Knuckle Curve » robin_yount

Platoons of the ’80s

Geoff Young — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 18:04:24 +0000

How appropriate that so many great baseball platoons were in effect during the decade that brought us the movie Platoon. Steve Treder at Hardball Times (full disclosure: I contribute to THT) has published the latest in his look back at “extraordinarily productive left-right platoon partnerships.”

A couple things stand out to me. First, it’s amazing how much mileage Earl Weaver got out of John Lowenstein and Gary Roenicke in left field. Both were good players with flaws. The genius of Weaver, of course, is that he found a way to maximize their utility while minimizing their flaws. (As an aside, I’m doing some research on the ‘73 draft — Roenicke was the third shortstop taken that year, behind Robin Yount and Johnnie LeMaster.)

Second, I remember as a kid watching Lee Lacy play for the Dodgers. He didn’t get into the game all that often, but when he did, he was pretty effective. As a part-timer, he posted some terrific numbers in 1975 and 1978 before moving on to Pittsburgh.

After several more productive seasons with the Pirates, Lacy got his first shot at a (mostly) everyday gig in 1984, hitting .321/.362/.464 in the process. How many guys do you suppose have (a) qualified for a league batting title for the first time at age 36 and (b) finished second in the league that year?

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Not Your Father’s Shortstops

Geoff Young — Tue, 22 May 2007 17:37:12 +0000

Have you noticed the National League shortstops this season? These are not the players I remember watching as a kid — Bill Russell, Davy Concepcion, Rafael Ramirez, Rafael Santana, Larry Bowa, Tim Foli, et al. Sure, Adam Everett is around, but most of the other guys manning the position now wield a potent bat.

Cal Ripken created a big stir when he first came into the big leagues. Redefined the position, they said. Alan Trammell. Robin Yount. And later, of course, the big three of Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and Nomar Garciaparra.

Those guys all called the American League home. What did the NL have? Barry Larkin (who hopefully will have better luck than Trammell did when it comes time for the Hall of Fame folks to hand out keys to the executive washroom), and that’s about it.

Young NL Shortstops
Player	Age	AB	BA	OBP	SLG
Stats courtesy of ESPN, through May 21, 2007.
J.J. Hardy	24	186	.312	.355	.602
Hanley Ramirez	23	170	.335	.411	.541
Jose Reyes	24	182	.324	.394	.505
Troy Tulowitzki	22	155	.258	.348	.361
Stephen Drew	24	158	.234	.302	.310

Now, though, we’ve got J.J. Hardy, Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, Edgar Renteria, and Jimmy Rollins tearing up the league. Renteria and Rollins have been around a while, but those other three might have untapped upside, which is a scary thought.

Troy Tulowitzki and Stephen Drew aren’t there yet, but they will be. Remember that Reyes hit .273/.300/.386 in his first full season.

Hardy leads the league in home runs. He now has 28 for his career, or three more than Foli knocked over 16 seasons. Yeah, I think the game has changed a little in 30 years…

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Bonds Knocks #735

Geoff Young — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 02:36:52 +0000

Barry Bonds hit his 735th homer off the Padres Chris Young in the first inning Wednesday night. Someone suggested (I forget who) that we use Bonds’ pursuit of history as a reason to celebrate Hank Aaron. I think that’s a great idea, so here we go.

Aaron pounded his 735th home run off the late Pat Dobson on April 26, 1975, at Yankee Stadium. With the Brewers trailing, 8-0, Aaron hammered a solo shot in the seventh inning. He also singled and grounded into a double play in the game. Hall of Famer Robin Yount, then just 19 years old, was Milwaukee’s starting shortstop. The right fielder for the Yankees? Bobby Bonds.

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