Month: July 2009

Sunday baseball: the history of blue laws

I was searching around Google the other day and sorta got off track on what I was REALLY looking for as I’m prone do.  The advantage of that is I tend to learn a lot.  This time I picked up on the topic of blue laws and how they affected the sport of baseball.  Man, how things have changed!

First, let’s start with a general definition of blue laws for the whippersnappers out there who aren’t familiar with the concept of blue laws.

Straight from Wikipedia:

A blue law is a type of law, typically found in the United States, designed to enforce religious standards, particularly the observance of Sunday as a day of worship or rest, and a restriction on Sunday shopping. Most have been repealed, have been declared unconstitutional, or are simply unenforced, although prohibitions on the sale of alcoholic beverages, and occasionally almost all commerce, on Sundays are still enforced in many areas. Blue laws often prohibit an activity only during certain hours and there are usually exceptions to the prohibition of commerce, like grocery and drug stores. In some places blue laws may be enforced due to religious principles, but others are retained as a matter of tradition or out of convenience

As to blue laws’ relevance to baseball, there were many cases where they were enforced to stop games on Sunday.  It has been reported that as of 1906, five times that games took place on Sunday and the players or managers were arrested for violating the local code.

What were the particular reasons?  The Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society web site has a very extensive article on “The Fight for Sunday Baseball in Philadelphia” (very well worth the read for those interested in the topic).  According the article, legislators in the state assembly passed a law way back in 1794 was an Act for the prevention of vice and immorality, and of unlawful gaming, and to restrain disorderly sports and dissipation” on the Lord’s Day.

This law and more strict ones that were to follow influenced those who enforced these what were to be more commonly known as the “blue laws”.

Philadelphia is a good case study for the blue laws and how they affected the sport of baseball.  According to PAHS, it wasn’t until 1934 when a legal game of baseball was played on Sunday.  The other pro ballclubs were a little more lenient.

Professional Ballclub Cities and the Year Sunday Baseball was Legal

Chicago 1902
Cincinnati 1902
St Louis 1902
Cleveland 1918
Detroit 1918
New York 1918
Washington 1918
Boston 1929
Baltimore 1932
Philadelphia 1934

Professional ballclubs (and those in the East) weren’t the only ones who were affected by blue laws.  While not widely publicized, it took its toll on minor leagues as well.   The Nebraska Minor League website also has a good article detailing the history of playing games on Sunday.  By the early 1900s, Nebraskan teams were being arrested for playing on the Sabbath.  Some were playing knowing full well they were going to be arrested.

In 1903, a decision went to the Nebraska state supreme court.  The court affirmed the earlier decision that made Sunday illegal.

Bit by bit through the mid 20th century, the blue laws were taken off the books.  It wouldn’t surprise me though if some laws were still lingering on today, forgotten and just not being enforced.

Just something to think about as you’re about to sit down to watch some Sunday Baseball.

PS I found this humorous.  There’s a vintage baseball team called the Winona Blue Laws.  Clever.

Wasted power?

 

Playing around with Baseball Reference’s Play Index today, I decided to see which hitters were hitting the long ball but not driving in so many runs.  Here are the five batters from the first half of 2009 with the lowest rbis totals with at least 15 homeruns.

     Batter            RBI HR               

    1 Chris Davis        33 15  
    2 Troy Tulowitzki    37 16  
    3 Jay Bruce          41 18  
    4 Hank Blalock       42 19  
    5 Curtis Granderson  43 18  



 


Here is the full list with all stats.


Granderson gets a bye here since he primarily leads off but the others need a better excuse.  


No surprise here.  We find batters with low batting averages (Bruce-.207) or worse a low  batting average AND a high strikeout rate (Davis- 114 Ks and a .202 BA).  


As for Tulowitzki, his .164 average probably accounts for his low rbi total. 


 


Just for kicks, if I dial the homerun requirement down to 10, here are the results:


    Batter             RBI HR
    1 Josh Willingham    26 12  
    2 Ken Griffey        26 10  
    3 A.J. Pierzynski    27 10  
    4 Mike Jacobs        30 12  
    5 Scott Hairston     31 11  



               


Again, the full list is here.


Some surprises here.  I wouldn’t have expected to see Josh Williamham (.304) on this list though playing for the Nats could account for this.    Griffey and Jacobs both are having sub-par years in their other stat categories (ok, maybe sub-par is the wrong term to use… Jacobs is having about the year we would expect).  


AJ is hitting .299 playing for relatively offensively-minded team.  He is hitting .226 with RISP.  Not good but at the same time but four of his 10 homers have come in this situation.  Strange.


If you’re wondering, Alfonso Soriano comes up #8 on this list with 33 rbis on 14 homers.


And to add some historical perspective, I cranked up some all time Wasted Power numbers.  This time I took the homerun requirement up to 30.  So here is the top ten list of the lowest amount of rbis for any batter who hit 30 or more homeruns: 




    Batter              RBI HR 

    1 Rob Deer           64 32 1992   
    2 Felix Mantilla     64 30 1964   
    3 Hanley Ramirez     67 33 2008   
    4 Brad Wilkerson     67 32 2004   
    5 Chris Young        68 32 2007   
    6 Brook Jacoby       69 32 1987   
    7 Alfonso Soriano    70 33 2007   
    8 Jose Valentin      70 30 2004   
    9 Rocky Colavito     72 30 1966   
   10 Mark McGwire       73 32 2000   





 


Full list here


Like Granderson, last year’s Hanley Ramirez and 2007’s Alfonso Soriano can be excused because their managers deemed them fit to lead off instead of using their power in a more useful spot.  


Otherwise, you find hitters I would expect.  Rob Deer.  Mark McGwire in his waning days.  Jose Valentin who loved to swing.  Bad Brad Wilkerson who struck out 152 times in 2004.  Oh yeah, there’s Chris Young again.  


I’ll probably revisit this topic at the end of season and see how the numbers how they’ve changed.  By the way, if you haven’t tried out Baseball Reference’s Play Index and you like goofing around with baseball stats, give it a try. It does cost a little but it’s worth a bit in my mind.

World Beats USA 7-5 in Futures Game

tosoniMinnesota Twins prospect Rene Tosoni, born in Toronto, put the World up for good with an RBI double to the righfield gap in the 7th inning.  The White Sox Cuban prospect Dayan Viciedo then ripped an RBI double to make it, 7-5 World, which was where it ended.  That was a long way from where the game began, there was a four hour rain delay, which resulted in the World’s starting pitcher, Junichi Tazawa, not being able to throw because he’d stiffened up during the delay, after warming up.

Early on the World had a 3-0 lead, but the USA came fighting back.  The Rockies Eric Young, Jr. (son of former All Star Eric Young, Sr.) put USA on the board with a solo-shot and then an RBI single off the bat of Pirates first round pick Pedro Alvarez cut the World’s lead to 3-2.  The next inning Astros catching prospect Jason Castro ripped a three run blast over the rightfield wall to give the USA a 5-3 lead.

But it wasn’t to be, as the Brewers Brett Lawrie got the decisive inning going with a leadoff double, and Starlin Castro of the Cubs reached on an infield single to put runners on the corners.  A wild pitch allowed Lawrie to score and Castro to advance.  With one out, the Brewers Alcides Escobar sent a bouncer up the middle for an infield single, and A’s second baseman Jemile Weeks’ (Rickie’s brother) error helped Castro to score the tying run.  Then it was time for Tosini & Viciedo to take center stage.

In the bottom of the 7th J.C. Sulbaran of the Reds closed it out for a game shortened save.  The Astros right-hander Chia-Jen Lo, who had worked a scoreless sixth, was credited with the victory.  The win was the World’s 6th in 11 games played against the USA in the Futures All Star games.

IL Beats PCL 6-5

drew carpenterThe Triple A All Star Game used to be THE showcase of the stars of tomorrow, that distinction has been taken over by the Futures Game.  Still over 16,000 fans crowded into Portland’s Triple A ballpark to checkout the show, and they weren’t disappointed.  Future stars shined as Phillies prospect Drew Carpenter was the winning pitcher, working one inning, striking out the side, disposing of the heart of the PCL lineup on only 9 pitches.  Yankees centerfielder of the future Austin Jackson ripped a hard triple off the wall.  Rays infielder Reid Brignac got himself a double, I remember being impressed with him in the Arizona Fall League.  Catcher Erik Kratz was the hitting star of the game, doubling, and then sending one completely out of PGE Park for a homer, but that one’s got an asterisk, as he hit a 3-0 fastball(?) off knuckleballer Charlie Haeger, he was sitting on a BP fastball & he got it, all of it.  Drew Stubbs also launched one deep into the night, as did Esteban German.  You see, in a game like this, there are prospects, and there are suspects.

Disco Sucks!

Thirty years ago a promotion at a major league baseball game went wrong, it went really wrong.  Mike Veeck, son of White Sox owner at the time, Bill Veeck, the P.T. Barnum of promotions was in charge of promotions for the White Sox.  Thirty years later, this promotion lives on, Disco Demolition was the brain child of 25 year old Loop disk jockey Steve Dahl & Mike Veeck.  The Loop was a rock station in Chicago and disco, popular in some circles, was despised by rockers.  Thus the promotion, bring a disco record to Comiskey Park, get in for a buck, and all of the disco records would be blown up by Dahl between games of a scheduled doubleheader between the White Sox and the Tigers.

Mike Veeck believed there would be a few fans, perhaps 1,000, who would take advantage of the promotion, and enjoy a cheap night out at the ole ballpark.  He had no idea he would be remembered for coming up with the worst promotion in the history of the game, this coming from the son of a guy who batted a midget, Eddie Gaedel, in a major league game.  Thousands of pot smoking disco haters showed up for the explosion between games, they couldn’t have cared less about baseball.  There wasn’t enough security to handle the crowd, which soon overtook the ballpark.

They demolished the playing field, along with a few disco records, making the playing field unplayable for the second game, which was forfeited by the White Sox to the Tigers.  Even the ever popular broadcaster Harry Caray and the infamous owner Bill Veeck’s pleas couldn’t get through to the stoner fans, who’d overtaken the field.  As a young White Sox fan, I remember hoping the second game would be played, how embarrassing to lose a game by forfeit.

What do you remember about Disco Demolition Night?

2009 All-Star Game: from a fan who remembers when the NL used to be good

Thirteen proved to be an unlucky number for the National League as once again, they need to wait another year.  The American League defeated them 4-3 Tuesday in a tight game decided by good bullpen pitching and clutch hitting. 

Bleacher Report live blogged the whole affair if the want all the details in its sordid glory.

A few of the subplots:

Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 12.32 million viewers to go with a 7.5 rating/13 share. NBC’s 5.7/10 was second, topping the 4.8/8 for CBS. ABC’s 2.7/5 and The CW’s 0.5/1 trailed.

2010 is a new year and a new decade.  I can feel a NL victory… maybe.

Update:  just to prove that you can use stats to prove any point, while FOX’ ratings WERE better than any in their slot, they did slip a bit from last year.  Down 4% from last year’s game. 

Does Triple-A Cub catcher Robinson have a chance to make it to the bigs soon?

I’m trying to find a silver lining in the dark cloud that surrounds the catcher situation in the Cubs’ clubhouse.  Piniella’s quote, "We’re not scared of using Fox.", does not inspire confidence. 

If there is indeed a silver lining, it would be that perhaps it might give Triple-A Chris Robinson a shot at the majors. 

Robinson, who plays for the Iowa Cubs and hails from my alum, the University of Illinois, would certainly be qualified.  He just was named to the PCL All-Star team and is hitting the ball well (.317).  Robbie is known as a very good defensive catcher. 

I’ve seen Robinson play.  Yes, he can hit (not a lot of HR but plenty of gap power) but what I was impressed with in his college days was his leadership skills, how he took charge of a game and how he handled the pitchers. 

And the Cubs certainly could use a catcher like that at least in the interim while Soto is on the DL however long THAT will be.

Bleacher Nation has some thoughts on the Cubs’ catcher situation.  Their coming away with the idea that the Cubs are probably going to look elsewhere to solve their backstop problems in the meantime.

But Robinson was always noted as a defensive catcher, and he just happens to be hitting this year. Certainly the Cubs aren’t expecting a great deal of offense out of a backup catcher (see the current starter, Koyie Hill), so why the diss of Robinson? It’s really hard to figure.

Perhaps the answer is that the Cubs aren’t just looking for a temporary backup catcher. Maybe they’re hoping to land a temporary starting catcher who can become a backup when Soto returns. That would explain the looking around, though it, too, would be a bit strange given Hill’s excellent handling of the staff, if not excellent hitting.

Time will tell.  Most importantly, we’ll need to find just how bad Soto’s oblique strain really is and how long he’ll be out for.  No doubt, those who really need to know, probably already have a good idea. 

And more than likely, Robbie will get some more time to season in Triple-A before Chicago decides what to do with him.

Go West, Delino DeShields

sp_delino

Credit: WaPo

I was just forwarded this interesting WaPo piece on Delino DeShields.  After falling off the face of the earth, he’s back in baseball as a hitting coach for the Billings Mavericks.

Things are bit different for Delino in Big Sky country:

“It ain’t the A-T-L, that’s for sure. Billings is all cowboy hats and wide-open spaces, ranchland and large wildlife. It’s the biggest city within a 350-mile radius, which says more about what’s within that radius than about Billings’s own size. And according to the 2000 U.S. Census, African Americans make up about one-half of 1 percent of the population — or precisely 494 folks from a total population of 89,847.

"I’ve seen a couple," DeShields says, laughing. "Let’s just say: I don’t think they were natives."

It’s a good piece.  Check it out.

Pujols vs Chicago: Is he a Cub beater?

 

With the upcoming Chicago St Louis series almost upon us, let’s take a look at how Albert Pujols has done against the Cubs. 

As it is, Pujols has played pretty much the equivalent of a near-full season against Chicago.  He has 503 at-bats and 590 plate appearances versus the good guys.

How has he done?

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
138 503 92 147 25 1 39 104 6 4 72 59 .292 .385 .579 .963

 

A pretty solid “year” I’d say though I will point out his averages are all down from his total career numbers.  Still nothing to sneeze at.  And that homerun figure of 39?  That’s the highest number he’s hit against any opponent.  NL Central opponents Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Houston are all very close, though.  Milwaukee, however has only surrendered 26 to Albert.

For what it’s worth, his Wrigley numbers are .282/.369/.563.