of the month of April. He is the first American League player to do so and second overall. His fellow countryman Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers is the first winning the equivalent National League honors last June.

Courtesy of Von's Card Blog

There was an interesting article on the Cuban Beisbol renaissance in the Majors entitled White Sox, Furthering Legacy, Provide Warm Home For Cubans, Amid Chill by Tyler Kepner from the NYTimes website dated April 19, 2014. The article states:

For the second time this season, it included four players from Cuba: (Alexei) Ramirez at shortstop, Dayan Viciedo in right field, Adrian Nieto catching and Jose Abreu, who signed for six years and $68 million last October, at first base. No team since the 1969 Cleveland Indians had started four Cuban-born players in a game.

That is a forty-five year gap where players from The Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela stepped in to fill the gap left by the decreasing number of Cubans in the Majors due to the closing of the Cuban market. Add to this mix players like the aforementioned Yasiel Puig, Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins, Yoenis Cespedes of the Oakland Athletics and Aroldis Chapman of the Cincinnati Reds to name a few. The future of Cuban Beisbol is definitely growing bright in the MLB. Here are Jose Abreu's statistics up to May 8, 2014.

Courtesy of CBS Sports

Speaking of a renaissance, Venezuelan closer Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez seemed to have put all his personal issues behind him this season. Through the month of April, Rodriguez went 13-for-13 in save chances tying Kaz Sasaki of the Seattle Mariners who had recorded 13 saves before May 1st in 2001.

I didn't realize that Rodriguez is only 32 years old. It seems like he's been around forever. The first time I noticed K-Rod was when he was the set-up man for the then Anaheim Angels closer Troy Percival. He was signed as a free agent in 1998 and made his debut for the Angels on September 18, 2002 at the age of 20 during the Angels run to an eventual World Series Title. It's good to see that he's been able to rebuild his career after a few tumultuous seasons with the Mets and seemingly unfocused seasons from 2011-2013. Here are Francisco Rodriguez's statistics up to May 8, 2014.

Well, that's it for now. If I missed any Latino achievements in the Major Leagues, please feel free to contact me at baseballsiscokidstyle@gmail.com, at my Twitter @Baseballsisco, My Google+ +Francisco Hilario (BaseballSisco) and at my Facebook page Baseball Sisco Kid Style. 

Hasta la próxima, no dejamos de jugar el Beisbol,

Baseball Sisco

#baseballsisco

#baseballsiscokidstyle

Five Players to Hit 100 Homers With Three Different Teams

Last night Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre became the fifth player in MLB history to hit at least 100 homers with three different teams. In seven seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers (1998-2004), Beltre hit 147 homers. In five season with the Seattle Mariners (2005-2009), he hit 103 homers. In his fourth season with the Rangers (2011-2014), he's reached the 100 homerun plateau.

So who are the other four players. Here goes.

- Darrell Evans
In 21 seasons, Evans blasted 414 homeruns with three different teams. In nine seasons with the Atlanta Braves (1969-1974), Evans hit 131 homeruns. In eight seasons with the San Francisco Giants (1974-1983) he would hit 142 homers. In five season with the Detroit Tigers (1984-1989), Evans would hit 141 homeruns.

- Reggie Jackson 
The only Hall of Famer on this list, Reggie hit a total of 563 homeruns in 21 seasons. In ten seasons with the Kansas City/Oakland Athletics (1967-1975), Reggie hit a total of 269 homers. In five seasons with the New York Yankees (1977-1981), he would hit 144 homeruns. In five seasons with the California Angels (1982-1987), Reggie would hit 123 homeruns.

- Alex Rodriguez
The only other active player on this list (aside from Beltre), Rodriguez leads the group with 654 homeruns in 20 seasons played. In seven seasons with the Seattle Mariners (1994-2000), Rodriguez would hit 189 homeruns. In three seasons with the Texas Rangers (2001-2003), he would hit 156 homeruns. In ten seasons with the New York Yankees (2004-2013), Rodriguez would hit 309 homeruns.

- Jim Thome 
In 22 seasons, Thome hit 617 homeruns making him the player with the second most career homeruns after Alex Rodriguez (654). In thirteen seasons with the Cleveland Indians (1991-2002), Thome would hit 337 homeruns. In four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies (2003-2005/2012), he would hit 101 homeruns. In four seasons with the Chicago White Sox (2006-2009), Thome would hit 134 homeruns.

So there you have the list of the five players to hit at least 100 homers with three different major league teams.

For the next couple of posts, I have some interesting trivia questions that have come up in recent Yankees' telecasts that I want to touch upon. So keep your eyes open for them.

Until Then Play Ball,

For Further Reading
- Click Here to access Adrian Beltre's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Darrell Evans' career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Reggie Jackson's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Alex Rodriguez's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Jim Thome's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

Sports Illustrated 1987 Baseball Preview Issue

I was recently looking through an old box of sports magazines that I have at my mom's place and came across the Sports Illustrated Baseball Preview Issue from 1987. On the cover as you can see are then Cleveland Indians sluggers Cory Snyder and Joe Carter. The cover proclaims an "Indian Uprising" and that "Believe It!! Cleveland is the best team in the American League." In the article Pow! Wow! The lost Tribe is back, thanks to the bats of young sluggers Joe Carter and Cory Snyder by Ron Fimrite dated April 06, 1987.

Now, if my recollection of the 1987 season is correct, the Minnesota Twins defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1987 Fall Classic, not the Indians. I wanted to take a look back at the predictions made in 1987 for the season and how the predictions stood up to the reality.

Before I go into how things turned out, I keep seeing the term "Rabbit-ball" being used to refer to the 1987 season. What does the term mean? Keep in mind, according to Larry Granillo in his article Living through the Rabbit Ball in 1987 from SBNation dated June 13, 2013:

After a big-league record for most home runs in a season in 1986, home runs suddenly increased by an additional 20 percent -- that's 700 home runs! -- that season...Where there were more than 20 sluggers hitting at least 30 homers in 1987, there were only five in 1988.

Now realizing that the ball was probably juiced that season (there has never been an official admission by the powers that be), here is how SI laid out their predictions:

Now here are the final standings for the 1987 season:

Here are the year end awards for the 1987 season:

The only accurate predictions made were the selections of Benito Santiago as National League Rookie of the Year and Wade Boggs as the American League Batting Champion. As impressive as Wade Boggs' .363 batting average is, Tony Gwynn ripped off a .370 batting average in the NL.

Dan Pasqua? Really SI? Pasqua never hit more than 20 Homers in a season for his career. He did that with the Chicago White Sox in 1988. I can see picking Schmidt in the NL but Pasqua? Speaking of Schmidt, Schmitty hit home run number 500 on April 18, 1987.

Mark McGwire won the American League Rookie of the Year award and would become the second of three consecutive Oakland A's to win the AL Rookie of the Year award (Jose Canseco in 1986 and Walt Weiss in 1988)

Both Roger Clemens and Dave Stewart won 20-games in the AL. For Stewart this was the first of four consecutive 20+ game seasons as the ace of the Oakland A's (20 in 1987, 21 in 1988, 21 in 1989, 22 in 1990). Rick Sutcliff would win 18-games for the Chicago Cubs to lead the NL in wins.

Steve Bedrosian winning the NL Cy Young Award is surprising to me. I can't say that I even remember "Bedrock" having that kind of a season, while closing for the Phillies. Nolan Ryan led the NL with a 2.76 ERA with 270 strikeout with an 8-16 record. Makes you wonder that if Sabermetricians had the Cy Young vote that year, Ryan would have gotten more votes for NL Cy Young.

Vince Coleman became the last ballplayer to steal over 100 bases in a season. Coleman followed up his 107 stolen bases in 1986 with 109 stolen bases for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1987.

And The Cleveland Indians finished with a league worse 61-101 record, far below predictions. All the main predictions in terms of records were off from what SI prognosticated.

The magazine also had the following articles:
- Whatever Happened to the Strike Zone by Peter Gammons
- The Long and Short of It by Peter Gammons
- Game 6 by Peter Gammons
- Once Upon a Time in Cleveland... by Robert W. Creamer
- Manager on a Hot Seat by E.M. Swift
- More Than a Media Darling by Peter Gammons
- Fathers and Sons
- Taking the Sting Out of Batting by James E. Reynolds
- Working Hand In Glove by Lee Chilton

And my favorite of the bunch which while written in 1987, I feel transcends time by feeling as if it was written today:

- Let's Just Play Ball by Ron Firmite

Give the magazine a read if you want a stroll down memory lane. You can access the issue in its entirety with pictures and advertisements here: Sports Illustrated 1987 Baseball Preview Issue from the Vault Reader

Until Then Play Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco

Latinos Making History Week Ending Sunday April 27

This past week was a historical one for Latinos in the Major Leagues. Let's not waste time and jump right in.

- Albert Pujols Reaches the 500 Homerun plateau
Los Angeles Angeles of Anaheim slugger Albert Pujols looks like he's back to form in dealing with a couple in injury filled seasons in California. Pujols became the 26th and youngest player to reach the 500 homerun club. At age 34, Pujols hit both homerun 499 and 500 against Washington Nationals starter Taylor Jordan on April 22. He is the first player to hit both homers 499 and 500 in the same game. El Hombre is back!!!

- Jose Abreu sets the rookie RBI record for the month of April
Cuban slugger Jose Abreu is certainly making his mark on the Majors in his first month with the Chicago White Sox. Abreu has set the major league rookie record for RBIs with 31 through April 27. Abreu is batting .262 with a league leading 10 homeruns and 31 RBIs. He still has three games to add to his rookie record for RBIs in the month of April with one game against the Tampa Bay Rays and two against the Detroit Tigers. Let's see where he ends up. Jose Abreu courtesy of the blogpage White Sox Cards. Check them out.


- Blue Jays Set Record with 6 Dominicans in the Starting Lineup
I'm not sure when Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons filled out his lineup card on April 27 against the Boston Red Sox he realized that he was making history. By slotting Jose Reyes (SS), Melky Cabrera (CF), Jose Bautista (LF), Juan Encarnacion (1B), Juan Francisco (DH) and Moises Sierra (RF) into the starting lineup, this would mark the first time that six players from the Dominican Republic were in the starting lineup at the same time.

Hearing about this brought back memories of a post I wrote concerning the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 1, 1971. In my post The First All Black-Latino MLB Starting Lineup from September 1, 2011, Pirates manager Danny Murtagh filled out his lineup card with all players of color including pitcher Dock Ellis. Now can we ever get a lineup entirely made up of Dominicans on a Major League diamond? Only time will tell. =)

Hasta la próxima, no dejamos de jugar el Beisbol,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

Michael Pineda and the Pine Tar Incident

By now we all know about Michael Pineda of the New York Yankees getting ejected from Last night's game in Boston of having pinetar on his neck after being accused of having pinetar on his hand during his last start against Boston. Now I wasn't going add my two cents on this story but I've changed my mind. No excusing Pineda's actions. He chose to do something that was illegal and got caught. He was given a 10-games suspension and hopefully he won't appeal the suspension. This is where I want to add my two cents.

According to Major League Baseball Rule 8.00, Subsection 8.02: “The pitcher shall not apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball.” My problem with this rule is that while many a pitcher uses one substance or another when the weather is cold AND it is commonly known that pitchers do this, it is one of Baseball's "hush-hush" acts that gets a blind eye from MLB. Both David Cone and Al Leiter on air during the YES network's telecast admitted that they used firmgrip hidden on their belt to aid with the grip of the ball during cold weather. As I said, this is not an uncommon thing.

Tyler Kepner describes a way that a pitcher can circumvent the rules in his article Missing on the Mound: A Dab of Discretion from the New York Times website dated April 24, 2014:

Going outside the rules is easy enough, and widely condoned, because nobody wants the umpires to investigate their own pitchers. One common method, pitchers say, is to put suntan lotion on their arms. Dab the rosin bag onto that spot, touch it with your fingers, and you create just enough stickiness to get a better grip

In the same article St. Louis Cardinals starter Adam Wainright is quoted as saying:

“There’s ways to do it without doing that,” said Adam Wainwright, the Cardinals’ ace right-hander. “I mean, what’s he doing? But I do think that on a day like yesterday, when we had wind gusts of up to 41 miles an hour, honestly it is very hard to get a good grip on the ball. I do think a little something here and there — not pine tar — but something is fine.”

Even during the World Series last October you had a mysterious green substance that was seen in John Lester's glove and made its rounds on the social media circuit. This is just one type of action that MLB has rules for but doesn't enforce until it becomes obvious that they have to.

This is what I propose. If the usage of substances to aid in gripping as common and rampant as the players say, then either enforce the rule with a more stringent eye, not letting it be a "hush-hush" or a "Wink-wink" kind of thing players do and is condoned OR change the rules and allow pitchers to legally use the substances that many have already been using in certain conditions in the same way that the rosin bag is allowed to be used.

For those who are beat the drums about wanting Baseball to be "clean", do some research. BASEBALL HAS NEVER BEEN CLEAN. I think this is a very naïve way of looking at things. Historically from day one, players have sought to find ways in order to gain an advantage. This hasn't changed in over 130 years and probably won't ever change. If those who want a clean game are serious about their wanting cleanliness then start with kicking out Hall of Famers Gaylord Perry and Don Sutton who admittedly used substances to doctor the ball while pitching their way to the Hall of Fame. For those who want to do some research, pick up a copy of Roger I. Abrams' The Dark Side of the Diamond: Gambling, Violence, Drugs and Alcoholism in the National Pastime for a glimpse of the lengths some players have gone to in order to find an edge throughout the history of the game.

Do I think it is right? Honestly I don't know. It is hard for me to say when you have ballplayers, coaches and announcers who just shrug when asked if pitchers use substances to aid in their gripping the ball or even going as far as what David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox stated: “Everybody uses pine tar in the league, It’s no big deal at all.” I place the onus on MLB to either enforce the rules and not ignore the acts by the pitchers or to amend the rules. It's a simple as that.

Until Then Play Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco