19to21: June 5, 2007
John Shifffert on Tossing Bobby Cox and the SABR Baseball List & Record Book
John Shiffert
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19 to 21
No, that’s not how many times Bobby Cox has been ejected so far this year, it’s, Baseball... Then and Now
News Item: May 21, 1941 – Bobby Cox is born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When the doctor slapped him, he started crying about a ball-strike call... and hasn’t stopped yet.
Dubious Distinction Department: Braves manager Bobby Cox is approaching a major league record. But what a record. It’s for the most times being tossed out of a game. If you’ve been following baseball so far this year, you’ve probably read something to the effect that the Braves’ manager is closing in on the record for the most times being ejected as a manager. The only problem is, it isn’t true. The fact is that Cox already owns the record for most thumbings by a manager. In fact, he’d already annexed that mark before the 2007 season ever started. The record Cox is pursuing is actually the most ejections ever from a major league game. Here are the standings, as of the start of the 2007 season, for ejections as a manager…
Bobby Cox 123
John McGraw 117
Earl Weaver 97
Leo Durocher 95
Tony La Russa 73
Joe Torre 58
Lou Piniella 57
And here are the rankings for all ejections, be it as a player or a manager, again, as of the start of the 2007 season…
John McGraw 131
Leo Durocher 124
Bobby Cox 123
Earl Weaver 97
Tony La Russa 73
Lou Piniella 71
Joe Torre 66
Bill Dahlen 65
Only one of these names may be unfamiliar, though a couple may come as a surprise. The record-holder at the moment (Cox is now just one leave-taking behind him) is John McGraw, of whom his first coach, Arlie Latham, said, “he eats gunpowder for breakfast and washes it down with warm blood.” The Little Napoleon managed 4769 games, as opposed to Cox’ 3916. Leo Durocher, otherwise known as “the Lip,” certainly gave a lot of it to the umpires, including getting tossed 29 times as a player, as a notorious umpire-baiter and bench jockey who managed 3739 games. Although Durocher never played for McGraw, he did play for Frankie Frisch, who was the ultimate McGraw protégé. And Frisch was tossed four times a player and 82 times (in 2246 games) as a manager. Then there was Earl Weaver, another manager with little respect for the authority of the men in blue. All 97 of those ejections (in just 2541 games) couldn’t have possibly come at the hands of the late Ron Luciano, despite what he wrote in “The Umpire Strikes Back.” And, “Sweet” Lou Piniella (2993 games) is an example of one of those reverse nicknames, something anyone who saw his histrionic and historic meltdown on Saturday (against the Braves, for that matter) would agree with wholeheartedly.
Where/how does Cox fit in this with this group? Basically, he’s a little like Leo – he can’t keep his mouth shut. A renown chirper on the bench, Cox is the Birdie Tebbets of his generation. His problem is, he doesn’t know when to shut up, especially on ball and strike calls. It’s quite clear… arguing ball and strike calls is most likely the fastest way to get ejected from a major league game. Maybe even quicker than saying the Magic Word. (If you read “Ball Four” you know what the Magic Word is.) Although his most recent ejection on May 26 happened to be for arguing a fair/foul call (another good way to get tossed… Cox was gone almost before he got out of the dugout), Cox is a notorious crybaby on balls and strikes, as was the case with his 129th ejection on May 25, when he was run for arguing same on a call that went to Jamie Moyer on one of his wiffle ball pitches to Edgar Renteria. What makes Cox’ routine really hard to swallow is that, for most of his current run as manager of the Braves, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux got more borderline (or sometimes not even borderline) pitches called strikes than any other duo in baseball. Cox has run up his unenviable record despite the fact that his two aces for much of his career made a living outside the strike zone.
So much for Bobby Cox. But… Tony La Russa? Does that J.D. after his name stand for Juris Doctorate, or Juvenile Delinquent? (He has had 4340 games total to get tossed from.) Paul Richards, the innovator who invented the oversize catcher’s mitt for knuckleballers? He was run 80 times in only 12 seasons (1837 games) as a manager? And who the heck was Bill Dahlen, and why were the umpires saying all those terrible things about him? As Casey Stengel (he was tossed 52 times, by the way) would have said, you could look it up. Dahlen was known as “Bad Bill” when he played from 1891 to 1911. An otherwise fine player (a shortstop with a 110 OPS+ and 2457 hits), Dahlen must have been really bad. He only managed for four seasons (the Dodgers from 1910-1913) and yet he was run out of 65 games, apparently making him the record-holder for ejections as a player. John Evers, also known as “The Crab,” who only managed three years and was tossed 52 times, would seem to be the only one close to Dahlen in player ejections.
By this time you may be wondering… where do you find this sort of esoterica? That’s an easy one to answer, it’s in the best baseball reference book of 2007, “The SABR Baseball List & Record Book.” Just published by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), the Baseball List & Record Book is subtitled, “Baseball’s Most Fascinating Records and Unusual Statistics*” with the asterisk denoting “not available online or in any other book.” And there’s the key to this remarkable work. There must be a thousand great baseball information sites on the web… Baseball Reference, Retrosheet, Baseball Library, Baseball Almanac, etc., etc., etc. But, they don’t have everything and there still is a need in each of us to hold the facts in our hands. Ever see a review of a website on anything but another website? Indeed, if you google “most ejections” you’ll get a bunch of stories about Cox’ latest misadventures, and a few references to McGraw (Baseball Almanac does have most ejections for a career and season in each league), but nothing like the complete list in the SABR Record Book. And that’s just one list.
Edited by one of the big names in baseball research, Lyle Spatz, chair of SABR’s Baseball Records Committee, “The SABR Baseball List & Record Book” is almost 400 pages and 740 lists of everything you possibly might or might not ask about records. Conveniently divided into six sections (Batting, Pitching, Fielding, Base Running, Rookie and Miscellaneous Records) with an invaluable List Index, the SABR Record Book has enough to keep anyone busy from now until Christmas.
Filled with true trivia, the Miscellaneous section is the most interesting. Oldest Players to Appear in a Major League Game (headed by Satchel Paige). Umpires who Have Ejected the Most Players and Managers (the flip side to the ejectees list). Most Years Together for Two Teammates (Trammell and Whitaker). Most Years Together for Nine Teammates (Really… the 1964 to 1973 Tigers had nine guys play together over the course 10 seasons… think you can name them all?) Last Active Player for Various Defunct Leagues. Opening Day Records for Current Franchises. Batting and Pitching Firsts for Major League Parks. Most Lopsided Wins (Chicago 35, Cleveland 4; July 24, 1882). Most Losing Games Played In (Rusty Staub has this one.) Most Game-Ending Outs from 1957-2006. (Guess…)
The more classic lists elsewhere in the book have a lot of information you will find elsewhere… for instance, the Batting Records section (by far the largest in the book) includes the most career home runs by a third baseman, as well as for every other position. Everyone knows that Mike Schmidt holds that one. But, how many know who the top 10 in this category are? Or how high the much-maligned Vinny Castilla ranks? That’s the beauty, and the true importance of, the SABR Record Book, it’s a book of lists.
Mike Schmidt 509
Eddie Mathews 486
Graig Nettles 368
Matt Williams 359
Ron Santo 337
Gary Gaetti 332
Ron Cey 312
Vinny Castilla 306
Larry Jones 281
Robin Ventura 278
Brooks Robinson 265
Ken Boyer 260
Scott Rolen 252
Tim Wallach 249
Dean Palmer 243
Troy Glaus 238
Sal Bando 235
Ken Caminiti 233
Doug DeCinces 232
Eric Chavez 206
Typically going at least 20-deep, each list provides a lot to chew on. Just this one list alone illustrates how Schmidt and Mathews lap the field of third basemen in the power category, while saying something notable about Graig Nettles and the Hall-scorned Ron Santo. And then there are those who aren’t on the list. Like George Brett… the huge gulf between Brett and Schmidt in home runs is Exhibit “A” in the Greatest Third Baseman Ever debate.
The Pitching Records will open some eyes as well. Take the list for the Lowest Career Batting Average by Opponents (in a minimum of 1500 innings). You’d think this would be a list dominated by pitchers from the Deadball Era, when scoring was at its historical low. Nope. The first seven names on the list are from the Expansion Era, with three of those having pitched most of their significant innings in the latter-day Deadball Era of the 60’s…
Nolan Ryan .204
Sandy Koufax .205
Pedro Martinez .209
Sid Fernandez .209
Andy Messersmith .212
J.R. Richard .212
Sam McDowell .215
Then comes Hoyt Wilhelm (.216), who spanned the 50s, 60s and 70s, followed by Randy Johnson (.217), before you get to Ed Walsh (.218). And even then Mario Soto and Bullet Bob Turley sneak in next before you start getting a lot of Deadball Era pitchers – Addie Joss, Orval Overall, Jess Tesreau (his more famous teammate, Christy Mathewson, doesn’t even make the top 52), Ed Reulbach and the like.
Although fielding records are typically the dullest part of the statistical record, you still might like to know that Rickey Henderson, not usually thought of as a top defender, is third all-time in putouts by an outfielder, trailing only Mays and Speaker. Along these same lines, Richie Ashburn, who had to wait until just a couple of years before his death before getting into the Hall of Fame, dominates, just dominates, the seasonal putout list for outfielders, holding six of the top 10 marks.
Speaking of Henderson and domination, his legacy on the basepaths is all here in black and white. His 1406 career stolen bases are almost exactly 50 percent more than Lou Brock’s 938 runner-up mark, a level of dominance that would have required Hank Aaron to have hit 1070 home runs. However, you can find Henderson’s records anywhere. Where else can you find a list of every single pitcher ever to steal home since 1900? Page 333 of the “The SABR Baseball List & Record Book,” including the fact that Pascual Perez’ only career steal was a theft of home on Sept. 7, 1984. As the aforementioned Mr. Ashburn used to say to his play-by-play partner, Harry Kalas, “hard to believe, Harry.” Not if you know the Society for American Baseball Research. SABR has done it again.
-- John Shiffert
