*** VD 11 Commentary Thread ***

[heyelander]

And then you picked a year that's not in the spreadsheet without entering it for the rest of us. Tsk tsk.


Trying to get up to speed and then I'll make my pick.

gradymi01_1899 gradymi01 Grady Mike 1899 315 106 2 54 49 20 29 7 3 354 0.337 1890

[heyelander]

Diablos... Cheating muther fuckers!!!

There is evidence that McInnis was well aware of his batting average as well. In an interview late in his life Smoky Joe Wood related that McInnis would approach him at the tail end of a season if the game didn’t mean anything in the standings and say, “Look, it doesn’t matter to you, let me get a hit or two and I’ll get picked off or caught stealing.” According to Wood, if McInnis got a hit, he would keep his end of the bargain and make an out on the bases. Wood made it clear that Stuffy never bet or took advantage but was just trying to pump his batting average up a little at the end of the year.

His most memorable home run, however, came on June 27, 1911 in a game at Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston. McInnis stepped to the plate to lead off the eighth inning while the Red Sox were still warming up between innings. With Eddie Collins of the A’s still on the field talking to Red Sox center-fielder Tris Speaker, Stuffy hit a warm-up pitch by Ed Karger into short center field, which the Boston outfielders were not in a position to field. McInnis circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run against the unprepared Red Sox. The umpire upheld the homer and on appeal, American League president Ban Johnson refused to overturn the umpire’s ruling or the Athletics victory, based on a new, soon-to-be-withdrawn, rule prohibiting warm-up pitches between innings. Johnson had implemented the rule due to concern that some games were taking over two hours to play!

http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/0bad180f

[hacko]

here getting up to speed then will make pick

[TS Garp]

I haven't done a great job in this draft but I've really enjoyed getting deeper into an era and not just picking the best of the best. Looking forward to the next one.

[frae]

1879 was in the SS. What's the IP limit for a year?

[johnnya24]

100IP or 40GP

It's in the SS because someone else made the same mistake earlier. I'll delete it.

[frae]

Ok I took a guy whose BY isn't in the SS, but should be legal.

[TS Garp]

A tidbit on Hugh Daily:

A rookie at the age of thirty-four, he beat the Chicago White Stockings ten consecutive times in the heart of their dynasty, struck out 483 batters in a single-season, and earned the reputation as one of the first power pitchers in the history of baseball. Hugh Ignatius "One-Arm" Daily did all that with the greatest handicap a baseball player could have: an uncontrollable temper. Daily's horrific, cuss-laden in-game outbursts towards the opposition, umpires, fans, and teammates reduced what should have been a superstar major league career to six short years of bitter memories, embarrassments, and burned bridges. No team ever re-signed him for a second season.

[The Feral Slasher]

pick up in a few minutes. Need to find my darts...

[Pogues]

When I get a break in work duties I'll pick. It could be soon, I could be quite a bit of time.

[johnnya24]

A tidbit on Hugh Daily:

A rookie at the age of thirty-four, he beat the Chicago White Stockings ten consecutive times in the heart of their dynasty, struck out 483 batters in a single-season, and earned the reputation as one of the first power pitchers in the history of baseball. Hugh Ignatius "One-Arm" Daily did all that with the greatest handicap a baseball player could have: an uncontrollable temper. Daily's horrific, cuss-laden in-game outbursts towards the opposition, umpires, fans, and teammates reduced what should have been a superstar major league career to six short years of bitter memories, embarrassments, and burned bridges. No team ever re-signed him for a second season.

It gets even better (from wiki):

His nickname, "One Arm" Daily, is a reference to his left arm; he had lost his left hand to a gun accident earlier in his life. To compensate for this injury, he fixed a special pad over the affected area and caught the baseball by trapping it between the pad and his right hand. Sometimes, after long games of having to catch baseballs this way, his stump would become sensitive – so sensitive in fact, that he once punched his catcher for not heeding his warning to throw the balls back to him softer.

Daily was well known for having a bad disposition, he has been described as surly, and having a volatile temper. Other sources add to that: mean, contemptuous, and uncommunicative. While this behaviour was not well liked by the baseball establishment, he was popular with the home crowds because of his verbal tirades against umpires and opposing players alike.

Some theories attempt to explain Daily's tempestuous behaviour, one of which was put forth by Frank Vaccaro in his 1999 edition of The National Pastime. His theory explains that, in Daily's day, except in cases of injury, for a pitcher to be relieved from his position, another player already in the game would have to relieve him, and the pitcher would have to take a position in the field.His physical condition did not allow him many opportunities to play any other positions, so this compelled his managers to leave him in the game longer, even when his performance was declining. He was allowed to play in the field on several occasions, when the situation warranted it, as he is credited as playing three games in the outfield, two at second base, and one at shortstop.

[TS Garp]

Pete Browning (from wiki) --

Browning was tormented for his entire life by mastoiditis, which can result in deafness, vertigo, facial palsy, and brain damage. As a result, he lost his hearing at a young age, and was faced with frequent bouts of crippling head pain. The deafness had led Browning to drop out of school at an early age, so that he went through life as a virtual illiterate, and in order to deaden the physical pain resulting from his condition, he began drinking heavily in his youth. The drinking quickly spiraled out of control; he often appeared on the field while drunk, and was suspended for the final two months of the 1889 season for drunkenness, along with other shorter suspensions at different times. He was unable to stop, however, frequently stating, "I can't hit the ball until I hit the bottle."

Browning was a man of eccentric personal habits, particularly in relation to his bats. He spoke to them, and gave each one a name, often that of a Biblical figure. In the belief that any individual bat contained only a certain number of hits, he would periodically "retire" bats, keeping vast numbers of the retired ones in the home he shared with his mother. These bats were 37 inches long and 48 ounces in weight, enormous even by the standards of the time. He also habitually stared at the sun, thinking that by doing so, he would strengthen his eyes. He also "cleansed" his eyes when travelling by train by sticking his head out the window in an effort to catch cinders in them. Browning also computed his average on his cuffs on a regular basis, and was not above announcing to all when his train arrived at a depot that he was the champion batter of the American Association.

He remained a lifelong bachelor, though his affection for prostitutes was a matter of much discussion in the newspapers. He was the uncle of film director Tod Browning.[1]

After his retirement as a player, Browning worked as a cigar salesman and owned a bar, which ultimately failed; but his physical condition continued to deteriorate due to the mastoiditis and resulting complications. He remained a popular Louisville figure until June 7, 1905, when he was declared insane and committed to a local asylum (Lakeland). A sister released him two weeks later, but a month after that, he was in the hospital, suffering from a general physical collapse.

[heyelander]

As 1890 arrived, the rival Players League was formed and Gleason had the opportunity to jump the team. Instead he displayed a rather unusual (for his time) level of loyalty for his manager and decided to stay with the Phillies, saying, “Harry Wright gave me my chance two years ago when I was just a fresh kid playing coal towns, and I’m not running out on him now.”2 As a result, Gleason was one of several prominent players expelled from the Brotherhood of Base Ball Players for refusing to jump to the new Players League.

It should not be surprising that Gleason, like any spirited St. Louis player of the day, ran afoul of team owner Chris Von der Ahe. One day, the owner imposed a fine on Gleason by withholding $100 from his pay envelope. Kid marched into Von der Ahe’s office and yelled, “Look here, you big, fat Dutch slob. If you don’t open that safe and get me the $100 you fined me, I’m going to knock your block off.” Gleason got his refund immediately.

His pitching days behind him, Gleason settled into second base in New York over the next five years. He developed into one of the better second basemen of the time, leading the league twice in assists and once in putouts. His batting peaked at .317 with 106 RBIs in 1897 before a steady decline, though not enough to get him out of the lineup.
Gleason also served as team captain, and was credited by Baseball Magazine with inventing that most curious of baseball stratagems, the intentional walk.7 In a high-scoring contest against Chicago, the bases loaded with Colts in the eighth inning with two outs, and the Giants nursing a fragile 9-6 lead, Gleason strolled to the mound and proceeded to confer with pitcher Jouett Meekin and catcher Parke Wilson. Coming up to bat was Jimmy Ryan, one of the most feared Colts, but Gleason noted that the less intimidating hitter George Decker was on deck. All players returned to their position, and Meekin proceeded to toss four pitches wide of the plate. Ryan dutifully, though somewhat astonished, took his free pass and a run was forced in. Meekin then proceeded to fan Decker, and the Giants went on to win the game.

CRIPES!

Baseball players have long been accused of gullibility, and Gleason was no exception. Upon completion of the 1900 season, a number of players assembled to play a series of exhibition games in Cuba. Some unnamed prankster convinced Gleason and Pirates outfielder Tom O’Brien that drinking an excessive amount of seawater would ultimately cure seasickness, though with some immediate illness. Both men fell for the trick and became violently ill. Gleason recovered, but O’Brien suffered internal damage and, tragically, later died from the prank.

Promoted to manager before the 1919 season, Gleason led the White Sox to the pennant with a record of 88-52. The White Sox led the league in runs scored, batting average, and stolen bases, showing the same spark at bat and in the field that Gleason had shown in his playing career. He called them the “best baseball team in the world,” a club he claimed had no weaknesses.

History records the deeds of that team during the World Series, earning the sobriquet of Black Sox. When the gambling story finally broke the next year and came to trial, Gleason was the first witness for the defense, challenging an alleged meeting between players and gamblers at the very time they were holding a team practice in Chicago. Not only was Gleason not involved in the gambling, but he probably knew from the first game what was happening (prominent journalists Ring Lardner and Hugh Fullerton held similar suspicions). Author Gene Carney found some evidence that Gleason confronted his team about the fix during the World Series, but his efforts didn’t stop the White Sox from losing to the Reds in eight games. Gleason told a reporter afterward, “Something was wrong. I didn’t like the betting odds. I wish no one had ever bet a dollar on the team.”
Though Gleason was found to be uninvolved in the scandal, he was personally affected by it for the rest of his life. His team finished a close second the following season, 1920, but failed to post a winning record in the three remaining years of his tenure. He ended his managerial career in 1923 with a record of 392-364.

Gleason’s funeral reflected his popularity. The Philadelphia Inquirer estimated that more than 5,000 people attended, including longtime Giants manager and former teammate John McGraw; Mack; and Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. To accommodate the crowd that could never fit into the funeral parlor, amplifiers were set up on the sidewalk for people to hear the service. Gleason was then buried in Northwood Cemetery in north Philadelphia.

Kid Gleason was much beloved by the baseball community. Upon hearing of his death, McGraw was quoted by the Philadelphia Inquirer as saying: “He was, without doubt, the gamest and most spirited ball player I ever saw and that doesn’t except Ty Cobb. He was a great influence for good on any ball club, making up for his lack of stature, by his spirit and fight. He could lick his weight in wildcats and would prove it at the drop of a hat.”

I now know what's going on my headstone if I were to be buried... "He could lick his weight in wildcats"

[The Feral Slasher]

CRIPES!






I now know what's going on my headstone if I were to be buried... "He could lick his weight in wildcats"

We need to get together for a VD party, where we all come as our favorite player. Lots of whiskey, smoking, brawling...and wildcats.

[mjl]

come to one of my baseball games!