Our mailbox is always full of esoteric questions from our readers. So every week, we pass along some of their most interesting queries to baseball historians who know the answers.
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LIKE A WALK IN THE (CHAN HO) PARK
Q: Who has the most RBI in one inning?
-- Chris Fanng
A: Third baseman Fernando Tatis holds the record with eight RBI in an inning. In the third inning of an April 23, 1999 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tatis stepped to the plate with the bases loaded, and deposited a Chan Ho Park pitch over the outfield wall. The rest of the Cards' lineup also got on base against Park, again bringing up Tatis with the bases loaded. And again, Tatis sent Park’s offering high into the night. Another grand slam, another four ribbies. Since 1900, no other player has knocked in more than six runs in an inning. Beating Tatis’s record will be difficult, since a player must come to bat three times in one inning just to have the opportunity.
WELL, I'LL GIVE YOU THE OUT SINCE YOU AT LEAST LOOKED AT THE BASE
Q: On a double-play, why is the force play at second base considered an automatic out, as long as the fielder makes an "attempt" to retire the runner at second base. I recently observed a play where the fielder was in the "vicinity" of second base (approximately 3-4 feet away) on the front end of a double-play, and the out was recorded. Is this the rule, or an unwritten umpire interpretation?
-- Ron Pearce
A: While this kind of play occurs often, it is not legal under baseball rules. Officially, an out cannot be recorded on a force play at second unless the fielder touches the bag while holding the ball. In the need to make a quick relay throw, many fielders just sweep their feet near the bag before tossing the ball to first. At some point, umpires began calling these plays as outs, and “vicinity” plays are now quite common. Like the low strike, they have become an accepted part of the game, and managers don’t usually bother to protest them.
Q: Why was hitting for average in the American League so hard in 1968, and what is the significance of Carl Yastrzemski being the only one to achieve a .300batting average?
-- Ken Fougère
A: While the Dead Ball Era (1900-1919) was a great time for pitchers, 1968 is generally considered the “Year of the Pitcher.” This title is especially appropriate for the American League, where the league slugging percentage (.340) was the lowest since 1915, and on-base percentage (.300) was the lowest since 1908. Batting averages suffered especially, falling to their lowest point (.231) in history, worse than the deadest of the dead-ball years. The two best teams in baseball, Detroit and St. Louis, were led by the two best pitchers in baseball. Detroit’s Denny McLain cruised to a 31-6 record, the first man to win 30 since Dizzy Dean in 1934. St. Louis’s Bob Gibson won 22 games while posting a miniscule 1.12 ERA, the fourth smallest in history and lowest since Dutch Leonard's 0.96 in 1914. Both men won the Cy Young Award and the MVP. Other pitchers followed their lead, with both the AL and NL posting ERAs under 3.00, the first time that had happened since 1918.
Just as rule changes had caused an offensive explosion in 1920, the plunging offensive numbers in 1968 were the culmination of rule changes in 1963. Commissioner Ford Frick, troubled by the record number of home runs in the early ‘60s, convinced owners to raise the pitcher’s mound and widen the strike zone from the top of the armpit to the bottom of the knee. This caused many more pitchers’ counts, which in turn caused batting averages to plummet. Indeed, Carl Yastrzemski was the only American Leaguer to hit over .300 that year. In fact, he was the only one to hit over .290. His .301 average was the lowest ever to win a batting title. The powers-that-be quickly realized that they had created a monster, so the next year they again lowered the mound and shrunk the strike zone back to its original size. Batting averages returned to their normal level, and Rod Carew won the AL batting title with a .332 average.
A: Two cogs of the Big Red Machine, George Foster and Joe Morgan, finished first and second in the RBI race. Foster, having his second productive season as Cincinnati’s leftfielder after three very poor ones, finished in the lead with 121. He finished second in slugging percentage and fourth in OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage).
Unfortunately for Foster, he could not even take credit for being the best player on his team. Though he came in second with 111 RBI, Morgan had a season for the ages. He finished fifth in home runs, fifth in batting average, second in runs, second in steals, and first in slugging, on-base percentage, and OPS. Those numbers won him his second straight MVP, while Foster was a distant second in the voting. The great years by Morgan and Foster, along with typically solid performances by Pete Rose, Ken Griffey Sr., Tony Perez, and Dave Concepcion, earned the Reds a 102-60 record and their second straight championship.
Q: Who was the last American Leaguer to have over 200 hits in his rookie season?
-- NBAwriter1
A: In 1997, BoSox rookie Nomar Garciaparra led the American League with 209 hits. In the National League, only Tony Gwynn had more. Included in Garciaparra’s hits were 44 doubles, 11 triples, and 30 home runs. He overwhelmingly beat out Jose Cruz Jr. for Rookie of the Year, following in the recent footsteps of fellow shortstop and divisional rival Derek Jeter.
Q: How many teams have won 100 games for three consecutive years?
-- Mike
A: Since 1900, there have only been four such dynasties. Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics won 313 games from 1929-31. With a lineup featuring Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Cochrane, and a rotation led by Lefty Grove (considered by some the best pitcher of all time), the A’s won the World Series in ’29 and ’30, but lost in seven games to the Cardinals in ’31.
The St. Louis Cardinals, managed by Billy Southworth, won 106, 105, and 105, in 1942, ’43, and ’44, respectively. Not coincidentally, these were Stan Musial’s first three seasons in the majors. His team won it all two of the three years, but surprisingly the year they lost was Stan the Man’s MVP year in 1943. Perhaps the bigger key to their success, however, was the disheveled state of most other teams. After the U.S. entered World War II in 1941, several star players volunteered for military service. While most clubs were scrambling to replace their main attractions, St. Louis had comparatively little turnover. The Cardinal run ended when the other players returned from overseas in 1945.
Along with the 1960 Yankees, the 1969 Orioles may be the most famous World Series losers of all time. Despite winning 109 games, the heavily favored O’s lost the Series to the upstart Miracle Mets. Still, even with the new League Championship Series to play, they managed to make it back the next two years, winning it in ’70. Over the ’69-’71 period, Baltimore excelled in all areas of the game. Frank Robinson and Boog Powell gave them power, Brooks Robinson and Mark Belanger anchored the defense, and Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally, and Jim Palmer headed one of the greatest pitching staffs in history. Their impressive three-year run was not an anomaly, as manager Earl Weaver never presided over a losing team in his 15 years as their manager.
At least the underachieving Orioles can boast of one championship during their span of regular-season dominance. The 1997-99 Atlanta Braves, the last team to win 100 games for three straight seasons, not only didn’t win a World Series, they only made it to one. After collapsing against the Yankees in 1996, Atlanta lost to Florida and San Diego before making it back to the Series in 1999 in a rematch with New York. They were promptly dispatched in four games. Still, Bobby Cox's crew must be given some credit for being the greatest regular-season team of the 1990s. Their lineup was first-rate at times, but the real strength of the team was always its starting rotation. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz, with contributions from Denny Neagle and Kevin Millwood, formed the most consistently excellent staff of the decade.
Partly due to injuries, Alou scored his fewest number of runs since 1960. He and Felix Millan had a combined on-base percentage of only .315, preventing Aaron from driving in 100 runs despite his 44 homers. In his first year in Atlanta, Cepeda replaced Joe Torre as Aaron’s protection in the lineup, and more than doubled Torre’s home run production. Francona played only 51 games for the Bravos before being shipped to Oakland. Boyer had a good season at the plate, but his real strength was his prowess manning the hot corner. Tillman failed miserably as Torre’s replacement at backstop, hitting just .195, but was mercifully replaced part-way through the season by Bob Didier. Sonny Jackson was a light hitter as well, slugging a mere .289 in 98 games. Ace Phil Niekro won 23 games in leading the team to 93 victories and the National League West title. But in the first year of the LCS, they were swept by the Miracle Mets.
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