What's the Flukiest Accomplishment in Baseball History?

[The Feral Slasher]

Aristides Aquino and his two weeks of glory. Better to burn out than fade away....

[Sour Masher]

I'm pleasantly surprised we're on page 2 and no one's mentioned Brady Anderson's 50 HR season yet, which is probably the flukiest 50 HR season ever (Jose Bautista's 54 HR season probably was at the time, but obviously he continued to hit with prodigious power).

I wonder how it felt being the guy who drafted Anderson in 1996, and then how it felt being the guy who drafted Anderson in 1997 (he still had a good season, but he was back to his prior power levels, and hit just 18 HRs).

I had him for the first 1/3 of that glorious, unlikely, probably PED fueled run. I did not think he could keep it up and traded him, at a great keeper price, for John Smoltz. He did keep it up, but Smoltzy was great too, getting 24 wins that year. I have no regerts. Power was easier to find in the roid era.

[rhd]

I'm pleasantly surprised we're on page 2 and no one's mentioned Brady Anderson's 50 HR season yet, which is probably the flukiest 50 HR season ever (Jose Bautista's 54 HR season probably was at the time, but obviously he continued to hit with prodigious power).

I wonder how it felt being the guy who drafted Anderson in 1996, and then how it felt being the guy who drafted Anderson in 1997 (he still had a good season, but he was back to his prior power levels, and hit just 18 HRs).

Arguably, Luis Gonzalez' 2001 season was almost as flukey. He hit 57 HRs that year. Down to 28, or less than half, the next year. He never hit more than 31 in any other year.

Or how about Norm Cash's 1961? He hit .361 to lead the AL. He never hit above .286 in any other year. His OPS that year of 1.148 was 245 pts higher than any other year.

[Judge Jude]

I mentioned Dave Johnson earlier, so let's do it again.

DJ's HR totals as a starting 2B:
7 10 9 7 10 18 5 43 (!) 15

Davey also had a career-high 30 errors in 1973 with his 43 HR (his previous high was 19 errors)

he hit the 43 HR at age 30, then was a 1B-2B in 1974 - and then left for Japan as the biggest American star to go there in mid-career. was a teammate of Sadaharu Oh when he, too, hit his 715th. so Davey was a teammate of both.

came back home in 1977 and excelled as a Phillies part-timer/PH - hitting .321 with a 149 OPS+
1978, not so much (aside from being the first player it hit two-pinch hit grand slams in one season) and it was over.

per his SABR bio:

"Johnson had studied to be a veterinarian at Texas A&M, but continued his education in the off-season and earned a mathematics degree at Trinity College in San Antonio. Despite his success in baseball, he continued to learn new things. He became a licensed pilot, a scratch golfer, a talented fisherman, and a scuba instructor. He also became adroit at using a computer long before many people owned one, taking graduate classes at Johns Hopkins University while with the Orioles. With all of these hobbies and skills, Johnson knew what he wanted to do—stay in baseball as an instructor or manager."

[joncarlos]

I mentioned Dave Johnson earlier, so let's do it again.

DJ's HR totals as a starting 2B:
7 10 9 7 10 18 5 43 (!) 15

Davey also had a career-high 30 errors in 1973 with his 43 HR (his previous high was 19 errors)

he hit the 43 HR at age 30, then was a 1B-2B in 1974 - and then left for Japan as the biggest American star to go there in mid-career. was a teammate of Sadaharu Oh when he, too, hit his 715th. so Davey was a teammate of both.

came back home in 1977 and excelled as a Phillies part-timer/PH - hitting .321 with a 149 OPS+
1978, not so much (aside from being the first player it hit two-pinch hit grand slams in one season) and it was over.

per his SABR bio:

"Johnson had studied to be a veterinarian at Texas A&M, but continued his education in the off-season and earned a mathematics degree at Trinity College in San Antonio. Despite his success in baseball, he continued to learn new things. He became a licensed pilot, a scratch golfer, a talented fisherman, and a scuba instructor. He also became adroit at using a computer long before many people owned one, taking graduate classes at Johns Hopkins University while with the Orioles. With all of these hobbies and skills, Johnson knew what he wanted to do—stay in baseball as an instructor or manager."

I remember Eddie Robinson telling a story about this... he was the GM of the Braves that year and they moved the fences in because they thought it would help the hitters. It sure did, but they didn't like what it did to the pitchers, so they moved them back.

[Judge Jude]

1972 Braves, 70-84
HR leaders
Hank Aaron 34
Earl Williams 28
Darrell Evans 19
Dusty Baker 17
Ralph Garr 12
Total 144
Team ERA 4.27, Team ERA+ 89

1973 Braves, 76-85
HR leaders
Davey Johnson 43
Evans 41
Aaron 40
Baker 21
Mike Lum 16
Garr 11
Total 206
Team ERA 4.25, Team ERA+ 94

1974 Braves, 88-74
HR leaders
Evans 25
Aaron 20
Baker 20
Johnson 15
Garr 11
Lum 11
Total 120
Team ERA 3.05, ERA+ 124

wow. Buzz Capra and Phil Niekro were phenomenal, Carl Morton was a workhorse, and Ron Reed was steady, with Tom House - best known for catching Aaron's 715th HR in the bullpen in April - posting a filthy 1.93 ERA in 103 relief innings.

[Erik]

I mentioned Dave Johnson earlier, so let's do it again.

DJ's HR totals as a starting 2B:
7 10 9 7 10 18 5 43 (!) 15

Davey also had a career-high 30 errors in 1973 with his 43 HR (his previous high was 19 errors)

he hit the 43 HR at age 30, then was a 1B-2B in 1974 - and then left for Japan as the biggest American star to go there in mid-career. was a teammate of Sadaharu Oh when he, too, hit his 715th. so Davey was a teammate of both.

came back home in 1977 and excelled as a Phillies part-timer/PH - hitting .321 with a 149 OPS+
1978, not so much (aside from being the first player it hit two-pinch hit grand slams in one season) and it was over.

per his SABR bio:

"Johnson had studied to be a veterinarian at Texas A&M, but continued his education in the off-season and earned a mathematics degree at Trinity College in San Antonio. Despite his success in baseball, he continued to learn new things. He became a licensed pilot, a scratch golfer, a talented fisherman, and a scuba instructor. He also became adroit at using a computer long before many people owned one, taking graduate classes at Johns Hopkins University while with the Orioles. With all of these hobbies and skills, Johnson knew what he wanted to do—stay in baseball as an instructor or manager."

My 7-year-old self was in attendance for both pinch hit grand slam days. I actually saw the first one. We left the second game early so I heard that one in the car radio on the way home.

[revo]

I wonder what players who have had one phenomenal season in their career feel — were they just in the zone that year, or do they think they just hit that next level and then something happened to them, either physically or mentally.

[chancellor]

I wonder what players who have had one phenomenal season in their career feel — were they just in the zone that year, or do they think they just hit that next level and then something happened to them, either physically or mentally.

Brady Anderson's story is interesting on that topic. In his case, he attributed it to a combination of staying healthy (rare for Anderson for his whole career) and change in swing plane (increased tilt, and he did so against the wishes of his manager, Davey Johnson). He's always denied being on steroids, and probably has one of the better arguments from that era. It's possible he was 15 years ahead of the curve and was using the "recovery steroid" cocktail popularized around 2010 (see Ryan Braun) rather than the normal steroid cocktail of the mid-90s era. It's also possible he Armstronged MLB in his handling of steroids, and hence, was not found out in the Mitchell Report investigation. It's also possible that the rumors going around scared him enough that he quit in 1997/8 timeframe, even though his recovery from the series of injuries during that timeframe would have been significantly benefited by PED use.

[revo]

Brady Anderson's story is interesting on that topic. In his case, he attributed it to a combination of staying healthy (rare for Anderson for his whole career) and change in swing plane (increased tilt, and he did so against the wishes of his manager, Davey Johnson). He's always denied being on steroids, and probably has one of the better arguments from that era. It's possible he was 15 years ahead of the curve and was using the "recovery steroid" cocktail popularized around 2010 (see Ryan Braun) rather than the normal steroid cocktail of the mid-90s era. It's also possible he Armstronged MLB in his handling of steroids, and hence, was not found out in the Mitchell Report investigation. It's also possible that the rumors going around scared him enough that he quit in 1997/8 timeframe, even though his recovery from the series of injuries during that timeframe would have been significantly benefited by PED use.

Yeah, players from that timeframe will always have questions as to their performance. That's why I'd like to hear from the Norm Cashes of the world (yes, I know he's deceased).

[revo]

On May 1, 1920, the Brooklyn Robins and Boston Braves played a monumental 26-inning game, which ended up tied for darkness. But that's not the flukiest part -- BOTH team's starting pitchers went the distance and recorded the highest Game Scores in major league history!

Leon Cadore pitched 26 IP, allowed 15 H, 5 BB, struck out 7, and had a game score of 140. His opponent, Joe Oeschger, threw 26 IP, allowed 9 H and 4 BB, struck out 7, and had the highest game score ever, 153! Pitch counts weren't kept (nor cared about, lol) but combined, both faced 186 batters, so figure they threw in the vicinity of 350 pitches apiece.

[Judge Jude]

Yeah, players from that timeframe will always have questions as to their performance. That's why I'd like to hear from the Norm Cashes of the world (yes, I know he's deceased).

Norm played the game the right way - by corking his bat!

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/norm-cash/

[revo]

Norm played the game the right way - by corking his bat!

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/norm-cash/

If you ain't cheatin you ain't tryin

[rhd]

Norm played the game the right way - by corking his bat!

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/norm-cash/

Really enjoyed that article. Never knew that Cash was such a colorful character.

[Judge Jude]

pro tip: for any player who you ever think might possibly have an interesting backstory, just google the player name along with "SABR bio"

most of them are as good as that one.

some are hilarious, some - well, you think YOU have lived through troubles?

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/sam-rice/

that's Hall of Famer Sam Rice*

* - for no apparent reason, the author calls the Senators "the Nationals" dozens of times in the article. just see it as "Nats" and you'll be fine.
his triumph over tragedy is well worth a read

(the most accomplished player I've come across who does NOT have a SABR bio is Frank Tanana - supposedly someone is working on it...