SB Nation - Reggie Sanders

Pull Yourself Together in Pittsburgh

Charlie — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:07:25 -0000

More photos » by Eric Risberg - AP

The Pirates are interested in injured pitcher Justin Duchscherer this offseason.

Is it just me, or do the numerous reports of the Pirates pursuing injured or damaged-goods players remind anyone of the 2002-2003 offseason, when Dave Littlefield grabbed Reggie Sanders, Matt Stairs, Kenny Lofton and Jeff Suppan on the cheap? Frank Coonelly is explicitly making the argument that Rick Ankiel should sign with the Bucs as a way to get some playing time to get his career back on track. Littlefield did about the same thing prior to 2003, when the market was incredibly unfavorable to players and, as I recall, several of the guys Littlefield acquired couldn't find anyone to give them a big-league contract even though they weren't that bad the previous year. Sanders, for example, played decently for the Giants in 2002, but he couldn't get more than a million bucks elsewhere, so he signed with the Pirates and used a great 2003 performance as a springboard for a $6 million contract with the Cardinals.

Of course, Littlefield tried to do about the same thing in 2003-2004, but it didn't work because the market had normalized. That's how the Bucs got stuck with Raul Mondesi. But what he did prior to 2003 was one of the few smart things he ever did. It seems like Coonelly is trying to do the same thing, albeit with risky players rather than with a depressed market. Play here, he seems to be saying, and you can create a path to a bigger paycheck somewhere else.

The Greatest Reds: #23 - #21

riverfront76 — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:00:14 -0000

23. Adam Dunn

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
2001-2008	LF, RF	24	22	19
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	2004	2004, 2005, 2007
92%	8%	0%	2004	2004, 2005, 2007
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
All Star – 2002	Walks – 2008		-1st in career AB/HR ratio -2nd in career slugging percentage -4th in career home runs -6th in career on-base percentage -10th in career OPS+

The Big Donkey. Dunn was an incredibly divisive character during his time with the Reds, owing to his prodigious power, remarkably high strikeout totals, and disinterested defense. Although he was traded before the 2008 trade deadline, Dunn was consistent with his home run output, hitting 46 in 2004 before running off four straight seasons of exactly 40. However, despite the power (Dunn was also good for 25-35 doubles a year), Dunn’s run production was suspect, topping out at just 106 RBI in his peak year. The high strikeouts (led the league in each year from 2004-2006) belied a strong command of the strike zone, as Dunn was generally a lock for over 100 walks each year, leading to his on-base percentage with the Reds running 133 points higher than his career batting average. Ultimately, despite being the best Red of the first decade in the 21st century, Dunn was marked for what he couldn’t do, namely lead the Reds to a winning mark. He was traded in 2008 for Micah Owings and Wilkin Castillo.

22. Paul Derringer

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1933-1942	SP	18	24	28
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1939	1935
0%	0%	100%	1939	1935
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
All Star – 1935, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942	Home Runs Per Inning – 1933 Games Started – 1936, 1938, 1940 Games Pitched – 1936 Innings Pitched – 1938 Complete Games – 1938 W-L Percentage – 1939 Strikeout / Walk Ratio – 1939 Walks Per Inning – 1939, 1940		-3rd in career wins -3rd in career walks per inning -3rd in career innings pitched -6th in career strikeouts -35th in career ERA+

The Reds traded two washed-up players and a never-would-be to the Cardinals for Derringer and a pair of others early on in the 1933 season. Derringer’s introduction was suspect: losing 25 games with the Reds despite a 105 ERA+. He lost over 20 games the next year as well, despite improving his rate stats. Through the 1937 season, Derringer was roughly an average pitcher, with a losing record compiled for a lousy team. Over the next three seasons, Derringer was a very good #2 pitcher for a much improved team, going 66-33 with a 2.97 ERA (126 ERA+) over 904 innings in that stretch. In the 1940 World Series, Derringer was rewarded with the Game 1 starting assignment. He was knocked out of the game before recording his 5th out, allowing 5 runs. He bounced back nicely, with complete game victories in games 4 and 7, the latter a stunning 2-1 thriller. Over his 10 seasons with Cincinnati, Derringer amassed 161 wins and threw for a 111 ERA+ in over 2600 innings.

21. Ken Griffey, Sr

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1973-81, 1988-90	RF, 1B, CF, LF	19	26	24
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1976	1980
88%	12%	0%	1976	1980
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
All Star MVP – 1980 All Star – 1976, 1977, 1980	N/A		-14th in career runs scored -15th in career batting average -18th in career triples -18th in career doubles -22nd in career OPS+

Presumably one of the best players ever selected in the 29th round of the amateur draft, Griffey went on to have a career that spanned 19 seasons. It’s difficult to tie together Griffey’s numbers with my standing perception of the player…it feels like something’s missing from the stats. For example, in Griffey’s first stint with the Reds, he played in a little over 1000 games. If the cumulative stats from those years are normalized to represent an average 162-game year, his stat line looks like this: 307/375/437 (125 OPS+), 162 games, 597 AB, 104 runs, 184 hits, 31 2B, 9 3B, 9 HR, 66 RBI, 23 SB, 65 BB. Good numbers, to be sure, but: A) he really only averaged 116 games played per year in that stint; and B) even bumped up to the 162 game normalization, the numbers don’t evoke visions of a starting right-fielder on one of the greatest offensive teams in baseball history. It’s possible I’m not taking the era enough into account, so maybe this is overly harsh. Additionally, the numbers seem to indicate a below-average fielder, despite Griffey’s legendary speed. Other notes: 1) in his career season of 1976, Griffey had his one great offensive season, hitting for a 140 OPS+ and adding 34 steals; 2) to his credit, Griffey’s decline was very slow, and he remained a useful hitter into his 40’s; 3) Griffey’s postseason performances were hit or miss, but overall they were on the weak side (.240 batting average, 661 OPS in 83 plate appearances); and 4) Senior had about 800 more plate appearances with the Reds than his son. And though there styles of play were as different as good be, Senior’s OPS+ with Cincy ended up at 123, just edging out Junior’s 122 mark. I’m sure this comes up a lot at family reunions, and not Junior’s lifetime 480 home run advantage.

The Top 15 Right Fielders in Reds history

1 Ken Griffey, Sr

2 Ival Goodman

3 Mike Mitchell

4 Curt Walker

5 Reggie Sanders

6 Dusty Miller

7 Paul O'Neill

8 Dave Parker

9 Greasy Neale

10 Wally Post

11 Sam Crawford

12 Johnny Wyrostek

13 Tommy Harper

14 Dave Collins

15 Tommy Griffith

Moments in Diamondbacks History: Randy Johnson K's 20

Jim McLennan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:00:15 -0000

"This was a game to put in a time capsule and let people of the future watch it."
-- Randy Johnson

Cincinatti	Arizona
1. Donnie Sadler, LF	1. Steve Finley, CF
2. Juan Castro, 1B	2. Jay Bell, 2B
3. Barry Larkin, SS	3. Luis Gonzalez, LF
4. Alex Ochoa, RF	4. Reggie Sanders, RF
5. Aaron Boone, 3B	5. Mark Grace, 1B
6. Ruben Rivera, CF	6. Damian Miller, C
7. Pokey Reese, 2B	7. Tony Womack, SS
8. Kelly Stinnett, C	8. Craig Counsell, 3B
9. Chris Reitsma, P.	9. Randy Johnson, P
Full boxscore

The MLB Network showed Randy Johnson's 20-strikeout game at the start of the month, part of a series of high-K outings. It provided a fascinating glimpse into a bygone era of Diamondbacks baseball

Look at the bottom of that Diamondbacks line-up. Ouch. We forget that, outside of Luis Gonzalez, the 2001 Diamondbacks were not great hitters. Among the regulars (250+ PA), the only ones with an OPS+ better than 92 were Gonzo (174), Sanders (117) and Grace (113) - this was a team driven by pitching, with an total ERA+ of 120. To put that into context, it's like every inning for Arizona that year was pitched by Jake Peavy, who has the same career ERA+. Of course and in particular, driven by Curt Schilling and Randy, who went 43-12. That number of wins by two team-mates hadn't been surpassed in the NL since Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry went 46-14 for the Giants in 1966 [and the AZ pair would beat that the following year, going 47-12!]

While ageless wonder Counsell is the only AZ position player still actively playing, there's a couple of semi-familiar names appearing for the Reds too. Donnie Sadler was the leadoff hitter for Cincinnati - the commentators were very enthusiastic about him, saying he was a highly touted Red Sox prospect at one point, also praising his wheels and arm [we'd see startling proof ot the former in this game]. He flamed out, however, his final AB being for Arizona in 2007. Reds' catcher, Kelly Stinnett was also a regular with the Diamondbacks from 1998-2000, and then returned to Arizona in 2005 as a back-up to Chris Snyder.

They mentioned that Castro was making his first start at first-base, outside of spring training, since 8th grade - even now, in his fifteen-year career, he has made just four there. Clearly, the aim was then, as now, to stack your line-up with as many right-handers as possible when facing Johnson, and hope the defense holds up. It didn't help much, with two strikeouts for the Reds in the first - though both came on fastballs, not the devastating slider Johnson was to unleash as the game went on. There was some early speculation by the commentators that Johnson was experiencing back pains earlier on.

The opposing starter for the Reds was Chris Reitsma. He was last seen in the majors in 2007, but played in the 2008 Olympics for Canada. This was his first year in the majors - and it's worth noting he allowed one run in eight innings of work, keeping his team in the game. Admittedly, he did fan eighteen less batters than Johnson, which I'm thinking has got to be a record for K disparity between starters ever. But hang on: a rookie starter giving the Diamondbacks' hitter fits, after barely a month in the major-leagues? Our ace getting basically no run support? Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose...

Two more strikeouts for Randy in the second inning, sandwiched around a brutal sawing-off of Boone's bat. A call from the play-by-play guy [curiously, they seemed to rotate a couple of guys in and out of that role, including Rod Allen] to "Stevie Gilbert" - presumably the stats guy - to find out how many K's Rivera had in his career against Johnson. Is this the same Steve Gilbert now covering the Diamondbacks for MLB.com? When Johnson fanned Stinnett in the third, that tied him with Bob Gibson for (then) 11th on the all-time list. The K of Reitsma which immediately followed, broke the tie.

Said Thom Brennaman at the start of the fourth, "I'm not sure we've seen three more dominant innings." Well,, the fourth probably extended the streak, with Johnson striking out the side. Barry Larkin, the third victim, had a spectacularly bad swing on 2-1, letting the bat and it ending up somewhere behind the umpire. The bat also helicoptered away from him on strike three. I also didn't realize how long the AFLAC trivia question has endured: the one for this game was, "How many NL MVP awards were won in the 1970's by the Reds?" The answer is six.

Gonzo wasted a chance in the bottom of the fourth: he tried to stretch a leadoff single down the left-field line into a double, but got gunned down by the Sadlerzooka . Meanwhile Johnson had fanned six in a row, tying his own franchise record, until Aaron Boone singled with one out in the fifth, ending a streak of 13 consecutive batters retired by Johnson. Boone then stole second, and was running to third on the pitch - a mistake by Johnson on an 0-2 count to Rivera. The RBI single which resulted frustrated the Big Unit, who clearly muttered to himself the rest of the inning, though no more harm was done.

The Diamondbacks did tie it up in the sixth and Johnson was involved, singling to lead things off. Though he was erased on a Finley fielder's choice, the upgraded speed on the basepaths might have been for the best, as our CF then went to third on a Bell single. Gonzo popped up with one out, swinging on a 3-0 pitch, but Sanders drove the run in with another hit. Enlivened by this, Johnson then struck our the next seven batters faced, setting the franchise record which he'd tied earlier: it took him 33 pitches, 25 of which were strikes.

In the middle of the streak the commentators started to wonder "What's going to happen with the Circle K-meter?" as it was only designed to handle sixteen K's. Impromptu banners proved the immediate solution - though between then and the end of 2002, it would overflow on four more occasions - three Big Unit starts, and one by Schilling. We haven't come close to challenging the K-meter since - the high-water mark for the Diamondbacks' pitchers at Chase over the past five seasons is only fourteen strikeouts.

In the eighth inning, the crowd seemed to realize what they were watching, with a 'Ran-dy, Ran-dy' chant going in the stands. However, It was only starting the ninth that Brennaman mentioned the record. After RJ struck out JCastro to end the inning, his 20th K, Johnson thrust his fist towards the sky, and yelled as he left the mound, a rare display of emotion. Of the strikeouts, eighteen were swinging, almost every one on pitches out of the zone. Zero walks. Yet he still ended with a no-decision: his Game Score of 97 remains the highest without the starter getting a W, since Nolan Ryan pitched ten shutout innings, and fanned 15 in August 1990, his Rangers eventually winning in 13.

Offensively, the Diamondbacks didn't do much. In the bottom of the eighth, Arizona had a chance, with Bell's two-out ground-rule double into the pool area. Gonzo was intentionally walked, and a wild pitch moved both runners up. There was some discussion of whether to pinch-hit for Sanders, likely with David Dellucci, but Reggie was left and flew out to center. One also wonders whether Johnson could have gone out there: he'd thrown 124 pitches, but in the seven starts that season, Johnson had averaged 120 pitches per start - his very next outing, he threw 145, perhaps making a point of some kind.

The issue was magnified because we had also played extra-innings the night before - the decision to lift Randy looked flaky, as Byung-Hyun Kim and Bret Prinz combined to walk the bases loaded in the tenth, before Prinz ended things. In the 11th, it looked like even more like the game was over. Two more walks and an error by pitcher Russ Springer on a bunt loaded the bases - for the second consecutive inning, without a Reds hit. A K gave us some hope, but Cincinnati scored two runs on a sacrifice fly, with Sadler tagging up and scoring all the way from second on a ball hit to the wall in deep left-center.

Fortunately, Reds closer Danny Graves, coming off 1.2 innings the night before, couldn't get it done - back-to-back singles by Bell + Gonzalez led things off, and a failed Sanders bunt later, Mark Grace doubled both men home. Two walks - one intentional - loaded the bases, and Graves then faced the last man available off the Diamondbacks' bench. Matt Williams. He worked the count full, hen ripped one down the left-field line, foul by inches. However, the next pitch from Graves was down and away, a bases-loaded walkoff walk, something which has only happened for us five other times in franchise history [most recently on September 9th this year, when current 3B Mark Reynolds walked his way to victory against the Dodgers].

[Click to enlarge, at fangraphs.com]
Master of his domain: Johnson, +55.9%
Honorable mentions: Grace, +33.7%; Williams, +33.6%;
Bell, +24.0%; Prinz, +12.0%, Swindell, +10.7%
God-emperor of suck: Russ Springer, -33.2%
Dishonorable mentions: Finley,-18.9%; Colbrunn, -13.7%;
Sanders, -13.3%; Miller, -11.0%

Post-game quotes:

"They told us to lay off his slider and hit his fastball, but, man, you couldn't tell the difference until it was on top of you, and then it was too late, He was throwing 97 mph fastballs and 88 mph sliders and all you could do was say, 'Oh, God.'" -- Reds outfielder Alex Ochoa
"I feel blessed to have seen this twice. When a guy is pitching like that, you put your glove on top of your head because you are not going to need it." -- Mark Grace, who was also playing first-base in the game where Kerry Wood struck out 20 batters.
"It was ridiculous. You know, he throws that batting-practice fastball 92 or 93, and there were a lot of times tonight I thought he was throwing his fastball that speed, and it was 98. It was so easy, with no effort, on any of his pitches, sliders, everything." -- Steve Finley
"I was asked if I wanted to go out there and saw no point in going out there for the 10th inning, I surely could have went out there and done it, but what was the point in going out there and throwing 10 innings? I really didn't see it." -- Randy Johnson

I really enjoyed watching the game, and it was fun to see the likes of Kim, Bell [who went 3-for-5 and saw 31 pitches!] and Grace [supremely clutch in the 11th]. However, it was Johnson's night and a great reminder of exactly how dominating the Big Unit was at his peak - he had more strikeouts (372) that seasonthan Reitsma had in his entire eight-year career. I certainly hope to see more Diamondbacks' coverage on the MLB Network - I can think of several other contests which would certainly deserve repeating on the channel.

The Greatest Reds: #55 - #51

riverfront76 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:00:37 -0000

55. Reggie Sanders

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1991-1998	RF, CF	51	57	58
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1995	Never
83%	17%	0%	1995	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
All Star – 1995	N/A		-11th in career slugging percentage -17th in career home runs -19th in career stolen bases -32nd in career runs scored -34th in career RBI

An unmistakable talent hindered by injuries, and one unfortunate month. Reggie Sanders was drafted by the Reds in 1987, made his debut in 1991, and put together a strong rookie season in 1992—finishing 4th in Rookie of the Year voting with a 128 OPS+ as a centerfielder. Sanders never really had a bad year with the Reds, but he also never played more than 138 games—and in both 1996 and 1997 he missed nearly half of each season. 1995 was Sanders’s career year: for the only time in his career Sanders finished in the top ten in runs (91, in a strike-shortened year), RBI (99), Home Runs (28), Doubles (36), Walks (69), and OPS+ (154). In the playoffs, however, he struck out an incredible 19 times in just seven games. Before the 1999 season, Sanders was traded for—in essence—Greg Vaughn, a much-lauded deal, despite Sanders’s seemingly better play that year.

54. Roy McMillan

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1951-1960	SS	39	85	66
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1956	Never
40%	60%	0%	1956	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
Gold Glove – 1957, 1958, 1959 All Star – 1956, 1957	Sacrifice Hits – 1954		-18th in career walks -25th in career hits -27th in career doubles -34th in career runs scored -44th in career RBI

The Gold Glove award was introduced in 1957, and was not split by league. One award was given for shortstops, and McMillan—then an established 27-year-old—won it. The next year, the awards were bifurcated into NL and AL, and McMillan won a couple more. Indeed, his fielding must have been legendary: five separate times in his career McMillan received MVP-ballot support, despite his lifetime OPS+ of 72. In his best year of 1956, his hitting was OK for a shortstop: 263/366/344 (OPS+ of 89), but according to range factor, he made roughly 3 extra plays out of every 4 games as compared to the average SS, all while putting up a fielding percentage 14 points higher than league average. After ten full years with the Reds, McMillan was traded to the Braves for pitcher Joey Jay, who twice won 20 games as a Red.

53. Johnny Vander Meer

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1937-43, 1946-49	SP, RP	36	57	93
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1942	1948
1%	0%	99%	1942	1948
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
TSN Player of Year – 1938 All Star – 1938, 1939, 1942, 1943	Hits Per Inning – 1938, 1941 Strikeouts – 1941, 1942, 1943 Strikeouts Per Inning – 1941, 1942, 1943 Games Started – 1943		-3rd in career shutouts -4th in career strikeouts -5th in career hits per inning -7th in career innings pitched -13th in career wins

Vander Meer’s career can be neatly split into four eras: Era 1 (1937-1938) belonged to a wild and unpredictable pitcher—including two magical nights in June of 1938 in which no batter managed a hit off him. Era 2 (1939-1940) belonged to a part-time and ineffective pitcher who contributed little to a pair of pennant winners. Era 3 (1941-1943) belonged to a dominant pitcher with the best stuff in the game. In the war-depleted National League, Vander Meer twice posted the 4th best ERA+, and routinely led in strikeouts, while finishing high in both innings and wins. Era 4 (1946-1949) came after a two-year service to the country’s war efforts. In this era, Vander Meer was a steady and average arm on a bad team—getting credit as the best player on the 64-89 1948 team, despite an unremarkable ERA+ of 115.

52. Bob Bescher

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1908-1913	LF	56	57	38
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1912	1912, 1913
85%	15%	0%	1912	1912, 1913
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	Stolen Bases – 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912 Plate Appearances – 1911 Runs Scored – 1912 Walks – 1913		-7th in career stolen bases -21st in career on-base percentage -21st in career walks -26th in career triples -35th in career runs scored

Not particularly great with the bat and decidedly weak glove in Left Field, Bescher was nonetheless a very strong player for two simple reasons: he knew how to take a walk (4 straight times finishing in the top-6 in the NL from 1910-13), and when he got on base, there was none better at taking an extra one (4 straight times leading the league). His 81 steals in 1911 stood as a post-1900 single-season NL mark that lasted until Maury Wills stole 104 bases in 1962. Also of note with Bescher was his remarkable consistency: his year-by-year OPS+ marks during his full-time play as a Red were: 102, 103, 114, 115, and 108.

51. Jake Daubert

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1919-1924	1B	60	41	41
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1920	1922
87%	13%	0%	1920	1922
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	Sacrifice Hits – 1919 Triples – 1922		-2nd in career sacrifice hits -9th in career triples -20th in career batting average -33rd in career hits -36th in career runs scored

Unquestionably one of the best players in the NL in the early part of his career with Brooklyn, Daubert was acquired by the Reds prior to the 1919 season—allowing the team to get rid of first baseman Hal Chase, who had been accused of throwing a game the year before. Daubert filled the role admirably, leading the league in sacrifice hits and supplying a league average bat to the World Champion team. As his career dwindled, Daubert had two more vintage seasons (127 OPS+ in 1920, 129 OPS+ in 1922) interspersed with the typical fading of a long career. In 1924, at age 40, Daubert became very ill, returned to the team for the final home game of the year, then had an appendectomy. He died a week later due to complications from the surgery.

Friday Five: Top Combined Power-Speed Seasons in Reds History

Slyde — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:55:43 -0000

Believe it or not, kids, this ~~beanpole~~ guy was an awesome power hitter. And boy could he fly on the bases!

View full size photo »

There is something special about a player that can beat you both with his legs and the power in his bat. This is beyond the arbitrary fascination with the 30-30 season. The excitement of a player who can "do it all" on the baseball field really seems to capture the imagination of fans. Perhaps it is because it opens us up to the belief that anything is possible? Or maybe we just like players who are athletic bad-asses?

Here are the top 5 seasons of combined power and speed in Reds history:

1. Eric Davis - 1987 - 37 HR, .593 SLG, 50 SB, 6 CS, 89.3% stolen base rate

As a 25-year old, Davis wowed the baseball world and almost became the first 40-40 player in baseball history. His .593 SLG is the highest by a player with 50 SB since George Sisler slugged .594 with 51 SB in 1922. Of course, Sisler was caught stealing 19 times that year (72.8%). Davis was safe on nearly 90% of his steal attempts. Yowza!

2. Joe Morgan - 1976 - 27 HR, .576 SLG, 60 SB, 9 CS, 87.0% stolen base rate

In perhaps the greatest all-around season in the history of baseball (Little Joe batted .320 with a .440 OBP and won a gold glove at 2B), Morgan won his second consecutive MVP award for the Reds. His home runs were the 5th most in the NL and he was 2nd in stolen bases. Probably the most impressive thing was that the 5'7" Morgan led the NL in Slugging percentage by 46 points. He could have hit 5 fewer home runs and still led the league in slugging. And he stole 60 bases!!

3. Eric Davis - 1986 - 27 HR, .523 SLG, 80 SB, 11 CS, 87.9% stolen base rate

This is probably my favorite individual season by a Red in my lifetime. Two players in baseball history have stolen 80 bases and hit 25 or more home runs in the same season, and they both happened in the same year. Rickey Henderson's counting stats were slightly better in 1986, mainly because he played 21 more games, topping Davis with 87 SB and 28 HR. Davis outslugged Henderson though .523 to .469, and his stolen base rat of 87.9% was better than Henderson's measly 82.9%. I love Eric Davis. I really do.

4. Reggie Sanders - 1995 - 28 HR, .579 SLG, 36 SB, 12 CS, 75.0% stolen base rate

You know, because he struggled so much in the post-season, it's easy to forget what a good season Reggie Sanders had in 1995. He was coming into his prime that year and put up a .306/.397/.579 season, perhaps deserving the NL MVP even more than Barry Larkin did. He finished 6th in MVP voting that year, a year that ended up being the peak for his career, but a pretty nice peak it was in a very solid overall career.

5. Barry Larkin - 1996 - 33 HR, .567 SLG, 36 SB, 10 CS, 78.3% stolen base rate

In a strange sequence of events, Larkin improved on his MVP 1995 season the following year, but actually finished 12th in the MVP voting. Ken Caminiti won the award in 1996, though Barry Bonds likely has the biggest complaint as he had his best non-steroids season of his career (10.8 WAR!), but finished in 6th in voting. Larkin's season is historically significant because it was the first 30-30 season by an everyday middle infielder in baseball history. Again, 30-30 is an arbitrary cutoff point, but when it supports a guy I'm a fan of, IT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT NUMBER IN THE WORLD!!!!

Now it's your turn? Which season was your favorite? Who did I leave off the list that should be there?

Spring Training: The Lost Tapes

royalsreview — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:34:36 -0000

Last week I received an unsigned postcard directing me to the hot dog counter at a QT in the KC metro area. After much searching, I discovered that I was at the wrong QT, and drove to the correct one five minutes down the road. At the right QT, under the dog roller was a key and a small note attached to the key chain with the name of a safe deposit box. The box was in a bank in the downtown of a town in the Royals Radio Network. Inside the box was a variety of yellowed reporter's note pads, mimeographed stories with lines crossed out, and a dozen or so old tape recorders.

It is now my understanding that my mysterious source, or sources, have chosen me, the writer of one of the fifty most popular Royals blogs on the internet, to give these old stories the light of day. I do not know what happened to the original reporters or why these various unpublished stories, blurbs, and snippets ended up together, or what happened to their original compiler. To protect myself, and whomever may be helping me, I have removed most proper names from these quotes, as well as any obvious tells as to their identities.

------

"I'd forgotten how horrible it was to take a shower with twenty five men."

You know what? It isn't 1933. That's the last time spending a month and a half at a glorified day camp made much sense. Of course, back then it took three days to get here by train, which itself did enough damage to the legs to justify the dog and pony show. If I could, I'd contract TB just so I could feel authentic."

"Worried? They assured us that the samples would remain anonymous and that in any case they would all be destroyed."

"It's all good. [Obscure AAAA player] is just here so that he isn't seen by [division rival]. My job is safe, and I'm sure [obscure AAAA player] will love Japan."

"Why are all the celebrity fans of baseball men over the age of fifty? Is there a way we can get games on MTV, like tomorrow?"

"Actually, I'm a professional athlete. I've been in shape since I was fifteen years old, have had a regulated diet since nineteen, and have the genes of a Greek god. But thanks for asking if I've benefited from three wind sprints a day."

"We have a new manager this spring, which means we'll have to sit through every cliched motivational ploy in the book for three weeks. My main concern is that the "strippers in the locker-room to remind us this is a game and we need to loosen up" day is early. You can run into a variety of... issues if that day comes late."

"I'm excited about moving to the bullpen. I haven't been a good pitcher for three years, but now I'm sixty fluky innings away from three more contracts."

"Hopefully, I can turn an ankle tomorrow running the outfield. I actually blew out my shoulder last month doing [non-baseball activity] and at least two months away from being functional. Luckily [a former Astro] was here last week, so nobody noticed my weak throws. I need to disappear."

"I'm confused, why are the jerseys always mesh and half-black during the Spring? Did our uniform mate with the Pittsburgh Steelers?"

"I'm happy to be here. Did you ever see that Mad Men where Draper's kid is having a birthday party, and there's a million people there, and his wife asks him to go get the cake and instead he just leaves for six hours, never comes back, never says anything? Well, my wife is [gives age] and didn't look like January Jones when we got married."

"Now, betting on the NCAA Tournament is ok, right?"

"Look, this is a temporary situation and everyone knows that. Bud Selig is an owner, period. In five years no one will remember that for six months he was essentially the Commissioner."

"I'd forgotten how incredibly dull baseball practice can be. What if I said, 'write a third-grade level sentence 500 times in a row,' that's what taking infield is like."

"My goals for Spring Training... probably learning how to use all the apps on my iPhone, contesting the taxes on my winter league check, and trying to remember how to throw a slider."

"I'm trying to figure out if I should be more worried about performing well here, or during my completely pointless September call-up in which I appear in three games over a two-week period."

"Can we win the division? That depends on our attitude this spring. The tone gets set right here, right now.... We have to... do the little.... no, really... actually... I can't do this... we have no chance."

"[Brilliant young prospect] may be really good someday. But right now, we all know that [thoroughly washed up vet] can get the job done now."

"MySpace isn't on Google, so what's the problem?"

"I always knew I'd eventually get a chance to be teammates with Reggie Sanders."

"I'm excited about this new stat, 'wins' for the pitcher. This will really improve our understanding of the game."

"We ended last season going 5-4 over our last nine games, and that momentum has ran right through to this spring."

"So we play in 'Surprise' and about half our road games are in 'Goodyear'. If you give me ---- this season, I'm going to personally see to it that next season we're headquartered in Peoria. Write your ----- ----- headlines then, Hemingway."