SB Nation - David Wells

ALCS Umpires Strike Zone Analysis, Game Calling Abilities

Rev Halofan — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:48:42 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

Crew Chief Tim McClelland feels sorry for Sweet Lou. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

The Umpiring crew for the Angels-Yankees series has been named. I spent some time this afternoon examining the ALCS umpires on some sports sites that cater to clients who bet on the games, as these sites can be found to be delving deep into umpiring statistics beyond what basebball nerds have compiled. I added in a 2007 report from Baseball Prospectus on the accuracy of some of these umpires umps.

Crew Chief Tim McClelland: 2007 BP Ump Rating: 93% Strikezone accuracy (2nd best), strike zone is most generous in middle innings, no home team bias. A steady pace. Career Highlights: Made the infamous George Brett Pine Tar call that was reversed (at the time it was a partisan call for the Yankees at home), called David Wells perfect game at Yankee Stadium (ugh), busted Sammy Sosa for a corked bat in 2003 and called Matt Holliday safe at the plate in the 2007 NL West 1-Game playoff that sent the Padres home for the Winter.

Fieldin Culbreth: Big time homer. Squeezes at the beginning of the game and at the end as well. Speeds things up with a fat zone in the middle innings. Not active enough in 2007 for the BP K-Zone survey, he nonetheless has all the traits of a guy who bows to the pressure of the crowd and assists the momentum of a dominant pitcher. Career Highlight: Called Game 3 of last year's World Series, a walk-off win for the home Phillies.

Laz Diaz: Unaffected by the home crowd, he races through the game with a fat strike zone for both sides, but makes the relievers hit a smaller mark, especially in high drama situations. Career Highlights: A former minor leaguer he is one of the replacement ump crop of 1999. He has umpired 3 ALDS series.

Jerry Layne: Generous zone to starters, squeezes relievers, mild home team bias within margin of error. He is more prone to favor a home team in a split-second, high-leverage decision (historically). Career HIghlight: Was the home plate umpire for Fernando Valenzuela's 1990 no-hitter.

Bill Miller: A consistent strike zone maintained throughout the game, in 2007 BP gave him a 90% accuracy rating for his strike zone, but when he calls one wrong for your team, he will call it wrong for the other team, thus making it "right"... right? Career Highlights: A few ALDS and an All Star Game.

Dale Scott: 2007 BP Ump Rating: 91% Strikezone accuracy, strike zone tightens up to the size of a silver dollar in the late innings. This is the guy you want behind the plate calling a complete game or a blowout. Career Highlights: He is known as the Time Warp Umpire, because after a strike three call he takes a jump to the left and gestures as he takes a step to the right.

Thursday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:35:57 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: the last time we'll ever see Bill Hall looking clueless after a strikeout in a Brewer uniform.

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Some things to read while abbreviating your quotes.

It's another rough week to be a Brewer fan, but at least Doug Melvin found a way to unload Bill Hall. Reactions from around the web:

Tom H. reports the Brewers are saving at least $1.3 million in salary for next season by trading Hall. That's the portion of his salary that will be paid by the Mariners.
Brewer Paradise Lost says Melvin is a genius for finding a team willing to take on any of Hall's salary.
Gord Ash told Adam McCalvy that one other team was interested in Hall, but the rumors about Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo were incorrect. Both potential trades were for minor leaguers.
Over at The Hardball Times, Jeff takes a look at the decision to give Hall a long term deal following the 2006 season, and still concludes it was the right move to make at the time.
The Bucky Channel is surprised Jack Z. had any interest in Hall.
Meanwhile, on the Mariners' side, Lookout Landing is playing the "He could be a great player if he puts it all together" card we've all become so familiar with over the last few years.
Pro Ball NW is calling Hall a "free lottery ticket" and expects him to platoon with Jack Hannahan at third.

Meanwhile, the Brewers are off today while they travel to Washington to open a four game series there. If you're a Brewer fan in the DC area, the Nationals have quite the deal for you: For one dollar, fans can get into the ballpark at 2 pm tomorrow, see the press conference introducing Stephen Strasburg and stay to see the Nats take on Manny Parra and the Brewers. Nats320 has more about the promotion.

The trip to Washington will be a return home for Felipe Lopez, who had a very forgettable three-year run as a National between 2006 and 2008 before being released. As part of tomorrow's game preview, Adam McCalvy has a look at Lopez's time as a Brewer and his rebound from some defensive lapses a couple of weeks ago.

Unfortunately for the Nats, they won't get to face Carlos Villanueva this weekend, at least as a starter. With today's off day, the Brewers had the opportunity to skip a starter this weekend, and Carlos Villanueva is the one getting the hook, with Mike Burns getting the start Saturday. Both Jeff Suppan and Dave Bush are expected back in the rotation by the next turn.

With Yovani Gallardo stuck on 11 wins, it looks like the Brewers will be without a 20 game winner again this season. As Chris Jaffe notes at The Hardball Times, 23 teams have had a 20 game winner since Teddy Higuera did it for the Brewers in 1986. Only Baltimore, Philadelphia, San Diego, Montreal/Washington, Colorado and Tampa Bay have longer active droughts.

In the minors:

Mike Jones' AAA debut didn't go so well last night, as he allowed six runs on ten hits and struck out no one in four innings and the Sounds lost 11-1. Hopefully it was just nerves and he'll settle down in his next start.
The Brewers spent $1.2 million signing Kentrail Davis, well over slot value for his pick, but it could have been much worse: The Biz of Baseball noted that Davis' deal was about 42% over slot, the lowest percentage among Scott Boras clients who signed on deadline day.
Brewerfan.net has a new Power 50 with Alcides Escobar moving into the #1 spot and most of the 2009 draft picks being slotted in. (FanShot)
The Tuscaloosa News has a look at the negotiation process with 15th round pick Del Howell, who at one point said he was "90% sure" he was returning to Alabama next season.
The Brevard County Manatees continue to have a successful season: They have the fourth best winning percentage in all of minor league baseball, according to Baseball America.
Timber Rattlers reliever Nick Tyson is the prospect of the week over at Between the Green Pillars.

On power rankings and postseason odds:

Beyond the Box Score moved the Brewers up one spot from 24 to 23 in their rankings.
MLB FanHouse dropped the Brewers one spot to 20th.
CoolStandings gives the Brewers a 1.2% chance of making the playoffs.
MLB Playoff Odds gives them .6%.

Maybe I should just forget all of this and write a blog about Anthony Witrado. Miller Park Drunk's post from a couple of weeks ago calling for his firing was the seventh most popular post in site history. That's saying a lot, because he's consistently got some pretty good stuff over there.

Speaking of people we don't like much around here, Jason Kendall received one fifth place vote in Dugout Central's poll asking for former stars who are playing their way out of the big leagues.

Around baseball:

Dodgers: Signed Vicente Padilla.
Indians: Placed Trevor Crowe on the DL with an oblique strain.
Rangers: Placed Eddie Guardado on the DL with knee inflammation.
Reds: Placed Johnny Cueto (shoulder inflammation) and Willy Taveras (strained quad) on the DL.

At FanGraphs, R.J. Anderson looks at the Dodgers' decision to sign Vicente Padilla and wonders if they made the wrong decision when they traded Claudio Vargas to the Brewers. Vargas has turned out to be a useful arm in the bullpen, but wouldn't have been stretched out enough to fill a vacancy in the rotation for the Dodgers.

Sometimes you just have to take a step back and be happy for what you have. The 2009 Brewers may be a disappointment, but the team continues to invest in the future, signing all of this year's high draft picks. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, have fallen out of contention, dealt Alex Rios and Scott Rolen to free up money, and still let three of their top four draft picks walk away. Things are going to get worse before they get better in Toronto. Maybe much worse.

The Royals are 47-73, in last place in the AL Central and in the conversation for baseball's worst record. Yet somehow, they've almost made it through the entire season without a single player making their major league debut. One would think that will change in September, but the fact that it hasn't changed yet is pretty surprising.

Earlier this week Jason Marquis was brought up as a potential free agent signing for the Brewers this offseason. If the Brewers plan to pursue him, they'll also need to purchase a copy of Connect Four, because that's apparently how he prepares for starts.

On this day in 1992, the Brewers tagged David Wells for 13 earned runs on eleven hits and five walks in 4.1 innings en route to a 16-3 victory over the Blue Jays. Six Brewers had multiple hits, but John Jaha had the only home run.

Happy birthday today to Nick Green, who turns 25, and Tom Brunansky, who hit .187/.263/.317 as a Brewer in 1993 and 1994 and turns 49.

Oh, and I consider myself somewhat of a mac and cheese expert, but I don't get how this is even possible.

Drink up.

Baseball Stadiums And You

Eric Stephen — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:06:54 -0000

Watching the Dodgers at another stadium is fun, especially when they win.

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Yesterday, Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts took his first trip to AT&T Park in San Francisco, and what followed from that in the comments was a nice discussion of various ballparks people have attended. It made me do some digging and reminiscing about the stadiums I have been to. What better way is there to spend the off day today than to look back at all the stadiums you have been to? Feel free to give us your ballpark memories in the comments.

Outside of Dodger Stadium, here is my list:

Angels Stadium

I have been here on numerous occasions, but the few that stick out for me are these:

July 18, 1991: This game was one of the reasons I almost never leave early. I was 15, attending the game with both of my older brothers, and thus not exactly in full control of the transportation opportunities. Once Albert Belle broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the ninth off Bryan Harvey, my brothers started to get up and leave. Stunned, and without a ride home if I stayed, I had to leave too. By the time we got to the car, it was 4-1 Indians, which had justified the decision by my brothers...until, that is, the Angels stormed back for four runs off four Indians pitchers (including former and future Old Friends Shawn Hillegas, Jesse Orosco, and Jeff Shaw) to win, 5-4.

August 8, 2000: Sitting one deck up behind home plate, I got to see the tremendous movement on the pitches from Pedro Martinez at his peak, which was a treat. The Angels somehow scratched together two runs to beat Pedro that night.

October 16, 2005: The White Sox won the pennant by taking Game 5 of the ALCS, as Jose Contreras pitched the fourth straight complete game of the series for Chicago. The final out of the series was an unassisted groundout to Old Friend Paul Konerko. The highlight of the game for me was seeing a family friend -- a huge Notre Dame fan -- at the stadium and showing him my USC shirt one day after the Leinart Sneak / Bush Push game.

Petco Park & Qualcomm Stadium

I lived in San Diego for the better part of 14 years, and saw numerous games here. The Dodgers never seem to do well with me in attendance in San Diego, as they are 7-19 lifetime (they did win on July 3 this year though, so I'm on a hot streak). Two games that stood out:

June 11, 1993: The very first game I went to in San Diego. Kevin Gross pitched eight scoreless innings, but the Dodgers -- including rookie Pedro Martinez -- blew a 4-0 lead in the ninth, and the Padres won 5-4.

September 30, 1995: This was the first time I saw the Dodgers clinch anything, as they won 7-2 behind Hideo Nomo to clinch the NL West over the Rockies (who would win the Wild Card). There were quite a few Dodger fans at the park that night.

Coors Field

July 27, 2000: I have only been to one game in Denver, and it was during a family reunion in Colorado. My cousins and I got picked up at the airport and went straight to the stadium. This game was nearly four hours long, yet only nine innings. The Dodgers won 16-11, behind the greatest game of Alex Cora's life. Cora had two home runs, and a double that hit high off the wall.

Chase Field (Bank One Ballpark)

I have been to three games here, only one of which was against the Dodgers.

July 24, 1999: I made the unwise decision to drive to Phoenix from San Diego and back in one day, and was rewarded with Brian Anderson outdueling Darren Dreifort. The D-Backs rode home runs by Steve Finley and Bernard Gilkey to a 3-0 win.

August 22, 2003: The only no-hitter I ever saw, only it wasn't a no-hitter. Carlos Zambrano of the Cubs allowed no hits into the eighth inning, then with two outs future Old Friend Shea Hillenbrand was awarded an infield single even though it was painfully clear from my nosebleed seats that he was out at first base. Zambrano got the next three batters out, so he has a no-hitter in my mind.

AT&T Park

September 30, 2006: I took a detour on my way home from a business conference to see my first two games in San Francisco. The first game was the next-to-last day of the season, and Greg Maddux beat the Giants to clinch a playoff spot for the Dodgers (they would end up as the Wild Card, although at this point that was undetermined). Thanks to Stub Hub, I was sitting in the same row as many of the Dodger family section, including Mia Hamm, Russell Martin's dad, and Carolyn Hughes (who is stunning in person, by the way).

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

August 23, 1996: I have been to a total of four games at Camden Yards, and truthfully none of them really stand out as memorable games, but the park is awesome. This game was a 2-0 Angel win, behind home runs from Chili Davis and Jim Edmonds, but I mostly picked this game because I forgot David Wells was once an Oriole.

Network Associates Coliseum

May 12, 2000: This is a late-inning Matt Stairs home run of which I actually have fond memories, and the only reason was that there are few things better than calling the guy who has a closer who just blew a save in your fantasy league -- in this case Kaz Sasaki of the Mariners -- and letting the crowd noise do the talking.

Safeco Field

October 1, 2004: This game was memorable because Ichiro Suzuki broke the single-season record for hits in a season with his 258th hit, in the first inning. Ichiro, who broke George Sisler's xx-year old record, added two more hits in this Friday night game, and went on to collect two more over the season's final weekend to settle the record at 262 hits.

Wrigley Field

June 4, 2003: My only trip to Wrigley was for a night game, but it was still a great experience. There are really only a few lights there, so it has a surreal effect of having the stands dark and basically only the field lit up. Its almost like watching an outdoor play. This game was the day after Sammy Sosa got ejected for having a corked bat, and the Cubs' faithful, including Jesse Jackson, gave Sosa a rousing ovation before his first at-bat. Five future Old Friends started this game: Julio Lugo, Marlon Anderson, and Toby Hall for Tampa Bay; Hee Seop Choi and Paul Bako for Chicago.

That's my list. A total of 10 stadiums (including Dodger Stadium, and counting both San Diego parks as one). What's yours?

To Win This Year Dodgers Need an Ace

Matt Buggenhagen — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:27:20 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP

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The Dodgers currently have the best record in major league baseball and by all indications are very close to running away with the NL West, so given that why is their so much skepticism in LA?

First and foremost the Dodgers lack one thing that differentiates all great championship teams and that's an impact number one starter.

Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley are both find young arms that certainly have the ability to blossom into number one starters some day, but right now they're not at that level.

Pitching in the post season is a different animal than pitching in the regular season and to this point neither Kershaw nor Billingsley has shown the ability to dominate in October.

If you think you can win a championship with Chad Billingsley as your number one (today), you might be in for a rude awakening. We don't have to look back any farther than last years National League Championship series. Here is Billingsley's line for each game he pitched.

Game 2:

Los Angeles Dodgers
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
C Billingsley (L, 0-1)	2.1	8	8	7	3	5	0	59-36	27.00
C Park	0.1	1	0	0	0	1	0	9-6	0.00
J Beimel	0.0	0	0	0	2	0	0	12-4	0.00
J McDonald	3.1	2	0	0	1	5	0	60-36	0.00
C Kershaw	1.2	0	0	0	1	1	0	18-11	0.00
C Wade	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3-3	0.00
Totals	8.0	11	8	7	7	12	0	161-96
PITCHING

Game 5:

Los Angeles Dodgers
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
C Billingsley (L, 0-2)	2.2	4	3	3	4	4	1	66-36	18.00
C Park	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2-2	0.00
G Maddux	2.0	2	2	0	1	3	0	38-24	0.00
J McDonald	2.0	1	0	0	1	2	0	29-18	0.00
J Beimel	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3-2	0.00
C Wade	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	8-6	4.91
H Kuo	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	13-8	3.00
Totals	9.0	8	5	3	6	10	1	159-96

As you can imagine looking at these lines the Dodgers went on to lose both games and eventually lost the series.

Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Times wrote an interesting article today where he essentially touched upon this concept.

The Dodgers have been properly built for the regular season but remain an unfinished product for the postseason, their bundles of hitting and energy and patience not enough to overcome the one thing that can fashion it all into a ring.

Yeah, an ace.

There is power here, there is speed here, there is brashness and belief and as much bullpen intensity as bullpen ivy.

But there is no ace here. There is no big-nerve, cold-staring starting pitcher here.

There is nobody who will take the mound on a chilly fall night and refuse to leave until morning. There is nobody who will grab the ball in October and refuse to give it up until November.

There is no Cole Hamels, no Josh Beckett, no David Wells.

Furthermore, Plashke goes on to introduce this interesting nugget.

Seven of the last 11 world champions began the World Series with a winning performance of at least seven innings from their aces.

Chad Billingsley can be guaranteed to do that? After melting down in the last championship series? After averaging 6 1/3 innings per start in the more relaxed regular season?

During the last nine seasons, no world champion has had a starting pitching staff that was ranked lower than ninth in the league in innings pitched.

The Dodgers' starters currently rank 14th.

Dodgers' manger Joe Torre is a stickler for veteran starting pitchers and after last years NLCS performance you better believe he's pushing Ned Colletti to go get him one.

"I don't want to sit here and say, 'Yeah, we're nine games in first place. We have all the answers and don't need anything,' because I know better. I know better, said Torre."

Even Dodgers superstar Manny Ramirez admits the reason the Dodgers lost to the Phillies last year was because of starting pitching.

"Like last year we played great, but I think Philadelphia got great starters and that's why they won everything."

Now Torre is no stranger to winning championships and he better than anyone on that Dodger team knows what it takes. Torre knows he doesn't want to see Billingsley go head to head with Hamels in October and better yet he doesn't want to see Hamels and Halladay go toe to toe with his young starters.

The Dodgers will have an interesting decision to make in the next four days. They've got a very promising young future in Billingsley and Kershaw, but they also face the realistic probability that those two won't be enough to win a championship this year. They've got a 69-year-old manager whose not concerned with winning in 2012 or 2013 and they've got a GM who has to make a decision.

Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee are both out there for the taking and nobody questions whether the Dodgers have enough talent to get them. We'll just have to wait and see if the Dodgers believe they have enough to win this year or if they're willing to make a dent in the future to upgrade the present.

Poll

Can the Dodgers win a championship with Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw as their top starters?

Yes

110 votes

No

148 votes

258 votes | Poll has closed

Graph of the Day: David Wells vs. Mariano Rivera

Jack Moore — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:50:40 -0000

I read this story on MLB Trade Rumors earlier today, and was very intrigued. Here's a snippet -

Former Yankees GM Gene Michael told John Harper of the New York Daily News that he considered dealing Mariano Rivera to the Tigers for David Wells back in 1995. Rivera was still considered a starter then, and he was one of the players the Tigers had interest in. Michael, now a scout, says he held onto Rivera because of his control and mid-nineties fastball.

Of course, this trade initially seems completely ridiculous. Rivera is the best closer of all time, and while David Wells had some good seasons, he's certainly not on the level of Rivera, right? Well, here's the career path for these two pitchers.

As you can seee, the best 10-12 seasons for these two are very, very similar. Although Wells never put up the huge numbers of most hall-of-fame starters, he was consistently well above average. Rivera simply could not put up anything above 5.5 wins due to not throwing enough innings. To truly see how even this trade could have been, let's look at their career year-by-year.

The similarity between the two from 1995 to 2005 is striking. Hopefully this gives some idea of the worth of starting pitchers compared to relievers.

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WAR data from Rally's WAR database at www.baseballprojection.com

Book Review: The Yankee Years – Joe Torre and Tom Verducci

Jeff Zimmerman (TucsonRoyal) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:00:12 -0000

Note: From now on whenever I finish a book on baseball, I plan on sharing what I thought of it with all of you. Hope you find them useful in determining you own reading selection.

I have always been interested in measuring how managers affect ballgames, so when I saw Joe Torre wrote a book, I went and put it on hold at the library because I am cheap. There were 76 people who had reserved the book before me – Who says reading and baseball are dead? While putting it on hold, I saw that it was co-authored by Tom Verducci, which peak my interest even more. Besides being a writer for Sports Illustrated, Tom is also famous for having a stat named after him, the Verducci Effect.

I began reading the book thinking it would be stories of Joe's when he was with the Yankees. Boy was I wrong. I thought for a while I had picked up a book about David Cone or Theo Epstein, since there were whole blocks of pages of quotes from them, with nothing from Joe. Torre's name as an author was pretty much only a ploy to sell more books and nothing about the majority of the book's content. The book should have been named Joe Torre's Yankee Years by Tom Verducci.

With a mindset that the book isn't 100% Torre, or even 10% Torre, it was enjoyable, especially for those who are sabermetrically inclined. While most people know of the rise and fall of the Yankees while Torre was there, here are some the stories I didn't know of before reading the book:

Allen Watson was having having a bagel fight with other teammates when he hit George Steinbrenner by mistake. George asked who hit him and Allen fessed up. George said he figure it was Allen because it didn't hurt.
Roger Clemens' pregame ritual of turning into a lobster in the whirlpool, having hot liniment rub on his testicles and snorting like a bull.
When Pedro Martinez threw Don Zimmer to the ground Clemens thought it was David Wells rolling around on the ground.
Kevin Brown once curled up in the corner of a storage area, refusing to go out and pitch anymore after pitching a bad first inning.
Ron Guidry and Catfish Hunter drinking beers when they pitched day games.

The book also has several references to some sabermetric ideas, especially Chapter 6 which is entirely devoted to how numbers were used to shape the Yankees and their competitors, mainly Boston. Here are some more examples of how numbers are used throughout the book.

The Pythagorean Theorem was used several times showing the how the Yankees record was better than expected considering the number of runs they scored and allowed over a season.
Run Expectancy is used when describing the effect of Mariano Rivera's error in the 9^th inning of the 7th game of the 2002 World Series.
Biometrics, a system of tracking a pitcher's complete motion, is said to be the next area that teams can can an advantage in for determining injury potential for pitchers.
The use of defensive numbers by the Red Sox determined the Nomar Garciapara was the worst defensive shortstop ever from the players in their database.
Discussion on not allowing pitchers to exceed certain pitch counts, such as done with Joba Camberlain. I am sure Verducci wasn't going to let the chance go by to show how to protect young pitchers.
The Indians' proprietary software called Diamond View which tracks every player in the majors with injury news and stats.
Effects of aging and injuries on a team over a season.
Need for a starting pitcher to be able to throw strikes and the effect on winning games.

As a whole, I enjoyed the book mainly because it was very refreshing to read a book that doesn't just talk about RBI's and Wins. If you want to read about the Yankees, without all the stats being dumbed down, you should enjoy The Yankee Years.

Career WAR Trifecta Quiz

Sky Kalkman — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 10:00:18 -0000

I'm going to present ten sets of three well-known players who were major leaguers in the retrosheet era. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to identify which player in each set accumulated the most career WAR (through 2008), as calculated by Sean Smith. The leader will have at least 5 WAR more than the other two players, to make the difference at least somewhat significant. (In fact, the worst player in each group will have at least 5 WAR less than either of the better two players, too, so you can shoot for extra credit by identifying the trailer, too.)

Now, career WAR is what is it, which is not the best measure of "best player". Holding on for five years at 2 WAR will add significant career value, but it doesn't impress me as much as two seasons of 5 WAR. That aside, here are the ten sets of players. Who has the most career WAR?

Rickey Henderson, Mike Schmidt, Mickey Mantle
Nolan Ryan, Phil Niekro, Bert Blyleven
Robin Yount, Pete Rose, Carl Yastrzemski
Tom Seaver, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux
Curt Schilling, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones
Albert Pujols, Frank Thomas, Ryne Sandberg
Andruw Jones, Jim Edmonds, Ken Griffey Jr.
Chuck Finley, Luis Gonzalez, Jim Rice
Jim Kaat, Mariano Rivera, Fred McGriff
Andy Pettitte, David Cone, David Wells

Answers after the jump.

Here are the answers, with the players listed in descending order according to career WAR totals.

Rickey Henderson, Mike Schmidt, Mickey Mantle
Phil Niekro, Bert Blyleven, Nolan Ryan
Carl Yastrzeski, Pete Rose, Robin Yount
Tom Seaver, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson
Chipper Jones, Curt Schilling, John Smoltz
Frank Thomas, Albert Pujols, Ryne Sandberg
Chuck Finley, Luis Gonzalez, Jim Rice
Ken Griffey Jr., Jim Edmonds, Andruw Jones
Fred McGriff, Mariano Rivera, Jim Kaat
David Cone, David Wells, Andy Pettitte

How'd you do?

Graph of the Day - 2003 Yankee Pitching Staff

Jeff Zimmerman (TucsonRoyal) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:14:08 -0000

In 2003 the Yankees starting rotation was loaded and garnered this cover for the 2003 SI baseball preview issue.

Here is the 2003 WAR values for the staff on the cover, plus David Wells:

Name	WAR
Mike Mussina	6.3
David Wells	4.6
Roger Clemens	4.1
Andy Pettitte	3.4
Jose Contreras	1.9
Jeff Weaver	-0.3

Even though David was left off the cover, he was the second best pitcher for the Yankees that year. Here is the lifetime WAR values for the 6 starters along with a reference line for average and replacement level Hall of Famers.

The career trajectories indicate two Hall of Famers, two borderline Hall of Famers and two okay major leaguers.

A Long Day's Journey Into... Victory! Cubs Bats Awaken In 14th For 6-3 Win Over Reds

Al — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:36:42 -0000

More photos » by Al Behrman - AP

"I hit a game-winning homer today!"

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This recap is a bit delayed because... well, I needed to get up and get something to eat after sitting in one place watching five hours and thirteen minutes of Cubs baseball (thanks to BCB reader lswaidz for posting the extra-inning fanshot, incidentally).

There were 473 pitches thrown in the Cubs' 6-3, 14-inning win over the Reds this afternoon -- 230 by the Cubs, 243 by the Reds, by a total of sixteen pitchers. It got so ridiculous that three starting pitchers were used as pinch-hitters, including the Reds' Matt Maloney, who had just made his major league debut last night. He went 1-for-2, and can't you just see Dusty Baker looking at his stat sheet and saying, "Hey! I got a guy hitting .500! I gotta send him up there to hit!"

It wouldn't have lasted that long if Carlos Marmol had any semblance of command today; he walked both of the hitters he faced and threw only three strikes in his 11 pitches. I'm worried about him, especially since he seems to usually throw better with more work. Aaron Heilman came in, relieved Marmol and got out of the inning with only one run scoring -- it could have been far worse, because after a run had scored Heilman loaded the bases with an intentional walk, but got out of the inning.

And after that the Cubs bullpen was absolutely outstanding. From the ninth through the 14th inning, six innings worth of work, they allowed four hits and three walks (one intentional), struck out six, and got out of jams admittedly of their own creation. Props especially to Jose Ascanio, who appears to have arrived as a major league reliever. He had good movement and velocity and mound presence today, especially after having not pitched since last Sunday. The same can be said for David Patton, whose last appearance was also one week ago. He threw 13 strikes in 20 pitches in two good innings and registered his second major league win when Alfonso Soriano broke the tie -- and scored the first Cubs run in 11 innings -- with his 14th home run leading off the 14th inning.

Angel Guzman, who had to pitch only because the game went so long, got his first major league save. I hope it's the first of many -- right now, he's the best pitcher in the bullpen.

It's unfortunate that Randy Wells, who threw well for the sixth time, still remains without a major league victory. (At one point Len Kasper got so loopy from the length of the game that he called him "David Wells", apparently morphing David Patton with Randy Wells to get the former lefty's name.) The Cubs have won only two of Randy's six starts, but he left two others with the lead, and that's all you can ask from a starting pitcher circa 2009: that he leaves the game having put his team in a position to win. After that it's up to the bullpen, which has been bad, but perhaps, just perhaps, turned it around today. All told Cub relievers today threw 7.1 innings and gave up just one run.

Offensively, the Cubs -- as did the Reds -- squandered numerous opportunities to win the game both in regulation and in extra innings. The Cubs had RISP with less than two out in the 9th, 10th, 12th and 13th innings but could not score, either running themselves out of the inning or having them ended on double plays. Soriano's homer, to the opposite field (and caught by a couple of what appeared to be extremely happy Cubs fans), seemed to awaken the bats, because four of the next five hitters reached base, putting the game safely away.

A bit of history: during the game on WGN Len said that Cubs media relations director Peter Chase reported that the last time the Cubs had played four extra-inning games in a stretch of five games was in late September 1943 (except for a stretch in 1951 that involved a suspended game). I found a few more long stretches of extra-inning games:

1963: four extra-inning games in a six-game stretch from August 2-8. Record: 2-2
1966: seven extra-inning games in a 17-game stretch from August 2-19. Record: 6-1
1978: four extra-inning games in a six-game stretch from September 15-21. Record: 1-3
1981: four extra-inning games in a six-game stretch from August 10-16 (the first six games after the resumption of the season after the strike). Record: 1-3
1987: five extra-inning games in a nine-game stretch from May 23-June 1. Record: 2-3
2004: four extra-inning games in a seven-game stretch from September 24-30. Record: 1-3, and that's a huge reason the Cubs missed the playoffs in 2004.

Enough -- it's exhausting just reading that list. I'm sure the entire team is thankful for tomorrow's off day and that they don't have to play again till Tuesday night. That will provide rest for the bullpen, which is now quite overworked. Best result of all today: the Cubs picked up ground on all three teams that were ahead of them starting the day today, because the Brewers blew a late-inning lead at Atlanta and the Cardinals lost their third straight game to the Rockies. You think the Cubs have pitching trouble? You think the Cardinals are invincible? St. Louis just gave up 28 runs in three games to the Rockies -- at home, not in Coors Field. The Cubs sit 3.5 games behind the Brewers, but only two in the loss column, and all of this despite the injuries and turmoil of the last month. Again -- if they can just hang in there till everyone comes back, good things will still happen this season. Enjoy the off day.

Top 50 All-Time Greatest Jays: #24 David Wells

Tom Dakers — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:35:57 -0000

David Lee Wells|RP, SP|1987-1992, 1999-2000

Notable accomplishment as a Jay: All-Star 2000

David ‘Boomer' Wells was born May 20, 1963 in Torrance, California, though I doubt he was nicknamed Boomer until later. He was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1982 amateur draft by our Blue Jays. Nine picks later the Pirates took Barry Bonds and later in the same round Bo Jackson and Barry Larkin were taken.

David Wells was a big, left handed pitcher 6'4" and he got bigger as the years went on. He was never a big fan of working out but he is a big fan of beer. It is kind of refreshing to go from doing a profile of Roger Clemens where steroids were at the center of the discussion to doing one on Wells who clearly didn't use steroids. I always felt that his lack of fitness would shorten his career but he was still pitching in the majors at the age of 44.

In 1987 Wells was called up to the Jays from Syracuse at the end of June, made two terrible starts and then was sent back down. He was called back to Toronto as a September call up and pitched well as a reliever. He earned a spot in the Jay's bullpen out of spring training in 1988, and made 41 appearances, saved 4 games with a 4.62 ERA. He was sent down to Syracuse in early July and then recalled late in the season.

1989 was David's first full season with the Jays and he had a heck of a year, pitching in 54 games, all in relief and finishing 7-4 with a 2.40 ERA. He started the season being used as a long reliever going 3 or more innings several times but as the season went on he was used more normally as a setup man. After the All-Star break he was 5-0 with a 0.90 ERA. He had 1 appearance in our ALCS loss to Oakland.

In 1990 Wells started the season in the bullpen but then was moved into the rotation in late May, after Mike Flanagan was released and stayed there the rest of the season. He made 25 starts and 18 relief appearances; he was 7th in the league in ERA at 3.14 and went 11-6.
Boomer started the 1991 in the rotation but was moved to the pen in September, after a bad stretch of 5 starts, all losses and an 8.89 ERA in those games. The Jays went to a 4 man rotation down the stretch. He had a very good season going 15-10 with a 3.72 ERA in 28 starts and 12 relief appearances. He also led the league picking runners off first, picking off 13, a total that was higher than 7 different teams. In our 5 game loss to the Twins in the ALCS, Wells had 4 relief appearances and a 2.45 ERA.

Our first World Series season, 1992, Wells started the season in the rotation, made two starts then Stieb came back from injury and Boomer went back to the pen. He returned to the rotation to make 12 starts from the end of July to the End of August, when Stottlemyre went down with an injury and then went back to the pen again when the Jays picked up David Cone. He didn't have a great season going 7-9 with a 5.40 ERA, though his ERA was ruined from a game on August 20th when Cito left him in a game to allow 13 earned runs to save the bullpen. He did pitch in 4 games of our World Series win over Atlanta, giving us 4.1 shutout innings.

During spring training of 1993 the Jays released Boomer. Why? Well apparently because Cito didn't like him. I can see that as a reason to trade a player, but to release him? He had to have some trade value. Cito, for all his good points, did tend to take irrational dislikes to some players. The Detroit Tigers quickly signed him and made him a full time starter. From Detroit he went to the Reds, then the Orioles and then to the Yankees. He had 2 good seasons with the Yankees going 34-14 with them and winning a World Series ring. He also became the 15th pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game.

After the 1998 season the Yankees traded Wells, Homer Bush and Graeme Lloyd to the Jays for Roger Clemens. At the time I wasn't too happy about it, as even though Wells had pitched well the couple of seasons before the trade, but not at the level Clemens had. Add in that Wells was 36 and since he didn't take care of himself, I thought he wouldn't age well. But Boomer was terrific for us and Roger wasn't as terrific for the Yankees.

In 1999 Wells went 17-10 for us with a 4.82 ERA while setting career highs for innings pitched with 231.2, leading the league, and strikeouts with 169, a club record at the time for a lefty. He also led the league in complete games with 7, as well as hits allowed. But with his great control he could allow a lot of hits and still be an effective pitcher, and in 1999 he only allowed 2.41 walks/9 innings.

2000 was even a better season for David, finishing 20-8 in 35 starts, with a 4.11 ERA. He finished 3rd in the Cy Young voting and he started the All-Star game, pitching 2 shutout innings. He also received MVP votes. He tied with Tim Hudson for the league in wins, was 6th in ERA, second in innings pitched, 1st in complete games and shutouts as well as walk rate, only walking 1.21 batters per 9 innings. He was also the first Jay lefty to win 20 games.

After the season, Gord Ash showing why he shouldn't have been GM, traded Wells and Matt DeWitt to the White Sox for Mike Sirotka, Kevin Beirne, Brian Simmons and Mike Williams. Sirotka was injured at that time and never again pitched in the majors, Ash didn't make the trade contingent on a medical examination and MLB ruled against the Jays and upheld the trade. Ash was soon fired, but too late of course.

After pitching a season for the White Sox Boomer continued his tour of major league teams taking a second tour with the Yankees, then playing for the Padres, Red Sox, Padres again and finally Dodgers. For a fellow whose idea of working was basically a series of 12 ounce curls, he had a long career pitching 21 seasons and pitching in the majors till age 44. He made it to post-season play with 6 different teams.

Presumably finished his major league he has a 239-157, in 660 games, 489 of them starts. The Jays started off his career as a reliever which is a good way to get a pitcher into the big leagues, let them learn to pitch in low leverage spots, but the Jays couldn't seem to put David into the starting rotation and leave him there. Some of that was because Cito didn't like him and likely some of that was because he didn't feel the need to keep himself in shape.

He was big pitcher with great control, a great curve, an above average fastball early in his career, not so above average later, a slider and a changeup. Since he pitched into his 40's it is hard to say he would have had a better career if he kept himself in better shape. But then he has been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes so there are other reasons to stay in shape.

Wells has an ‘autobiography' called ‘Perfect I'm Not: Boomer on Beer'. Among other things in the book it said he pitched his perfect game with a hangover. He later said he was misquoted in the book, a strange claim for an autobiography.

Boomer is married and has two sons. He is kind of a cult hero for middle aged fat guys (no no, I'm not fat), but he does seem like the kind of guy you'd like to sit have a beer or two with. It is kind of cool that fat guys can be athletes too.

David Wells place among Jay pitching leaders:

ERA (>500 innings) 10th 4.06
Wins 6th 84
Win-Loss % 2nd .604
Walks/9IP (>500 innings) 5th 2.30
Games 7th 306
Innings 7th 1148.2
Strikeouts 7th 784
Games Started 9th 138
Wild Pitchers 6th 46