/m/dugout

Reader Comments and Retorts

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

As I've mentioned before, I have a mental block which prevents me from knowing the difference between Hank Bauer and Hank Sauer. The difference today is that Hank Bauer is the manager of the Birthday Team.

Since 1914 (which is as far back as BR's split finder goes), nine teams have gotten a .300 batting average and sub-.400 slugging percentage from their cleanup spot. Can you name the primary cleanup hitters on those teams?

1918 Dodgers (cleanup hitters hit .329/.365/.380): This guy won his only batting title that year. One of only two of these teams whose cleanup hitters were generally better than the rest of the league's (the other one is the final team on this list).

1920 Red Sox (.321/.408/.399): I couldn't have told you anything about this guy before looking him up. Outfielder, R/R, good bat, nomadic career - twice disappeared from the majors after posting an OPS+ over 100, including spending 1919 in Louisville after having a 132 OPS+ with the '18 Browns.

1923 Braves (.318/.345/.394): Pretty famous first baseman nearing the end of his career.

1924 Braves (.302/.322/.380): The Braves lost 100 games in 1923 and saw fit to change managers, but they kept the same guy in the cleanup spot and lost 100 games again. For the whole year, Braves cleanup batters walked 16 times, struck out 11 times, and homered once.

1928 Indians (.301/.371/.396): Only 16 strikeouts from Indians cleanup men all year. The role was split between two guys, one of whom you can probably guess already. The other one led the AL in both hits and doubles in 1930, beating out a lot of guys' big numbers.

1933 Pirates (.308/.346/.397): Only team on the list with a winning record (it helps to have five HOFers in the starting lineup). The cleanup hitter is one of the guys you'd guess from this team.

1938 Phillies (.302/.389/.374): Another guy I knew nothing about. Like the guy from 1920, he hit everywhere he played but never could stick with a team or even in the majors. His 133 OPS+ in 1938 so impressed major league baseball that he disappeared from the bigs until 1944, when most of the nation's best players were in the military. After two wartime seasons with a 163 and 123 OPS+, that was it for his career in the majors.

1939 Phillies (.308/.384/.394): Gotta give the Phillies credit - they lost 100 games in both 1938 and 1939, but they did it with different managers and different Jewish singles hitters manning the cleanup spot (to be fair, the guy from 1938 wasn't really a singles hitter).

2014 Marlins (.300/.371/.380): 75 years later and here we are. Like a few guys on this list, this guy's bounced in and out of the majors and has had trouble impressing people even when playing well. Converted singles hitter.

Birthday starter Mike Bielecki and Alfonso Pulido combined to go 34-9 for the 1984 Hawaii Islanders. Neither got called up during the Triple A season because the Pirates led the NL in ERA, although they finished last in their division.

By rBAT—”the number of runs better or worse than average the player was as a hitter”—the second best hitter on the Padres all season (after Seth Smith) has been Yangervis Solarte, whom they acquired last Tuesday.

By rBAT—”the number of runs better or worse than average the player was as a hitter”—the second best hitter on the Padres all season (after Seth Smith) has been Yangervis Solarte, whom they acquired last Tuesday.

The third-best on last year's Marlins was anybody who didn't have a plate appearance.

The 6 highest slugging percentages of Wheat's career came, in order: Age 32, Age 33, Age 34, Age 35, Age 37, Age 36. He turned 32 in 1920.... one has to wonder how much better his raw numbers could have been had he spent his entire career in the "live-ball" era.

The Game of 7/30/84 was a close one and went 12 innings - shocking, I know. It also featured a rather fascinating bit of managerial maneuvering that ended up being both very helpful and very harmful at different times.

The Game of 7/30/14 featured excellent performances from two players who finished in the top 4 of the same MVP vote, and have both failed to repeat the efforts of that season. It was also a 2014-style pitcher's duel, with the exception of the fact that it featured a reminder of how bullpens pitched way back in the day.