The team then known as the Boston Americans won the inaugural World Series in 1903. They had a pitcher you’ve no doubt heard about. Cy Young. The future Hall-of-Famer was 36 years old but still had a terrific season pitching 341.2 innings and tossing 34 complete games while compiling a 28-9 record. His teammate Bill Dinneen was no slouch posting the exact same bWAR (6.6) while winning seven fewer games. A third pitcher on the first MLB World Champion team, “Long” Tom Hughes, also won 20 games (20-7) that season. Only one of the three is in my top five and you will easily be able to guess who that is.

For my top five starters in Red Sox history the only criteria are that the starting pitcher pitched five or more seasons for the team.

Honorable Mention: what’s remarkable about this bunch is that all of them were left-handers except for Smoky Joe Wood.

HOFer Lefty Grove – I had him as number two in the Athletics starting pitchers history. He was equally excellent with the Red Sox checking in at number four for bWAR at 44.9 for his time in Boston. Grove is 10^th all-time for Red Sox starters throwing 1,539.2 innings for the team. On many other teams he’d be a shoo-in for the top five.

Jon Lester – the big lefty pitched for two World Series winning teams (2007 and 2013) and was very reliable during his nine years with the Red Sox. The biggest moments were never too big for Jon Lester.

Smoky Joe Wood – what Smoky Joe Wood did during his abbreviated career was extremely rare. Wood is number one in Boston Red Sox starter history with a 1.99 career ERA just a measly 1/100^th lower than Cy Young.

Mel Parnell – Playing for his only MLB team (10 years with Boston) in a career that did not begin until age 25, the lefty Parnell was the anchor of the 1948-1953 Red Sox, a team that had the misfortune of competing in the same league with the Yankees who won the World Series each year from 1949-1953. Parnell is fourth with 123 wins, fifth in Innings Pitched (1,752.2), sixth in Games Started (232) and 10^th in bWAR (27.4).

Dutch Leonard – pitching for two World Series Champion teams (1915, 1916), makes it wrong to not mention him. The lefty Leonard had his best season in 1914 when he was a brilliant 19-5 and led baseball in ERA and ERA+. He pitched six seasons in Boston. The spit-baller’s career was marred by incidents both while in Boston and after he left for Detroit and was accused by none other than HOFer Ty Cobb of being a dirty player.

HOFer Babe Ruth – 89-46 as a Red Sox pitcher pitching to a 2.19 ERA – during the Deadball era, the Bambino also was 3-0 in his three World Series starts pitching 31 innings. That included throwing a complete game in a 2-1 victory over Brooklyn in 1916.

My top five starting pitchers in Red Sox history

#5 – Tim Wakefield – the late knuckleballer had a long prolific career with the Red Sox. It was a little surprising to me that Wakefield is ranked number one for Games Started (430), number one in Innings Pitched (3,006), number two in Games Played with 590, (to Bob Stanley who had 637) number two in Strikeouts (2,046), and number six in bWAR (32.7). Here’s an eyepopping stat, Wakefield gave up 401 home runs – twice as many as any other Red Sox pitcher!

#4 – Luis Tiant – I was hoping that he’d rate high enough to put him in the top five since I was going to put El Tiante in no matter what! I loved watching him pitch when I first started following baseball. His delivery was something every kid tried to emulate because it was so much fun to do! The big righty’s eight years with the Red Sox included three 20+ win seasons and five seasons with bWAR at or above 5.3. That’s Hall-of-Fame worthy and Tiant had another 8.0+ bWAR season for Cleveland before he came to Boston. Tiant pitched so well in the 1975 postseason, including the heartbreaking World Series loss to the Big Red Machine. He doesn’t have all the counting stats but is fourth in Innings Pitched (1,774.2) and fifth in bWAR (35.9).

#3 – HOFer Pedro Martinez – one of the best games I ever attended was a complete game 12-strikeout gem by Pedro at Fenway vs. the Minnesota Twins. It was akin to watching a pro pitch to college kids. Pedro checks off a bunch of boxes including third in bWAR (53.8), third in strikeouts (1,683), and tied for sixth in wins (with Smoky Joe Wood) with 117. Pedro is also 10^th in club history with a 2.52 career ERA with Boston but it could have been higher were it not for all the stingy Red Sox Deadball Era pitchers. Although Pedro pitched ‘only’ 1,383.2 innings for Boston, his 190 ERA+ as a Red Sox is extraordinary—not merely first in franchise history but vastly ahead of Clemens (144), Young (147) and Grove (143). He was a key part of the postseason run in 2004 when the Red Sox finally put the curse of the Bambino to bed.

#2 – HOFer Cy Young – Cy Young was better in his eight years with the Red Sox than he was anywhere else even though he carded a higher bWAR with the Cleveland Spiders. Tied for first with 192 career wins in Boston, Young is second in bWAR (64.5), second in ERA (2.00) and fifth with 1,341 strikeouts despite not pitching in a time when strikeouts were plentiful. Young edged out Pedro Martinez with a career Red Sox 0.97 WHIP (vs. Pedro’s 0.978). And then there are the 275 career complete games as a Red Sox pitcher!

#1 – Roger Clemens – the Rocket is the greatest starting pitcher in Red Sox history. It’s by a fair margin. He’s number one in bWAR (80.7), number one in Strikeouts (2,590), and tied with Cy Young with 192 wins. Clemens is second in team history with 2,776 Innings Pitched and second with his 382 Games Started. He’s also tied with Cy Young in throwing 38 shutouts which might be the most remarkable statistic of all.

At present there are no Red Sox pitchers on any kind of track to break into the top ten starters in team history much less the top five. Part of that is because the top five are so legendary!

I am more than two-thirds of the way through this series. In prior posts I’ve done the Mets, Rockies, Rays, White Sox, Cubs, Astros, Athletics, Braves, Mariners, Giants, Orioles, Pirates, Royals, Blue Jays, Marlins, Angels, Padres, Twins, Cardinals, Yankees, Reds, and Rangers. You can find them all on this Substack.

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

I admired Hall of Famer Barry Larkin while watching him play for the Cincinnati Reds. He always carried himself with class and dignity while playing at the highest levels year after year. When the Mets, who would advance to the World Series in 2000 vs. the Yankees, tried to get Larkin from the Reds, Larkin vetoed the trade because the Mets would not give the soon-to-be 36-year-old a three-year contract. Instead, the Mets rolled with great fielding, but light hitting Rey Ordonez. Larkin hit .313 in 102 games for the Reds in 2000. Could the future-HOFer have made the difference in the 2000 World Series? Sadly, Mets fans like me will never know.

To be fair, Larkin was from Cincinnati and had played 14 seasons for the team on his way to 19 seasons with the Reds, and the Reds only. Cincinnati’s favorite son was beloved by the entire city. He was the 24th shortstop in the Hall of Fame and only the 11th elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BWAA).

Current Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor is currently playing out his 12^th MLB season. Since I get to watch Lindor play almost every day, I feel I have a pretty good sense of his impact on baseball games, Lindor’s teammates, and Met fans. Since Lindor began his career in Cleveland and played six excellent seasons for the then-Indians, he does not have the one team for a career cachet that Barry Larkin does. Lindor has now played more games as a Met than he did in Cleveland. But when I tell Mets fans that they are watching a future Hall of Famer play for them every day, I often get a blank look in return. Like, really?

Francisco Lindor will be a Hall of Famer one day. Yeah, really!

Comparing Barry Larkin’s career to Francisco Lindor’s at present looks like this:

As I noted earlier, Larkin played 19 MLB seasons. Lindor is finishing his 12^th. Here’s how they look after Larkin’s first 12 seasons.

It’s close. Larkin is notably higher for on-base-average, batting average, while Lindor rules the power stats with more home runs, RBIs, and Slugging Average. Larkin has more steals over the 12-year period. Larkin posted seven seasons of 5 or more bWAR in those first 12 seasons. Lindor has also posted seven seasons of 5 or more bWAR over the same period.

Lindor needed 1,250 more PA to accumulate only 1.6 more WAR

That’s substantial. Larkin averaged roughly 9.4 WAR per 1,000 PA over those seasons versus about 8.0 for Lindor. While close in cumulative value, they are not as close in value per opportunity.

Larkin played another nine seasons but added only 15.1 WAR, finishing at 70.5. His later career was good, but injury-plagued and less productive. Availability is an important asset and Lindor should not be penalized or thought less of for having a lower WAR rate per plate appearance. Larkin added only another 2.3 dWAR over his final seven seasons, a reminder of how difficult it is for even an elite shortstop to maintain his defensive value as he ages. Lindor is unlikely to maintain his current level of defensive value as he ages.

The competition was tough for both

Larkin competed in an extraordinary shortstop era. He played while future HOFers Cal Ripken Jr., Ozzie Smith, and Alan Trammell grabbed headlines, and then later played during the beginnings of A-Rod, HOFer Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra. Lindor has played in an unusually deep era of offensive shortstops like Corey Seager, Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, and more recently Bobby Witt Jr., while Larkin’s era arguably had more established all-time greats at the top.

Cumulatively does Lindor have another 13.5 WAR in him?

At age 32, that doesn’t look remotely unreasonable. Larkin played only 1,401 games during his first 12 seasons; Lindor played 1,603. That’s 202 additional games. The Mets/Guardians received the benefit of Lindor playing in those additional games and their accompanying value.

Larkin was the more productive player when he played. Lindor has been considerably more durable and much more powerful. And their era-adjusted offensive production somehow lands almost in the same place.

Lindor is not having a Lindor-like season in 2026, particularly defensively. He’s not one to make excuses but I wonder whether Lindor’s recovery from hamate surgery on his left hand in February impacted his ability to prepare defensively for the season ahead. It’s natural to worry about hamate bone injuries impacting the hitting side of the equation, but being a top-quality shortstop requires diligent practice and dedication. Recency biases often prevail and when fans see a player’s defense decline, AND he’s over 30 while playing a premium defensive position, they begin to suspect that the player is on the downside of his career.

Francisco Lindor, if he stays healthy the rest of the season, will play just over 100 games in 2026 and I don’t expect him to reach even 2.5 bWAR. That will represent the worst production of his career aside from the pandemic season of 2020.

Don’t bet against Lindor

In Lindor’s case I’d bet on a resurgence in 2027 both defensively and offensively. He’s still good enough to be a top shortstop in baseball over the next three seasons and perhaps even beyond that.

One of the things that always impressed me about Barry Larkin is that he never played another position on the field other than shortstop. Even at age 40 he played 85 games at short for the Reds and Larkin started as a Designated Hitter only three times in his career. This was mostly because the NL did not have the DH and it would only be an option in interleague games which began in 1998.

I’m not certain Lindor’s career will play out that way (as a career shortstop only) as he may ultimately move to another infield position. I can see him being the Met shortstop for the next three seasons. He’s signed with the Mets for the next five seasons through 2031 which will be his age-37 season.

Barry Larkin is a bona fide and deserving Hall of Famer. When his career is complete, I think the same will be true of Francisco Lindor.

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

Periodically I have posted previously posted content that goes back a few years. I am going to call it "Almost Cooperstown Worth Another Look”. This article appeared in 2023 and is no less relevant today - in fact I think it’s more relevant! So I am bringing it back for readers who may have missed it.

The 2024 Hall of Fame Ballot was released just before Thanksgiving and there are some terrific first year candidates including 3^rd baseman Adrian Beltre, who seems certain to be inducted and he may even be voted in unanimously, which would be a first for a position player.

Adrian Beltre’s career totals and accomplishments check all the sexy stat boxes. Among his remarkable career totals, he hit 477 Home Runs which is 3^rd all-time behind Mike Schmidt (548) and Eddie Mathews (512). For many years a player that had 400 career home runs had a ticket to election into Cooperstown. I am here to call out that Dave Kingman’s career total of 442 HR’s changed evaluation of power stats forever.

A Career batting average of .300 is a very notable achievement. Today seasonal batting averages fall routinely below .300 even for league leaders. You might be surprised that there are a number of non-Hall-of-Famers who’ve played 10 seasons or more and achieved a career batting average of .300 or better and are not in the HOF. Great players like Wally Berger (.300 career BA 242 HRs, 138 career OPS+) and Al Oliver (.303 career BA, 2,741 hits, 219 HRs, 121 career OPS+) have been denied entry while still having very arguable HOF cases. Neither Berger nor Oliver hit even 300 home runs so for many that made it easier to ignore them. But having a .300 career batting average is far from being a guarantee of enshrinement.

RBIs are another important classic stat that separates the greats from the not-quite greats. Every player in the top 50 all-time RBI leaders is in the HOF except for what I am calling the Sinful 7. Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmiero, Manny Ramirez and Gary Sheffield. Joe DiMaggio comes in at #50 all-time with 1537 RBIs. But 1,500 RBI’s is not a sure ticket to Cooperstown either since Jeff Kent (1,518) and Carlos Delgado (1,512) missed the cut. 1,600 career RBI’s is a certain path to induction. At least for now.

But in baseball the home run is king, isn’t it? Chicks still dig the long ball!  

Dave Kingman was the first player to hit 400 home runs who never even got a sniff of HOF consideration. Was it his career 17.3 bWAR over 16 seasons? Or maybe it was the career .236 BA and the career 115 OPS+?  Whatever were the reasons, Kingman who went to my alma mater USC, was an interesting player to watch at 6 feet 6” tall.  He hit some of the most prodigious home runs in MLB history. But HOF voters were not swayed even though the weight of all those who had hit 400+ home runs prior, would seem to be heavy on the mind.

Then there’s the case of Gary Sheffield. This is his 10^th and final year on the HOF ballot. Gary Sheffield hit 509 career home runs. He also delivered a .292 career batting average and a career OPS+ of 140. He was a below average and a seemingly disinterested infielder, and his career offensive bWAR was 80.7. That would be the highest career WAR by far to not be included in the HOF. Sheffield’s defense pulled his overall career bWAR down to 60.5.

When Sheffield first arrived on the MLB scene, he was notable for being Dwight Gooden’s nephew even though Sheffield is only 4 years younger. But the man could flat out hit and was a #4 hitter even at the end of his career with the Mets. No pitcher wanted to see Gary Sheffield come to the plate in a big moment or any moment. Sheffield has made progress on the ballot in recent years getting 55% of the required votes last season. But getting to 75% in this his final season on the ballot will be difficult with players like Beltre and Todd Helton (hopefully and finally), being the front-runners for induction this time around.  

Like Barry Bonds, A-Rod, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Manny Ramirez, and Rafael Palmiero. Sheffield’s 500+ HR’s are negated by his veiled link to the Balco scandal. In 2004 SI’s Tom Verducci reported that Sheffield told him that he received a cortisone-type cream to rub on his surgical scars. He was not told it was an illegal steroid. He admitted to using the cream during the 2002 season.  A season in which he hit .307/.404/.512 with 25 HRs. That would be a down season for Gary Sheffield if you wonder about cause and effect. Clearly BBWA writers do not believe Sheffield’s account. But Jay Jaffe is more willing to, and so am I.

While A-Rod has several years left on the ballot, The Baseball Writers Association of America (BWAA) have already decided that those sinning seven should be excluded. Excluding Albert Pujols, recently retired Miguel Cabrera, and the Sinful 7, the top 33 home run hitters in MLB history are all in the Hall-of-Fame. Beyond that at #34 all-time in HR’s is Carlos Delgado (473), recently retired Nelson Cruz (464), Jose Canseco and Adam Dunn (462) are all not in the HOF with more HR’s than Dave Kingman. Carlos Delgado seems to have suffered most from Dave Kingman’s meh 442 career homers. He was light years better as a hitter and a major contributor to 2 World Series championships. Nobody will try to argue that Nellie Cruz or Adam Dunn, belong in Cooperstown. You can add Jose Canseco to the sinful 7 and call it the ‘Excluded Eight’ but he falls short any way you slice it.

Kingman was never connected with PEDs. He reportedly did drink a lot of beer which may or may not have enhanced his performance. When Kingman finished his career in 1986, he was 17^th on the all-time home run list. Today he is 43^rd with Giancarlo Stanton (402) the closest active player to his total. Mike Trout is the next highest active player with 368. 

50 years ago, 400 career home runs meant more since the modern era of the long ball had yet to dawn. Taking the top 50 career home run hitters of all time, more than half - 28 of them began playing in MLB after 1985. 400 career home runs have long since ceased to be meaningful in slam-dunking a HOF case. The PED ‘era’ revoked automatic 500 and 600 career home run admission tickets to Cooperstown as well. Now that a few 500 and 600 career home run players have been excluded it’s somehow easier to ignore this amazing achievement.

It’s probably safe to say that 500 career home runs IS the new 400. Adrian Beltre, soon after Albert Pujols, and finally Miguel Cabrera should all be inducted simply on the basis of their home run totals being in excess of 500. But doing that would diminish the entirety of their amazing careers! That’s what advanced stats like WAR, OPS+, WRC are there for. In the meantime, for me, if a player hits 500 career home runs, that player gets in. Unless he doesn’t.

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Substack.com and now Medium.com

I am a card-carrying member of the IBWAA and this post recently appeared in the IBWAA Substack and I recommend it for great daily posts.

I find Adjusted On-Base-Plus-Slugging (OPS+), to be a useful measure of a player’s performance. It’s not a statistic I grew up knowing anything about. Thanks to the advances in analytics stemming in large part from the work of the great Bill James, fans are familiar with the idea that a player could be x% better than the ‘statistical average’ player. It’s important to note that OPS+ adjusts for factors such as different ballparks and overall league scoring environments.

Many of the career leaders in Adjusted OPS+ never knew they were leading in that category because the statistic had not yet been thought up!

As of early August 2026, there are 42 players in MLB history that have a career Adjusted OPS+ of 150 or more. In baseball, the number 42 always seems to turn up, doesn’t it? For the charts below I had to break up the list of 42 into two sections and repeated HOFer Roger Connor as a placeholder.

I included a few of the players with 149 career OPS+ so you could see that two of the three are Hall of Famers and Benny Kauff did not play the required 10 MLB seasons to be eligible. Even if he had, Kauff never would get in as he was banned from baseball in 1921 by Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis (who was fond of bans), due to a controversial arrest of Kauff and indictment for auto theft. Kauff was acquitted of the auto-theft charge, yet Landis nevertheless refused to reinstate him because Landis believed the trial revealed undesirable associations/conduct. But that’s another story.

The HOFers are indicated with the + sign, so non-Hall of Famers currently total 14 or 33% of the total. Active players Trout, Judge, Ohtani, Soto and Alvarez are all currently ineligible, with the first four already possessing or rapidly building compelling Hall of Fame cases.

The best of the non-Hall of Fame 150+ OPS+ players

Gavy Cravath (151) – I’ve written about Gavy before. He would be a worthy inclusion.

Charlie Keller (152) – It always amused me that he did not like being called ‘King Kong’ Keller which it seems he took as an insult instead of a compliment. Keller had a strange career never playing more than 83 games after his age 29 season. Being overshadowed by his Yankee teammates HOFers Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, and a late-career Lou Gehrig, didn’t help. Sometimes being a great Yankee can still get you lost amongst other great Yankees.

Added in the IBWAA post by my friend Jeff Kallman: Charlie Keller was a great power hitter before he missed a year and a half to wartime service in the merchant marine. He returned to the Yankees in August 1945, according to his Society for American Baseball Research biography, posted a splendid 1946, but suffered a slipped disc in 1947.

Surgery to remove the disc was successful, but Keller was never the same player again: he was never able to play another full season—and never hit more than six home runs in any of his final seasons, including two with the Tigers—before his retirement in 1952.

King Kong bought land for farming, expanded it in due course, and enjoyed the farming life until his death at 73 in 1990.

Pete Browning (163) – Browning played from 1882-1894 and had a career .341 batting average. He played more than 50% of his career (eight seasons) in the American Association which may have impacted his being elected. Pete Browning continues to be a glaring omission to the Hall of Fame in the eyes of many including me.

Then there’s the ‘woulda’, ‘coulda’, ‘shoulda’ group

Manny Ramirez (154), Mark McGwire (163), Joe Jackson (170), and Barry Bonds (182), are all excluded from Cooperstown for reasons that have been well documented. On their playing records alone, all four have obvious Hall of Fame credentials.

Like Pete Browning, Charley Jones (150), and Dave Orr (162) were 19^th century stars. Orr did not play the required 10 MLB championship seasons so that lets him out.

Charley Jones was the 268^th player to ever play MLB. Statistics included on his Baseball-Reference.com page include his time in the National Association which predates the National League but generally is not recognized by MLB as a major league. That makes him more difficult to evaluate. Jones led the league in home runs in 1877 with two in 57 games. Charley Jones was born Benjamin Wesley Rippay on April 30, 1852, on a farm in Alamance County, North Carolina. It’s a shame he changed his name. ‘Rippay rips one’ has a nice ring to it!

Not counting Mr. Jones, out of the 42 players with career 150+ OPS+, only Cravath, Keller, and Browning are arguably HOFers. It would be nice if a number like 150 OPS+, 50% better offensively than league average, was a mandate for having your ticket stamped for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. But it doesn’t work that way. The exceptions are interesting and worth discussion since there are so few.

Also, having five active players in the top 20 for Adjusted Career OPS+ is impressive.

Among modern eligible players with 150+ career OPS+, Charlie Keller is essentially the only Hall omission whose candidacy isn’t explained by eligibility, a short career, or an extraordinary off-field issue.

Among modern eligible players with 150+ career OPS+, Charlie Keller is essentially the only Hall omission without an obvious explanation beyond the relatively short length of his career.

Barring extraordinary circumstances, I think it’s safe to say that a player who puts together a substantial career of 10 or more seasons and finishes with an OPS+ of 150 or better will ultimately find his way to Cooperstown.

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

You’d think a player averaging 4.6 bWAR over eight straight seasons (1935–42) would be someone a baseball nut like me would have heard about. This was not the case with Harlond Clift. Doesn’t his name look more like a name from a 1930s movie than a baseball player? His brother was not the actor Montgomery Clift and yes, I looked it up. Playing for mostly bad teams is a way to get yourself forgotten even if it’s not anything a player can do something about! Harlond Clift was one of the best players nobody knows about.

Harlond Clift’s excellent SABR biography from Ralph Moses posits that Clift was MLB’s first ‘modern’ third baseman – one who could play outstanding defense while also delivering “power, production, and patience” at the plate. Debuting as a 21-year-old in 1934, Clift arrived at a time when third basemen, aside from Hall-of-Famers Home Run Baker and Pie Traynor, were considered more like second basemen and shortstops, and power was not a requisite. Clift paved the way for HOFers Eddie Mathews and Ron Santo, as well as Al Rosen and Ken Boyer in the 1950s and 1960s.

Clift began his career with the St. Louis Browns, playing almost ten full seasons there. He was then traded to the Washington Senators, where he played his final two-plus seasons retiring at age 33.

Here is Harlond Clift’s career line from Baseball-Reference.com

That looks like a very good, but not all-time great career, right?

From the SABR bio:

For all of his accomplishments and pioneering efforts at third base and as a hitter, Clift had the misfortune to have played his entire 12-year major-league career with the St. Louis Browns and Washington Senators, two of the least successful franchises. The teams Clift played on had a won-lost percentage of just .423 and they finished in the first division only three times in a dozen seasons.

In 1934 the Browns invited Clift to spring training in West Palm Beach, Florida. Manager Rogers Hornsby recognized Clift’s talent and potential. In an exhibition game against the New York Giants on March 22, he hit a grand slam off future Hall of Fame pitcher Carl Hubbell. Clift also exhibited a “good pair of hands” at third base. The Browns, who had finished the 1933 season in last place with a record of 55-96, placed Clift on their Opening Day roster.

According to Bill James in his Historical Baseball Abstract, Clift was given the nickname Darkie by teammate Alan Strange, also a rookie, who thought Clift’s first name was Harlem. The moniker, with its racial overtones, stuck. Also, the rookie was so reluctant to talk that he did not correct anyone who thought his name was Harland rather than Harlond.

In his 12-year major-league career, Clift had 1,558 base hits, 178 home runs, 829 runs batted in, a batting average of .272, an on-base percentage of .390, and a slugging percentage of .441. He scored 100 or more runs in seven seasons, drew 100 or more walks six times, and hit 20 or more home runs in four seasons.

Harlond Clift never played on a team that reached the World Series. He’s not even a borderline Hall-of-Famer and averaging nearly 3.5 bWAR for his career might be his signature (but unknown) accomplishment! Clift posted three straight seasons of exemplary play with 5.9 bWAR in 1936, 7.1 bWAR in 1937, and 6.3 bWAR in 1938. He made only one All-Star team (1937) and was wrongly overlooked in 1936 and 1938.

When thinking about the way baseball was 75 or more years ago, in the age prior to national television coverage (Bobby Thomson’s ‘Shot Heard Around the World’ will be 75 years old this October), I am increasingly aware that there were a lot of terrific baseball players whose reputations were much easier to lose to history, particularly when they never reached the World Series.

The Divisional Era began in 1969, adding a League Championship Series in each league ahead of the World Series so more fans could watch players they both knew about but did not see much or had never heard about!

The last part of the SABR biography is kind of sad but exemplifies Harlond Clift:

“Clift was remembered twice for his career as a ballplayer. He reportedly broke down and cried when he received an invitation to an old-timer’s game at New York’s Shea Stadium, so surprised was he to be remembered at all. Then in 1977, Clift was inducted into the Washington Sports Hall of Fame.”

Harlond Clift was only able to dream of playing in October just like HOFers Ernie Banks and Ron Santo. Too bad, because maybe he would have been able to deliver a signature moment instead of the one he left in disappearing ink.

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

“He runs well for a catcher.”

Even casual baseball fans know playing catcher is the most physically debilitating position on the diamond. Playing while wearing armor is tiring all by itself, let alone squatting for hours every day. Yet that respect flies out the window when a catcher runs the bases and look slows and plodding. “He runs well for a catcher.” Could there be anything more insulting?

“Runs Well for a Catcher” was meant to be a compliment, and it’s been a term that’s been around for a while. I found this gem from a June 20, 1958, Daily Iowan article:

The article was trying to be nice in describing Bob Oldis, yet highlighting his being a “gate attraction” doesn’t suggest a standout player and the line that he “runs well for a catcher” falls flat. Unfortunately, that line stuck around.

Sandy Alomar Sr., who had watched Benito Santiago develop in Puerto Rico before joining the Padres’ coaching staff, described the rookie in a Los Angeles Times article in 1986 by saying, “He runs well for a catcher, has a great arm and good power.”

If you suspect catchers run more slowly than their teammates, you’d be right. In MLB’s original 2017 Sprint Speed study, catchers and designated hitters tied for the slowest position at 25.9 feet per second. Eight years later, our calculation from Baseball Savant’s 2025 data found catchers alone at the bottom.

Average sprint speed by position from a 2017 study compared to 2025:

Catchers, while they have gotten faster overall, have not closed the gap on the MLB average sprint speed.

2025 catcher: 26.13 ft/sec

2025 non-catcher: 27.53 ft/sec

What it means is that catchers were actually 1.40 ft/sec, or about 5.1%, slower than non-catchers.

As pejorative as “he runs well for a catcher” may sound, the numbers say baseball broadcasters and pundits aren’t imagining things. In 2025, the average MLB catcher had a Statcast Sprint Speed of 26.1 feet per second, compared with 27.5 for everyone else. Catchers really are about 5% slower than their non-catching brethren.

Stolen bases by catchers always feel like they are a bonus. And not every stolen base necessarily began as a straight steal—some undoubtedly came on busted hit-and-run plays.

Career stolen-base leaders among players primarily known as catchers

189 - Jason Kendall

128 – HOFer Carlton Fisk

127 – HOFer Iván Rodríguez

107 - J.T. Realmuto

105 - John Wathan

102 - Brad Ausmus

101 - Russell Martin

Jason Kendall (mostly with the Pirates) is far and away the post-Deadball Era career stolen-base leader among players primarily known as catchers, with 189. Kendall had a sneaky good career and his contribution as a baserunner is undervalued in his 41.7 career bWAR.

Carlton Fisk totaled 128 stolen bases. He had 10+ SB four times, with highs of 17 SB in both 1982 at age 34 and in 1985 at age 37.

Iván Rodríguez was known for his defense, his high batting average and power stroke. What’s lesser known was his ability to run the bases and run them well. He slots in right behind Fisk with 127 career steals.

J.T. Realmuto is the only active player in the top seven. Realmuto’s baserunning is highly regarded and, like Kendall, Fisk and I-Rod, involved much more than simply stealing bases. Realmuto is the perfect example. At his peak, he ranked in the 85th–90th percentile of all major leaguers in Sprint Speed. He has stolen 20+ bases in a season, batted leadoff, and even hit an inside-the-park home run.

John Wathan was not a name I expected to see on any list of stolen base achievements unless throwing out baserunners was the topic! Wathan amassed 105 steals over his 10-year career entirely spent with the Kansas City Royals.

Brad Ausmus had a great ability to call a baseball game from behind the plate and his baseball intelligence and baserunning were always respected. He had 102 career steals.

Russell Martin did many things well including running the bases and stealing one at a critical moment. Martin was an underappreciated all-around catcher whose Hall of Fame case is stronger than his traditional counting statistics suggest.

On the other hand, some catchers gained a well-earned reputation for being extremely slow runners.

Hall-of-Famer Ernie Lombardi was a hitting star despite his ponderous foot speed. He was said to have once been thrown out at first base by a right fielder on what would have ordinarily been a single. That’s slow! J.T. Realmuto has run faster than the average MLB center fielder, while Ernie Lombardi got thrown out from right field. Nobody ever said Lombardi ran well for a catcher.

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

Continuing the series, in prior posts I’ve done the Mets, Rockies, Rays, White Sox, Cubs, Astros, Athletics, Braves, Mariners, Giants, Orioles, Pirates, Royals, Blue Jays, Marlins, Angels, Padres, Twins, Cardinals, Yankees, and Reds. You can find them all on this Substack.

I must admit that when I first thought about Texas Ranger starting pitchers, my thoughts ranged from HOFer Gaylord Perry to Jacob deGrom. I knew deGrom couldn’t be a top five Ranger starters, but did Perry pitch there for five years? Nope only four. How about HOFer Fergie Jenkins after he left Chicago? The point is no obvious choices leapt out.

For my top five starters in Rangers history the only criteria are that the starting pitcher pitched five or more seasons for the team.

Honorable Mention:

HOFer Nolan Ryan – Now a team owner, Ryan joined the Rangers at age 42 and still managed to pitch the requisite (for this comparison) five seasons for the team. He’s first in K’s/9 (naturally), and fifth with 939 strikeouts. Ryan is even seventh in bWAR (15.2). No way he wasn’t included, and I suspect he may be the only pitcher to make the top five starter list for three different teams (Angels and Astros).

Rick Helling – in the top 10 in wins (seventh), and bWAR (eighth), and Innings Pitched (10^th). Steady and reliable.

Colby Lewis – Nine years a Ranger, the tall righty battled injuries throughout his career but still managed 77 wins (6^th best) and was sixth with 933 strikeouts. He was a good postseason performer for the team.

Yu Darvish – He’s number four in Strikeouts (960) and bWAR (18.5). Darvish pitched his first five seasons in Texas.

Juan Guzman – he got off to a slow start in his six-year career as a Ranger and shoulder injuries had a huge impact. He did start 25 or more games five times in his Texas tenure but lost two full seasons (1989, 1990) to injury.

If you think I forgot HOFer Gaylord Perry, think again. He pitched four seasons for the Rangers.

My top five starting pitchers in Rangers history

#5 – Kevin Brown – one of my picks as overlooked for the Hall of Fame, Brown pitched longer in Texas (eight seasons), than he did anywhere else although he got even better after leaving the Rangers. He’s fourth with 40 Complete Games, fifth bWAR (17.7) and fifth in Innings Pitched (1,278.2), and Wins (78).

#4 – Bobby Witt - the senior Witt was a very good, not great pitcher. He pitched 11 seasons for Texas and had two different terms as a Ranger. Because he is second in Starts (260), second with 1,405 strikeouts, third in Innings Pitched (1,680.2), and third with 104 wins (to go with his 104 losses as a Ranger).

#3 – HOFer Ferguson Jenkins – he will be one of the few pitchers to be on two teams top five starters list. And he’s the only HOFer in the top five. Why Fergie? Six years in Texas with 190 games started which somehow leaves him fifth in team history. Jenkins is first in team history with 17 shutouts, and second with 90 complete games. He’s fourth in Innings Pitched (1,410.1). The Cubs regretted letting him go so much that they brought Jenkins back at age 39 for two more seasons.

#2 – Kenny Rogers – the lefty pitched for 12 seasons in Texas in two different stints. Second in bWAR (31.2) and Wins (133), the sometime reliever Rogers appeared in more games as a Ranger (528), than any other pitcher for the team. He’s second in Innings Pitched (1,909), and third in Games Started (252). He never pitched in a postseason game for Texas.

#1 – Charlie Hough – the team leader in many starting pitcher categories, the knuckleballer Hough is first in bWAR (32.6), Wins (139), Games Started (313), and Innings Pitched (2,308 almost 400 more than 2^nd place Rogers), and Complete Games (98). Hough didn’t join the Rangers until his age-32 season yet pitched 11 seasons for the team and another four seasons after he left Texas, retiring at age 46. Hough, like Rogers, never tasted the playoffs while a Ranger.

Clearly the Rangers have plenty of spots for great pitchers to ascend onto this list. Current Texas starters Nate Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom are very good but likely won’t post enough career stats with the team to move into anything beyond honorable mention and neither have yet to pitch five seasons for the team.

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

I’m intrigued with Baseball Hall-of-Famers whose name and team or teams I am aware of, but about whom I know little. HOFers Harry Heilmann and HOFer Chuck Klein are among the players enshrined in Cooperstown who I don’t know much about. I knew Heilmann played nearly his entire career with Detroit and that Klein won an MVP for the Phillies.

While both are worthy Hall-of-Famers, they had different ways of making history. Harry Heilmann’s consistent hitting prowess was his ticket to entrance while Chuck Klein’s case rested upon an extraordinary five-year period. Heilmann went into Cooperstown through the front door while Klein came in through the side door.

They were born ten years apart, Heilmann in August of 1894 and Klein in October of 1904. Although Heilmann began his career in 1914 which was 14 years before Klein, their playing careers overlapped in 1928-1930 and briefly in 1932 when Heilmann finally retired after 15 games. Heilmann was elected to the HOF in 1952, 20 years after his playing career ended, but sadly he did not live to see it as he died the year before at age 56. Klein got little support for the Hall from writers and was not inducted until 1979, 21 years after his passing.

Both were outfielders although Harry Heilmann was tried at first base according to Dan D’Addona’s SABR bio: “The Tigers realized the experiment with Heilmann at first base was not what they had hoped, and he returned to the outfield in 1921. It turned out better than anyone in the organization could have hoped for. Heilmann, Cobb and Veach — who led the AL in RBIs three times — formed one of the greatest outfields in baseball history.”

It’s always amazing to me that over his 24-year career, HOFer Ty Cobb never won a World Series. But at least he had the chance to play in three in a row! Over parts of 17 Tigers seasons, Harry Heilmann never played a World Series game. His nickname on the Tigers was “Slug”, and he did plenty of that!

Neither player was known as a defensive stalwart although Chuck Klein still holds the modern-era MLB record for outfield assists in one season with an incredible 44 in 1930. Klein’s 1929-1933 stretch when he averaged 6.4 bWAR totaled 32.3 bWAR which represented 70% of his career 46.3 bWAR. He did manage to play in one World Series, for the Cubs in 1935 when they lost to the Tigers (which was the first championship for Detroit, three years after Heilmann retired). Klein’s nickname the “Hoosier Hammer” was a nod to his roots in Indiana. By comparison, Heilmann never reached Klein’s single-season heights, but he produced nine seasons worth at least 4.5 bWAR and accumulated more than 70 career bWAR.

Among the sources for this post are the SABR biographies for Harry Heilmann and Chuck Klein and both are worth reading. I knew that Heilmann played with Ty Cobb but did not realize he followed HOFer “Wahoo” Sam Crawford in the Detroit outfield. Replacing a legend is always a tall order but Heilmann was more than up to the task. And it’s not as if Heilmann did not have an extraordinary run himself when from 1921-1927, he batted .394, .356, .403, .346, .393, .367, and .398 winning four batting titles along the way. By today’s standards those numbers look completely ridiculous and unattainable.

While Heilmann wasn’t the same kind of home run hitter as Chuck Klein, his career OPS of .930 ranks 43^rd all-time and edges out Klein’s .922. Heilmann also tops Klein with his career OPS+ of 148 (48% above average), compared to Klein’s 137.

From the SABR bio on Klein: “He led all senior circuit outfielders in assists three times and set a modern major league record with 44 in 1930. Klein wasn’t a speed demon on the base paths, swiping only 79 bases in his career. However, he remains the only post-1920 player to lead his league in home runs and stolen bases in the same year, when he slammed 38 homers and stole 20 bases in 1932.”

Here’s how they compare side-by-side (from Stathead)

Keep in mind that Harry Heilmann retired before the first All-Star Game was played in 1933. While Klein’s .320 career batting average is notable (he’s 57^th all-time), Harry Heilmann’s .342 career batting average is remarkable. Heilmann holds the third-highest career average for modern-era right-handed hitters. Imagine maintaining that average across a 17-year career! Over the past 20 years, there have only been 15 players (out or 40) to hit .342 or better as NL or AL batting champion.

Because both players had the unfortunate luck to play for teams that rarely contended for pennants, there are few signature moments known outside of Detroit (Heilmann) or Philadelphia (Klein) and they all happened during the regular season. Midway through his age 33 season in 1938, the Phillies abandoned their home, the cozy Baker Bowl, to play their remaining home games that season as a second tenant of Shibe Park (where the A’s played). Shibe was not as friendly to Klein to say the least and his production slipped and he was shipped to the Chicago Cubs in 1934. He still hit well in Chicago but compared to prior levels it was a downtrend, and during the 1934 season he tore a leg muscle which bothered him through much of 1934 and 1935. Klein returned to the Phillies in 1936 and had two more good but not great seasons. He never again reached anything close to what he was from 1929-33.

It’s been over 93 seasons since Harry Heilmann retired and 82 since Klein retired. Both were well-respected in their communities, Heilmann becoming a Tiger radio broadcaster for 17 years, and Klein after coaching four years for the Phillies, opened a tavern in central Philadelphia. Perhaps that’s the greatest value of Cooperstown—not simply preserving greatness but giving forgotten greatness another chance to be appreciated!

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

There have been 320 one pitcher no-hitters and 25 combined no-hitters in baseball history. Even more celebrated are the 24 perfect games that have been pitched. Four home runs in a single game by a player is viewed as more of an amusement than a significant accomplishment by the batter. It’s a fluke. According to Baseball-Reference.com, since 1901, there have been 19 MLB players who have hit four home runs in one game. It’s one of the rarest occurrences in MLB.

To give 19^th century ballplayers their due:

There were two pre-20^th century four home run games.

In 1894, Bobby Lowe of the Boston Beaneaters, became the first player to hit four homers in a game on May 30^th, including two in the third inning. Lowe finished his career with 71 home runs in an 18-year career that began better than it finished.

In 1896, on July 13^th, HOFer Ed Delahanty hit two of his four home runs inside the park, according to Baseball Almanac. He is the only member of the four-homer club to even have one inside-the-park homer as part of his feat. Shockingly, the Phillies lost this game despite Delahanty going 5-5. Delahanty hit just 101 career homers in 16 seasons, maxing out at 19 during the 1893 season.

The list of the 19 four homer players since 1901

Kyle Schwarber is the most recent to accomplish the feat in 2025 on August 28^th, punctuating a season in which three players hit the four-homers in a game mark. Eugenio Suarez also crashed four homers in a game on April 26^th, and Nick Kurtz did the same in a game on July 25^th. No other MLB season featured more than one player hitting four homers in one game.

Nearly half – nine of the 19 players, have done it since 2002. ‘Hard-hittin’ Mark Whiten’ did it in 1993 and over the past 33 years more than half of the four-homer games have occurred. This is compared to the first 117 years of baseball since the founding of the National League in 1876.

Since it is a freak occurrence, it shouldn’t be surprising but somehow is, that only six of the 19 men to hit four homers in a game are in the Hall of Fame. No member of the 700 Club ever hit four home runs in a game (Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Albert Pujols all missed).

Four homer game memories

· “It was just one of those days.” said Mike Cameron after his four-homer game for Seattle on May 2, 2002. At least Cameron finished with 278 career dingers!

· J.D. Martinez is the only player to hit four home runs in a game also have two three-homer games.

· First basemen HOFer Gil Hodges (Dodgers) and Joe Adcock (Braves) both had four-homer games in 1950 and 1954, respectively, with both efforts at Ebbets Field while teams played each other.

· Whiten had the most RBIs during a four-homer game, while Mike Cameron (4) had the fewest because he had four solo home runs.

· Lou Gehrig was the first American Leaguer and only Yankee to have a four-homer game (June 3, 1932).

· On July 31, 1954, Joe Adcock used a borrowed bat to slam his four homers on his way to 18 total bases – a then record.

· Shawn Green’s four-homer performance in 2002 was accompanied by a single and double, giving him a record 19 total bases in a game.

· The unlikeliest happened fifteen years later when Scooter Gennett became player to hit four in a game (he hit a total of 87 career home runs in his seven seasons the fewest career homes of any of the four-homers-in-a -game club).

Only two of the 19 efforts came in losing causes. The late Bob Horner with the Atlanta Braves in 1986 and Suarez last year matched him when crashing four in the D’backs loss to the Braves 8-7.

How likely is a five-homer game?

Likely is probably the wrong word but it’s at least very possible. Factors against it ever happening are the limitations of at-bats within the game (seven or more at-bats is at the top end), as well as the general parade of relief pitchers in any given game. As mentioned, Kyle Schwarber hit four homers in a game in 2025 and had a fifth opportunity but popped out to end his bid. Three other players, (Lowe, Gehrig, and Cameron), also failed in a fifth opportunity to hit five in a game.

In today’s homer happy world of MLB, it just feels like to me that a player will accomplish five homers in one game, one day!

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

Before this 2026 season I wrote a post in which I ‘tiered’ the active players in terms of their Hall of Fame possibilities. I had Chris Sale in Tier three although to be fair, I had no starting pitchers included in Tier two (Paul Goldschimdt, Bryce Harper, Jose Altuve, and Franciso Lindor). I did include Kenley Jansen, Craig Kimbrel and Aroldis Chapman in Tier two.

My Tier three included Xander Bogaerts, Gerritt Cole, Chris Sale, Carlos Correa, and Zach Wheeler. Regarding Chris Sale, the amazing Atlanta Braves lefty, I did note that an overachieving 2026 season could propel him to Tier two or even Tier one. Based on what Sale has done already in 2026, I think he’s a lock to be a Hall-of-Famer – maybe even a first ballot HOFer. I seriously underrated what Sale has done! What was I thinking?

Chris Sale through July 30, 2026

Pitcher WHIP is revealing

I saw on Baseball-Reference.com recently that Chris Sale is seventh in MLB history in career WHIP – Walks Plus Hits per Innings Pitched. It’s an awesome list rife with Hall-of-Famers that make up the top 20.

9 of the top 20 are in the Hall-of-Fame. Five of those pitchers – Charlie Sweeney, Reb Russell, Jim Devlin, Jack Pfeister, and George Bradley did not play the requisite 10 MLB seasons. (Except for Addie Joss who played nine seasons dying suddenly at age 31 and the HOF appropriately waived the 10-year clause in his case).

Smoky Joe Wood came close but despite being an amazing pitcher and then excellent batter, missed out on his chance for enshrinement. Jacob deGrom, Gerritt Cole, and Max Scherzer are active and thus not yet eligible. Scherzer will be a first ballot HOFer, and the juries on deGrom and Cole are still out.

Clayton Kershaw will be a first ballot HOFer when his time comes. Then there’s Chris Sale. He’s not been the ‘sure thing HOFer’ that Verlander, Scherzer, and Kershaw represent. Verlander checks in at #56 in career WHIP at 1.1363.

Strikeouts per nine innings also tells the story

The list of K’s per 9 all-time is both sublime and emblematic of the change in pitching approach, which is to miss bats. Chris Sale is third in baseball history in K’s/9 and in my view the company you keep is meaningful. However, the top 25 also includes some pitchers you might not expect to see on any all-time list. Note that Sale is the only one of the top five to have pitched more than 2,000 innings.

Incredibly 14 of the top 25 are active players! HOFer Nolan Ryan is the oldest player on the list meaning nobody before him had a higher K/9 rate. He began his career 26 before the next oldest – HOFer Pedro Martinez.

Jack Flaherty, Nick Pivetta, Carlos Rodon, Trevor Bauer, Chris Archer, Oliver Perez, and Luis Castillo are not names I’d have thought would appear for pitchers who’ve thrown more than 1,000 innings.

Striking out 10 or more batters in a game

The pitchers with the most top 10 strikeout games in a career is also list of, well, Hall-of-Famers, would-have-been, or will-be Hall-of-Famers.

In HOF terms, Scherzer, and Verlander are locks, Sale and Cole are still active. Clemens, Schilling, and “Sudden” Sam McDowell all have been bypassed. Clemens and Schilling for different reasons than Sudden Sam. McDowell was a better pitcher than many remember and suffered a bit pitching for mostly lousy teams. But McDowell also has a career WHIP of 1.308, which is far from elite.

Sale’s Career bWAR is good enough on its own

Pitcher WAR is probably better represented in FanGraphs, but I like to use Baseball-Reference.com data as my baseline. Chris Sale has a 61.2 bWAR to date including seven seasons in which he posted greater than 5.0 bWAR representing a five-game improvement over a replacement player. That is elite! After his seven, shutout innings with nine strikeouts vs. the Mets this week, he is on track for another 5+ bWAR season in 2026 as he’s already reached 4.0 bWAR.

Sale’s postseason resume doesn’t shine quite the same. He started one game and finished one for the 2018 World Champion Red Sox vs. the Dodgers but was not as great as usual.

Dinging Sale for his low wins total isn’t fair

Traditionalists, when it comes to HOF voting, will point out the low career win total for Chris Sale. With 156 wins through late July, the 37-year-old may not card another 44 wins in his illustrious career to reach 200 wins, which is the new 300 wins. Even though Sale shows no sign of slowing down and still pumps 97 M.P.H fastballs, win totals by a starting pitcher have never been less important. It should also be noted that Sale has the 77^th best winning percentages (.624) for a starting pitcher in baseball history. Verlander, Scherzer, and Cole along with Max Fried and Shane Bieber are all slightly above Sale. When any of these amazing hurlers pitch, generally their team wins.

3,000 strikeout pitchers are a vanishing breed

Chris Sale has sneakily amassed more than 2,700 career K’s. 3,000 once seemed unreachable for the lanky lefty (he’s 6’ 6” and all arms and legs coming at hitters), but now that is well within reach barring another serious arm injury. Injuries have impacted Sale’s career stats to be sure, as he only made 11 starts from 2020-2022 which does include the pandemic season.

Here are some highlights from Chris Sale’s career so far

Are you more, or less, convinced? Pitching in MLB is hard. Chris Sale has a way of making it look easy, and making batters look silly. If pitchers as good as Sale are not HOFers, I don’t know how other pitchers will make it down the road!

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

According to Baseball-Reference.com, there have been 105 MLB players whose last name begins with the letter “Z”.

Notable “Z’s” are former Senators pitcher Tom Zachary, Pat Zachary (well at least for Met fans since he was part of the infamous Tom Seaver trade in 1975), and Geoff Zahn, a good pitcher in the 1970s and ‘80s. Others include pitchers and not-brothers (but I thought they were until a smart reader pointed it out), Carlos and Victor Zambrano, both of whom made noise in the 2000s. Don Zimmer was both an original Met, a good player and manager. Heinie Zimmerman might be the best of the Zimmerman’s. Jordan Zimmerman was a good ‘could have been great’ pitcher, and Jordan’s Nationals teammate Ryan Zimmerman fashioned a long and successful MLB career. Power hitting outfielder/DH Richie Zisk made his mark in Pittsburgh and later with the White Sox, Rangers, and Mariners. Left-hander Barry Zito had one of the best curveballs I’ve ever seen with apologies to recently retired Clayton Kershaw. Mike Zunino was a pretty good hitting catcher for 13 seasons. Those for me are the most notable and memorable Z’s.

Then there are the featured subjects of today’s post. Most baseball fans today know or have heard of Todd Zeile, as well as Zahn, Zito, the Zambranos, and the Zimmermans. They probably have not heard of Gus Zernial.

Gus “Ozark Ike” Zernial

Marc Aaron’s delightful SABR bio on Gus Zernial does a great job of covering Zernial’s pre-, actual, and post-career exploits. I love that a guy who was known as “Ozark Ike” was named Gus and heralded from Beaumont, Texas and retired in Fresno, California. Reputedly, Zernial had a promotional photo shoot with Marilyn Monroe which led to him suggesting to Joe DiMaggio that he give her a call. Apparently, DiMaggio was forever jealous of the handsome Zernial. The Yankee Clipper was very much the prickly sort to put it mildly.

Zernial’s time as a Major Leaguer was delayed due to him serving in WWII, and he did not make his debut until his age 26 season. Despite that he clubbed 237 career home runs, leading the AL with 33 in 1951 for the Philadelphia Athletics, a year in which he also led baseball with 133 RBIs. While Zernial possessed a lethal throwing arm leading the league in outfield assists twice in his career, he had limited range and was overall a poor defensive outfielder with a career dWAR of -10.2. He had a terrific six-year run from 1950-1955 but his “Q” rating as a “Z” is overshadowed by better players.

Todd Zeile – the nomad

Todd Zeile on the other hand had a nomadic career playing for 11 MLB teams. Drafted as a catcher, his manager at the time future HOFer Joe Torre, had taken over from HOF manager Whitey Herzog and convinced Zeile to convert from catcher to third base. It was something Torre knew about since he did the exact same thing during his career! Zeile became an anchor in the Cardinal’s lineup for five years. After a short mostly unsuccessful year with the Cubs, Zeile signed as a free agent with the Phillies for the 1996 season but was traded to the playoff-bound Orioles late in the season. Zeile played in the postseason for four out of the next five seasons (for Baltimore, Texas, and the Mets), performing well but never was on a team that won it all.

Playing for so many years, Zeile ended up in the top ten for at least one category. Paul White who writes a terrific Substack “Lost in Left Field” noted recently that for those players who played in more than 2,000 games, the lowest bWAR totals belong to:

Don Kessinger, 8.9

Charlie Grimm, 12.5

Doc Cramer, 12.9

Bill Buckner and Aurelio Rodríguez, 15.1 each

Rubén Sierra, 16.8

Adam Dunn, 18.0

Todd Zeile, 19.4

Royce Clayton, Joe Carter, and Jeff Conine, 19.5 each

A player must be good enough to have a manager put his name down on the lineup card more than 2,000 times! But I don’t know that Todd Zeile would be proud of being on this list. But playing 2,000+ MLB games is an undervalued career accomplishment all by itself.

Todd Zeile’s 1,110 RBI’s are the most for any “Z”. He’s second to Ryan Zimmerman with 253 home runs. I thought he’d be the greatest “Z” ever, but the numbers tell a different story.

I’ve written about the Heinie’s before and Zimmerman is the second greatest Heinie behind HOFer Heinie Manush. Heinie Zimmerman won the Triple Crown in 1912 – the height of the Deadball Era. He’s got the second highest bWAR and leads in career Batting Average and Stolen Bases.

Richie Zisk’s .353 on base average was the highest of the four and enabled him to have the highest OPS and OPS+.

So, who do you have? I didn’t include Zito (or Geoff Zahn), since they were pitchers and I can’t easily make an argument that either was the greatest “Z”- name ever. A case can be made for any of the four I’ve compared. I lean in Ryan Zimmerman’s direction since he was the best defensive player of this group and had the highest bWAR because of it. To be fair, Ryan’s not great-grandpa Heinie Zimmerman was an above average defender (compared to Zisk and Zeile), while playing mostly third base.

Believe it or not, there are five “Z”’s playing in MLB this season.

· Ryan Zeferjahn of the Los Angeles Angels.

· Angel Zerpa pitched in April for the Brewers.

· Bruce Zimmerman pitched one game for the Cardinals so far in 2026.

· Tyler Zuber of the Marlins who is playing for the team in July.

· Guilio Zuniga who pitched one inning for the Mets in early July this season.

None of them are on any kind of track to follow. Yet.

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

A 40 home-run season used to be cool. Today fans don’t blink an eye when a player achieves that mark in a season. Just last season in 2025, Cal Raleigh tied Babe Ruth for ninth place for single season home runs when he clouted 60. It’s hard to believe that Babe Ruth’s amazing 1927 season has been relegated to being tied for ninth in the greatest home run seasons of all-time. But 40 home runs was a meaningful thing before 1996. I picked 1996 since that was the year of Brady Anderson. More on that to come.

I will always remember that Henry Aaron never had a 50-home run season despite launching 755 career homers. Hammerin’ Hank had eight 40+ home runs seasons.

There have been 374 individual player seasons in which a player has hit 40 home runs or more. If you take away all the 40+ home run seasons done more than once by a player, the number quickly reduces to 83. 18 of the 83 are Hall-of-Famers or will be once Carlos Beltran is formally inducted this weekend.

Mel Ott hit 511 career home runs. It’s a tribute to his consistency that he did that only hitting more than 40 home runs once. This includes four seasons, his first two and his last two in which Ott totaled two home runs. That means he hit 509 homers in 18 seasons, an average of 28+ per season. That’s a Hall-of-Famer for you! I was also surprised that Frank Robinson with his 49 during his MVP season in 1966 did it only once.

On the all-inclusive list (meaning including non-HOFers), Roger Maris tops the list hitting his famed 61 home runs in 1961 but never hitting 40 or more home runs in any other season. Current MLBers Cal Raleigh (60) and Giancarlo Stanton (59) are also members of the one-time 40+ homers-in-a-season club. Luis Gonzalez had the season of his life in 2001 smashing 57 home runs. The most he hit in any other season was 31.

The interesting thing about the 65 players who are not Hall-of-Famers but hit 40 or more homers at least once are the anomalies.

Brady Anderson’s wild 50 home runs in 1996 has always had a red glow around it. Anderson never hit more than 24 homers in any other season and only topped 20 three times. Rico Petrocelli and Dante Bichette both hit exactly 40 homers once and like Brady Anderson, were also guys that hit more than 200 career homers. Hitting nearly 20% of your career homers in one season is…weird.

Mets’ catcher Todd Hundley was tied for the National League record (with HOFer Roy Campanella) for many years until HOFer Mike Piazza came along. Hundley cracked 41 homers in 1996 and totaled 202 career homers but hit more than 20 homers (24 twice with the Dodgers, in three of 14 MLB his seasons). I found it amazing that Dave Kingman with his 442 career dingers, only hit more than 40 once (48 in 1970 for the Cubs).

A very good player and power hitter too often forgotten was Tony Armas Sr., although he was just Tony Armas when he played. Armas jacked 251 career homers topping out with 43 in 1984 to lead the American League for the Red Sox. Armas topped 30 homers three times and hit 187 homers from 1980-85. He was a legitimate power threat.

Current Tampa Bay Ray Junior Caminero hit 45 homers in 2025 and is on pace to hit more than 40 this season. He seems to keep getting better. Current Met Marcus Semien crushed 45 homers for Toronto in 2023 but looks to be a one-time only 40+ homers in a season guy.

The list of the non-HOFers with only one 40 homer season:

Only five played before Roger Maris, Roy Sievers (42 in 1957), Wally Post (40 in 1955), Hank Sauer (41 in 1954,) Gus Zernial (42 in 1953) who somehow amassed 237 homers in 11 MLB seasons teams only totaling 8.4 bWAR for his career, and Hal Trosky who had 42 homers in 1936. Jim Gentile hit his 46 the same year as Maris in 1961.

Did you recall that Chris Carter drilled 41 homers in 2016 – only 10 years ago? Dale Murphy is arguably the closest HOFer of the bunch with his two MVPs. Phil Nevin hitting 41 in 2001 amazed me then and still does. Nevin totaled 208 home runs, so his 41 represented 19.7% of his career homers! Of the 40-home run one-timers, the late Davey Johnson has the fewest career homers (136), meaning 31.6% of Davey’s career homers came in that magical season of 1973! That was also a season in which three Braves crushed 40+ homers (Aaron had and Darrell Evans 41).

In 2025, seven players reached 40 or more home runs and this season it looks that there might be even a few more than reach 40. In this home run happy era hitting 40 home runs isn’t as special as it used to be. But it’s still cool!

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

Continuing the series, in prior posts I’ve done the Mets, Rockies, Rays, White Sox, Cubs, Astros, Athletics, Braves, Mariners, Giants, Orioles, Pirates, Royals, Blue Jays, Marlins, Angels, Padres, Twins, Cardinals, and Yankees. You can find them all on this Substack.

The Reds, as nerdy fans like me know, were baseball’s first professional team in 1869. They were a charter member of the National League in 1876. What gets forgotten is that the Reds were kicked out of the NL in 1880 due in part to their refusal to stop selling beer on game days and renting out their ballpark on Sundays. In 1882 a revived version of the team resurfaced in the new American Association. That lasted through 1889 when the Reds quit the AA and accepted an invitation to rejoin the National League for the 1890 season where they have remained ever since.

The Reds starting pitcher history features some of the least notable hurlers of any Major League team. It’s almost hard to believe. The fact that you can’t immediately name a bunch of great Reds starting pitchers is indicative of that.

For my top five starters in Reds history the only criteria are that the starting pitcher pitched five or more seasons for the team.

Honorable Mention:

Noodles Hahn – Not only because of his name, but that helps. Noodles Hahn has the highest bWAR for any starting pitcher in Reds history (45.6). Hahn won his 100^th game as a pitcher at age 24 and was the youngest to do that until HOFer Bob Feller did it in the 1940s. He pitched an amazing 1,910.1 innings over his first six seasons as a Red an average of 318 innings per seasons.

Frank Dwyer – fifth in bWAR for Reds starting pitchers (37.4), Dwyer is also eighth in wins with 133. Had to mention him.

Tony Mullane – He and Frank Dwyer were teammates on the 1893 Reds. Who finished sixth in the NL under manager Charlie Comiskey. Yeah, that Comiskey. Mullane pitched both before and after the move of the pitching slab was moved to its current 60 feet 6 inches. He’s seventh in bWAR (35.5). Second in wins with 163. Fourth in Innings Pitched (2,599) and sixth in Games Started (285).

Johnny van der Meer – not just for the back-to-back no-hitters. The lefty Van der Meer is tied for fourth (1,251) in strikeouts, seventh in Innings Pitched (2,028), and Games Started (279). But the two no-hitters cannot ever be forgotten.

Joe Nuxhall – I wrote about lefty Joe Nuxhall being the youngest player to ever play in an MLB game. But he also was a good pitcher for the Reds for a long time. He was traded right before the pennant season in 1961 which robbed him of a chance for postseason baseball. Nuxhall is in the top 10 for Wins (135), Games Started (274), and Innings Pitched (2,169.1). He was also a longtime beloved Reds broadcaster for 37 years.

Don Gullett – Oh, what could have been! The fireballing lefty burst upon the scene at age 19 in the Reds’ pennant season of 1970. Gullett was terrific through the Reds second consecutive championship season in 1976 choosing to leave for the Yankees’ free agent money. Injuries ended Gullett’s career at age 27 after nine MLB seasons.

Jose Rijo – over-hyped and yet somehow underrated. Rijo came up as a heralded Yankees prospect but flamed out in New York. He then was moved by the Yankees over to the Oakland A’s but was not much better. He was traded to the Reds by the A’s for HOFer Dave Parker. Rijo found his groove in Cincinnati and was mostly excellent for his first eight seasons there including a brilliant 1990 season, and he led the staff in the World Series victory. Rijo was then injured for the next five seasons. He returned at age 36 a shadow of his former self for his final two seasons as a Red. Rijo is fourth in strikeouts (1,251), and sixth in bWAR for Reds pitchers (36.4).

Tom Browning – the late left-hander, pitched a perfect game and started 31 or more games in seven consecutive years from 1985-1991. He was the definition of a very fine pitcher.

My top five starting pitchers in Reds history

#5 – Dolf Luque – The statistics tell the story. Dolf Luque is third for all Cincinnati starters with 38.3 bWAR. He’s fifth with 154 Wins. Luque is second in Innings Pitched (2,668.2), third with 321 Games Started, fifth with 24 Shutouts, and eighth with 183 Complete Games. Luque had an amazing 10.2 bWAR season in 1923, and he also pitched for the World Series winning 1919 Reds team.

#4 – Paul Derringer – Second in Reds history with 322 Games Started, Paul Derringer is third in Reds’ history with 161 wins, and third with 2,615.1 Innings Pitched. Fifth with 189 Complete Games, he’s also tied for fifth with 24 Shutouts. Derringer is ninth in bWAR (32.9), Games Played (393), and Strikeouts (1,062). His solid performance in the 1940 World Series seven game win vs. the Tigers puts him in my top five. The differences between Luque and even some of the honorable mentions are not large.

#3 – Jim Maloney – Had Johnny Van der Meer not thrown back-to-back no-hitters, Jim Maloney’s two no-hitters as a Red would carry even more weight. For eight seasons from 1962-1969, Maloney was one of the best pitchers in baseball. He’s the franchise leader in Strikeouts (1,592), second with 30 shutouts, and in the top 10 for bWAR (34.4), Wins (130), and Games Started (258). Maloney was only 19 in 1961 and was not a factor in the World Series vs. the Yankees, and he was an injured pitched in 1970 when the Reds reached the World Series again only to lose to the Orioles. Had the team been better in the 1960’s more people would know about Jim Maloney.

#2 – Bucky Walters – He’s one of best pitchers fans have barely heard about. Walters won the NLMVP in the pennant season of 1939 and finished third in 1940 when he led the staff to a World Series victory. Walters averaged 5.1 bWAR per season from 1939-1944. He’s first with 32 career Shutouts as a Red, fourth in bWAR (37.8), Complete Games (195), and Wins (160), and fifth with 2,355.1 Innings Pitched. Walters is also fifth in Games Started (296). Walters has a legit HOF case.

#1 – HOFer Eppa Rixey – It was easiest to select Rixey as the number one Reds starter in history. Rixey leads in Wins (179) and Innings Pitched (2,890.2), Games Started (357) and is second in bWAR (40.9). The HOFer Rixey toiled for less-than-great Reds’ teams for 13 seasons never reaching the World Series as a Red. Born in 1891, Rixey was incredibly durable and managed to pitch both before and after the Dead Ball Era. Not just because he had the great name, Rixey was the all-time leader in wins for a left-handed pitcher from his retirement in 1933 until fellow HOFer Warren Spahn passed him in 1959.

In truth the Reds really don’t have a marquis starter that heralds pitching for the franchise. Maybe it was the ballparks in which they played, or it’s just a weird thing. The current Reds have two stellar starters Hunter Greene and now Chase Burns. They are far from being all-time great Reds pitchers, but both are supremely talented and if they stay healthy (something that Greene has already struggled with), they could be a threat to the top ten.

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

The New York Football Giants haven’t played in New York in 50 years moving having moved to the Meadowlands in 1976. The New York Jets followed in 1984. The now Brooklyn Nets were founded on Long Island, moved around there a bit before moving to Piscataway and later Secaucus, NJ from 1977-2012 – 36 years before returning to Brooklyn where they now reside.

Before the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, they too tested the concept of playing home games in the Garden State. A move to New Jersey was more of a threat than a promise from owner Walter O’Malley but the Dodgers played seven home games in Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City in 1956 and eight there in 1957. With a 154-game schedule, seven home games represented 10% of the entire home schedule!

Jersey City had 300,000 people in the late 1950’s, far fewer than Brooklyn. The stadium was built in 1937 per a SABR article from John J. Burbidge:

Roosevelt Stadium, financed as a New Deal program, was opened in 1937 and became the home of the Jersey City Giants in the International League, the top farm team of the New York Giants. The capacity of Roosevelt Stadium was approximately 25,000. Most years, opening-day attendance exceeded that, as Hague would arrange for many people to buy tickets even if seats were unavailable.

From 1937 until the late 1940s, Jersey City developed a rich tradition of supporting minor-league baseball. Probably the high point of baseball in Jersey City was Jackie Robinson’s professional debut, with the Montreal Royals, against the Jersey City Giants in 1946. Robinson went 4-for-5 with a home run in a 14–1 Royals victory. The attendance for Robinson’s game was announced as 52,000.

In 1947 the Jersey City Giants drew more than 300,000 but, with the advent of televised baseball and the rise of car ownership, making the three major league teams in New York easily accessible to more people in the suburbs, attendance dwindled to fewer than 100,000 in 1950. The Jersey City Giants moved to Ottawa in 1951. From 1951 to 1956, no professional baseball games were played in Roosevelt Stadium, where the main fare was high-school football games and weekly stock-car races.

The “Hague” being referred to was Jersey City Mayor Frank “Boss” Hague. He was an operator and FDR acolyte out of the New Deal Era.

The first game played in Jersey City was on April 19, 1956, when the Dodgers beat the Phillies before 12,214 very cold fans.18 The attendance was disappointing, as initially it was thought the game would be a sellout.19 On April 17, there was an attempt to promote the game in the local newspaper, which stressed to the fans of Jersey City that poor crowds would hurt Jersey City’s chances for future opportunities.20 After the first game, several of the Dodgers indicated they felt that the fences at Roosevelt Stadium were not too friendly.21 Jackie Robinson, who was jeered there, was particularly unhappy.22

The Dodgers went 6-1 at Roosevelt Stadium in 1956, and six of the eight games were low scoring affairs with no more than five total runs being scored, and two were two shutouts. The average attendance was 21,196, about 5,400 more fans on average than what the Dodgers were experiencing at Ebbets Field. The Dodgers had sold their stake in Ebbets Field before the 1956 season allowing them to lease it but also indicating that the future for the team might not include home games at Ebbets Field. This was all part of owner Walter O’Malley’s continuing attempt to have a new stadium built for the Dodgers in Brooklyn to be paid for with public funds from New York City. New York City Construction Coordinator Robert Moses would not grant the Dodgers the eminent domain near Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn preferring the Dodgers move to Queens in Flushing Meadow. Thanks, but no thanks was the answer.

In 1957 the Dodgers played another eight games at Roosevelt Stadium winning five and losing three. Two of the games were shutouts and in only one game did the teams combine for more than six runs.

The feeble attempts at pressure by the Dodgers failed to impress New York City enough to accede to the demands of Walter O’Malley. We all know that the Dodgers (along with the New York Giants), left after the 1957 season for the west coast. The 1956 Dodgers reached the World Series on the back of finally winning the World Series versus the Yankees in 1955. Don Larsen’s perfect game in 1956 highlighted a tense seven game triumph over Brooklyn in the World Series that season. But winning six out of seven games in Jersey City helped ‘Dem Bums’ to the NL pennant as the Dodgers squeaked by the Milwaukee Braves to win by only one game. Had the Dodgers gone 4-3 in those Roosevelt Stadium games that season they would have been on the outside looking in!

MLB teams have intermittently played their home games not in their own home stadium. When the Yankees were doing a renovation of the old Yankee Stadium in 1974-75, the team played its home games at Shea Stadium in Queens – home of the detested Mets.

The Miracle Braves of 1914 did not play their home games in the World Series at their home park Nickerson Field. Instead, they played at the newer and spiffier Fenway Park which had opened only two years prior.

Only established MLB cities like Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, St, Louis, and New York had multiple ballparks capable of hosting MLB games. Playing home games in a minor league park like Roosevelt Field would pose a problem for a visiting team that only played one or possibly two games at a strange field across the Hudson River from Manhattan.

Today AL teams travel to Sacramento to play the Athletics in a minor league ballpark which has been slightly upgraded to host contests between MLB teams. Last season the Tampa Bay Rays played their home games at the Yankees’ minor league/spring training facility at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. So, it still can happen, but something like what happened at Roosevelt Stadium in 1956 and 1957 is unlikely to ever transpire again.

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

I was reading about Otis Nixon recently. He was a speedster I watched play mostly for the then-Indians, Expos and Braves. Nixon was the furthest thing from being a power hitter hitting only 11 career home runs over his 1,709 MLB games. But Otis Nixon stole 620 bases which is good enough for 16^th in history. Because of his lack of power, Nixon finished his career with a 77 OPS+ which is 23% below average. It can’t have been easy for Nixon to fashion a 17-year career with such little pop in his bat. Then I wondered, how many 500-steal players finished their careers with an OPS+ under 100 – meaning they were below average?

The answer was quick and easy and there’s only 12. Maybe I am surprised there are that many.

Three of them are Hall-of-Famers. John Montgomery Ward who began his amazing career as a pitcher (I wrote about him), Luis Aparicio – a great defensive shortstop and solid hitter, and Ozzie Smith, who is maybe the greatest defensive shortstop of all time.

Besides Ward, the three pre-1900 players (Arlie Latham, Herman Long, and Patsy Donovan), had nothing resembling a HOF career and ran the bases wild when running wild was the standard.

The others have interesting stories. Maury Wills revolutionized base-stealing which had been out of favor with MLB teams and managers for years. Wills won the NL MVP in 1962 when he stole a then-record 104 bases. Wills also had no power totaling 20 career homers in 1,942 games.

Bert Campaneris followed Wills as a premiere base stealer who was a good defender and above average hitter for a shortstop. Campaneris falls short of the HOF but is closer than anyone else on the list although Willie Wilson comes close.

Then there’s Juan Pierre. A career .295/.343/.361 hitter with 18 career home runs, Pierre was a decent outfielder but nobody, including me, ever thought of him as anything more than a guy who had a lot of plate appearances.

500 Steals Club

There are 39 total members of the 500+ steal club so 27 of them managed to also be above average (100+) in OPS+ to go along with the stolen bases. Baseball fans will know many of those names of the 27 as very good if not great players like Kenny Lofton, Brett Butler, Jose Reyes and Barry Bonds. Not to mention the five Hall-of-Famers that top the list.

The not quite dandy dozen

10 of the 12 that stole 500 bases but finished under 100 OPS+ scored more than 1,000 runs in their careers with only Nixon and Vince Coleman falling short. Only 358 players have scored 1,000 runs or more in a career.

Vince Coleman, like Maury Wills, HOFers Lou Brock and Tim Raines (Raines began his career six years before Coleman), attempted to rival HOFer and all-time stolen base champ Rickey Henderson when it came to stealing bases. Coleman’s Rookie-of-the-Year 110-steal season 1985 were followed by 107 steals in 1986 and 109 in 1987. Coleman’s defense was a bane as was his encounter with a tarp on the field in the 1985 National League Championship Series vs. the Dodgers as a Cardinal, when his left leg got trapped under an automated tarp as it began to be rolled onto the field. He ended up being injured and missed the rest of the playoffs and World Series. Like Jayson Stark says…Baseball!

Here’s how Otis Nixon and Vince Coleman compare over their careers:

A Big Flaw in OPS+

The thing I don’t like about OPS+ (on base plus slugging average normalized across parks), is that stolen bases have zero impact on OPS+. Players with 500 steals and less than 100 OPS+ were often standing on second base instead of first, and third base instead of second by NOT hitting their way there. Doubles, triples and home runs are exciting and great, but walks and singles of the 500-steal players end up like doubles or triples! Yet they obviously are not counted that way.

Not to pick on him but HOFer Harmon Killebrew who hit 573 home runs, had only 19 stolen bases and was not known as a guy to run from first to third on a hit to the gap. While OPS+ penalizes players that steal lots of bases but don’t hit for power, it doesn’t penalize the player for NOT stealing bases. Nor should it. Expected runs scored when a fast runner/stolen base star is on first vs. a slower player, will naturally be higher. I don’t know what is the quotient, but it should count for something, shouldn’t it?

Base stealing in MLB increased with the limitation of pickoff throws in 2023. Overall, the trend has been down with Rajai Davis the last player to reach 400 steals which he did in 2018. Another thing to keep in mind is that before 1920 statistics are muddy and incomplete when it comes to players being caught stealing. 19 of the players on the list played before 1920 leaving only 20 players over the past 126 seasons with 500 steals or more. All 20 were successful in more than 2/3 of their steal attempts. Since 1920 players have stolen 50 bases in a seasons 243 times. 236 of them had a positive Rbaser (the base-running component of WAR), which indicates great base stealers do not cost their teams runs.

A few years ago, I came up with a stat I called bases created per plate appearance (BC/PA) and I wrote about that. BC/PA takes into consideration stolen bases minus caught stealing and that alone would raise the profile of the 12 players listed but not enough to make a difference to the HOF-worthiness of the 10 who are not HOFers.

I used to look at any player with a career OPS+ substantially under 100 with some disdain. I know now that I need to be more careful because the result would be ignoring some pretty darned good ballplayers!

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com

Tuesday June 30^th Washington Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli and Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras both got thrown out of the game for an ugly incident in the fourth inning.

From The Athletic:

Willson Contreras irked Cavalli in the first by brushing by him at the end of the inning. Later, Cavalli irked Contreras in the fourth inning by yelling, “Sit down, boy” — using a word that had historically racist connotations, though Cavalli said the next day he did not know that and later vowed to remove the word from his vocabulary. The chirping incited a scuffle that led to four ejections and four suspensions.

Both Cavalli and Contreras have apologized for the incident and Cavalli appealed his suspension, so he was able to pitch on Sunday July 5^th. He wishes he hadn’t as he was shellacked by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Contreras also appealed his suspension and played while it was being reviewed. Yet there was something else I noticed about the story. Willson Contreras had also been thrown out of the prior game on June 29^th for tapping his helmet after being called out on strikes while walking back to his dugout. The first base umpire Nic Lentz ejected Contreras from the game, calling the action eject-able. Umpires are a touchy sort, aren’t they?

Because Willson Contreras was thrown out of an MLB game twice in a row, naturally I wondered, how often has that happened in MLB history? I am only thinking about players, as managers are a different species.

I pulled the data from Retrosheet and found that there have been 36 players who’ve been ejected in two consecutive games. No player has ever accomplished this feat twice.

Three HOFers are at the top of the list and Bill Dahlen, who was the fourth to do it might well have been a HOFer himself. HOFer Jake Beckley started things off in 1894 by getting thrown out of back-to-back games. He was followed by HOFer John “Little Napoleon” McGraw in 1897. Also in 1897, HOFer Jesse Burkett started his own thing by being banished in both games of a doubleheader. The reason as it has been most of the time, was arguing balls and strikes. Many of the players listed were known for their hot tempers. The story of Burkett’s twin ejections from the doubleheader is entertaining.

As a member of the Cleveland Spiders, in an August 4th twin bill vs. the Louisville Colonels, Burkett (by one account), called umpire Jimmy “Chicken” Wolf a “vile name” and was ejected. Cleveland captain Patsy Tebeau (managers did not make decisions like this the way they do today), refused to replace Burkett and Wolf forfeited the game to Louisville 9-0. In Game two, Burkett again insulted Wolf in the ninth inning (how nice of him to at least wait for nearly the entire game to be played), and refused to leave first base, having to be physically removed by two policemen. Burkett was known to be a hot head. I admit I am intrigued by what was the “vile name”, but I could not find any real evidence.

You might remember those Cleveland Spiders as the team that two years later would post the worst record in MLB history at 20-134 in 1899. Burkett had already left for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Most of the players listed were familiar to me. Other Hall-of-Famers include “Iron” Joe McGinnity, Miller Huggins (as a manager), and Johnny Evers of ‘Tinkers to Evers to Chance’ fame.

There were some close-to-HOF-great players like Sherry Magee, ‘Turkey’ Mike Donlin (also thrown out of both games of a doubleheader), Pete Reiser, Eddie Stanky and four-time NL batting champion Bill “Mad Dog” Madlock.

Then I noticed another odd thing about the list

From 1894 through 1916 there were 19 occasions in which a player was thrown out of consecutive games. That’s almost one every year. It happened three times in 1906 and three times again in 1907. Then after 1916, nothing for 27 years as not one player was thrown out in consecutive games until Rip Sewell did it in 1943. Over the following 83 years 16 players were thrown out of consecutive games. About one every five years!

Since 1943 there was only one season, 1952, in which two players were ejected in back-to-back games. Pinch hitter extraordinaire Dave Philley got tossed from both ends of a twin bill in 1956 for the Chicago White Sox. Two years later in 1958, Cleveland’s Johnny Temple also was sent off twice in one day. Philley and Temple joined Burkett, Donlin, and Cabell as the fab five who were ejected twice in one day.

Before Willson Contreras’ follies last week, the last player to do it was Jeromy Burnitz who did it 23 years ago as an L.A. Dodger. No MLB player has ever been thrown out of three consecutive games and Willson Contreras passed up that opportunity to be all alone in the record books. For now, he will have to settle for being the most recent of the 36!

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

Continuing the series, in prior posts I’ve done the Mets, Rockies, Rays, White Sox, Cubs, Astros, Athletics, Braves, Mariners, Giants, Orioles, Pirates, Royals, Blue Jays, Marlins, Angels, Padres, Twins, and Cardinals. You can find them all on this Substack.

While the team has been called the Bronx Bombers for more than 100 years, the Yankees with their 27 World Championships have had some great pitchers as well. I don’t know if this is a spoiler alert, but the greatest Yankee pitcher of all time is not a starter, it’s Mariano Rivera who is the greatest relief pitcher of all time. The best Yankee starting pitchers have been overwhelming left-handed. I can’t think of another team’s starters with so few right-handers among their best.

For my top five starters in Yankees history the only criteria are that the starting pitcher pitched five or more seasons for the team.

Honorable Mention:

HOFer Mike Mussina – I would be remiss not to mention “Moose” even though his 10 years with Baltimore were just a bit better than his eight in the Bronx. The man was, well a moose, starting 30 or more games six times and 27 or more twice in his tenure in New York.

HOFer C.C. Sabathia – I would also be remiss to not mention C.C. Sabathia since he is both a HOFer and pitched longer for the Yankees (11 years), than he did in Cleveland (eight years). C.C. shows up in the top ten in strikeouts (fourth with 1,700), seventh in Games Started (306), and tenth with 134 wins. It’s a bit odd that he’s not in the top ten in more categories because he was so consistently excellent.

Bob Shawkey – I included Shawkey because he shows up in the top 10 Yankee pitchers in no less than eight categories including Games Started (9^th), Innings Pitched (6^th), and bWAR (6^th). The 5’ 11” right-hander pitched for the first of the Yankee teams to win a WS championship in 1923. He later became a successful manager following the death of Yankee manager legend Miller Huggins.

HOFer Waite Hoyt – I am going against my own grain by holding right-hander Waite Hoyt out of the top five even though he is a HOFer. Hoyt pitched 10 seasons for the Yankees anchoring three Yankee World Series championships teams (1923, 1927, 1928). He’s in the top 10 in bWAR, Wins, and Innings Pitched, and somebody had to be the beneficiary of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and the other members of Murderer’s Row bludgeoning of opposing pitchers. Sure, Hoyt was durable, and after being a Yankee he went on to pitch for six other MLB teams. His being a HOFer is questionable in and of itself.

My top five starting pitchers in Yankees history

#5 – Ron Guidry – ‘Louisiana Lightening’ was my favorite nickname for the pitcher more commonly known as ‘Gator’. A career Yankee (13 seasons) and one-time Cy Young Award Winner (1978), the hard-throwing lefty is third with 1,778 strikeouts, fourth in club history with bWAR (47.3), fifth with 170 wins, and fifth with 323 Games Started. A four-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner, Guidry’s late start to his career (he only started one MLB game before his age-26 season), is what stopped him from reaching greater heights.

#4 – Andy Pettitte – I’ve come to appreciate Pettitte even more as time passes. I used to ding him for never being the best pitcher on the Yankees with guys like Roger Clemens, HOFer Randy Johnson, and even Mike Mussina holding down the #1 starter spot in the rotation. That is and was unfair as Pettitte wasn’t spectacular, but he was consistently reliable and one of the best post-season starting pitchers in MLB history. The crafty lefty is first in team history with 2,020 strikeouts, tied for first (with Whitey Ford) in games started (438),

second in starter bWAR (51.3), third in wins (219), third in Innings Pitched (2,796.1). Kudos to Pettitte who had the best balk pickoff move to first base I ever saw. I never understood why umpires chose to ignore it.

#3 – HOFer Lefty Gomez – It was a toss-up between Pettitte and Lefty Gomez. Gomez’s Hall-of-Fame-ness had me place him above Pettitte, but I could have easily gone the other way. 13 years a Yankee, Gomez was a seven-time All-Star even though All-Star games did not begin until his fourth season. He won the pitching triple crown (wins, ERA, strikeouts) twice and played for six Yankee WS winners. He was excellent in his World Series efforts going 6-0 over his career. Gomez is top ten in many categories including Games Started, Innings Pitched, Wins, Strikeouts, Shutouts, and Complete Games. Only because he pitched nearly 100 years ago is Lefty Gomez not better remembered.

#2 – HOFer Red Ruffing – Hall of Famers still count in my book and 15 years as a Yankee with 231 wins vs. 124 losses is impressive. The right-handed Ruffing is first (by far), with 261 Complete Games. He’s second in Innings Pitched (3,168.2), third in Games Started (391), fifth in pitcher bWAR at 46.5, fifth in strikeouts (1,526). Ruffing pitched for winning Yankees in six World Series (only a loser once in 1942 vs. the Cardinals), going 7-2 pitching to a 2.52 E.R.A. Coming through in the biggest moments counts for a lot too.

#1 HOFer Whitey Ford – Ford’s nickname was “Chairman of the Board”, and it was well-earned, but he does have his critics. The left-handed Ford has a Cy Young award to his credit and he’s the team leader with 236 wins, Innings Pitched (3,170.1), as well as Games Started (438 tied with Andy Pettitte). He also leads with 45 career shutouts and, while not a strikeout pitcher, he is second with 1,956 strikeouts. Ford was a fine postseason pitcher and pitched for six World Series champion teams. My Dad grew up in Astoria and played some ball with Whitey Ford. He used to tell the story, that when Whitey didn’t show up to play one day the kids asked where he was. “Trying out for the Yankees if you can believe it”. Guess they ended up believing it.

The current Yankees pitching staff has some ace pitchers on the staff including potential future HOFer Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, and Carlos Rodon. Cole has been moving up the all-time lists, but his injuries have held him back from being a top ten starter yet.

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

Philadelphia Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber is an unconventional force to be reckoned with. Despite a career .233 batting average (as of late June), Schwarber’s discerning batting eye has his career on base average at a shade under .350. He seems like he may be getting better with age.

Schwar-bombs

Eight seasons of 30 or more homers has Schwarber up there with the most among active players. He has six straight seasons of 30 or more homers. If he ends the season with 60 home runs, which is entirely possible, Schwarber will have 400 career homers. Didn’t that kind of sneak up on you? It did me. To be fair, it’s been a while since 400 career home runs provided a straight path to Cooperstown’s front door. But 400 home runs in a career is something, and it’s not as if Schwarber is ready to hang up his spikes anytime soon. How many homers does Schwarber have to hit to make a strong HOF case?

Schwarber hitting 500 home runs still might not be enough

There are players with 500 career home runs not in the Hall of Fame. All of them – Gary Sheffield, Rafael Palmiero, Mark McGwire, Manny Ramirez, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, and Barry Bonds are excluded due to their association with performance enhancing drugs. Thankfully Kyle Schwarber is not tainted with anything more than poor defense. But that does not help his case either.

Kyle Schwarber’s dWAR is, well, awful. It stands at -13.5 through June 30^th. Schwarber has never had a positive dWAR for a season, but did zero out in 2016 and 2018 with 0.0 dWAR meaning he was average. He’s played 100 games or more in left field five times in his career. Most of the time he is the DH, playing the field in a total of 13 games in 2024 and 2025 for Philadelphia. That means when Schwarber does play the field, he’s a bad fielder.

He has a 153 OPS+ so far in 2026 and were Schwarber able to maintain that stratospheric number, he’d raise his career OPS from its current 128 to 140 or more. That’s a tall order but it would be meaningful as career 140 OPS+ players do well making it to the Hall of Fame. Not a guarantee though as Lefty O’Doul (143), Lance Berkman (144), Albert Belle (145 career OPS+), and Gavy Cravath (151) to name five (there are more), missed out on being inducted despite being more than 40% better over their careers than an average player. Schwarber averaging 153 OPS+ for the rest of his career is a total longshot.

Kyle Schwarber has 23 postseason home runs which puts him third all-time. He has the most postseason home runs by a left-handed hitter and an NLCS record 13 home runs. We also know Kyle Schwarber is not the best ‘DH’ ever. And I am holding out Shohei Othani who continues to ruin so many comparisons!

I’ve compared Kyle Schwarber to three primarily ‘DH’ Hall of Famers over their entire careers. HOFer Edgar Martinez played 18 MLB seasons, HOFer David Ortiz 20 MLB seasons, and HOFer Paul Molitor played 21 seasons.

Then I compared them through their first 12 seasons which includes Schwarber this year since he already has 30 home runs.

That’s a little better for Schwarber, but his closest fellow DH in bWAR after 12 seasons is David Ortiz. Ortiz played another eight seasons and smashed 252 more home runs in those eight seasons. Both Paul Molitor and Edgar Martinez were never known as pure home run hitters. For Kyle Schwarber, the .233 batting average difference is huge and the on base average – a hallmark, still comes up last in comparison at .348, good but not great.

I don’t think of HOFer Frank Thomas as a DH which is more on me, but I didn’t include him in the comparison although Thomas played more games as a DH (1,310) than he did at 1B (971). Including Frank Thomas in the comparison would not help Schwarber’s case.

At age 33, Kyle Schwarber could easily play effectively until he’s 40 years old, or more. His .586 slugging percentage in 2026 is the highest of his career. In 2025 Schwarber hit 56 home runs and drove in 132 – both career highs. It’s possible that Kyle Schwarber like fine wine, is getting better with age. Both Schwarber and fellow DH/Pitcher Shohei Ohtani instill fear in pitchers as they approach the plate with a bat in their hands.

Shohei has the clearer path to Cooperstown, but Kyle Schwarber has a chance but only if everything goes right for the remainder of his career. Right. A longshot.

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

As I began this post, I kept thinking that I must be crazy to compare Dodger Mookie Betts to Hall-of-Famer Frank Robinson. Frank Robinson is the only player in MLB history to have won MVP’s in both the National and American Leagues. He was traded five years after he won his first MVP in Cincinnati in 1961 only to win his second MVP in his first year with Baltimore Orioles in 1966. That’s the kind of thing an all-time great player does. Robinson’s 586 career home runs placed him fourth all-time when he retired behind Henry Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Willie Mays. Today he’s slid down to 10^th place.

Mookie Betts has one MVP, earned with the World Champion 2018 Boston Red Sox. Mookie has played for four World Series winners over his first 12 MLB seasons. Putting their overall careers side-by-side favors Frank Robinson but his career was almost twice as long as has been Betts’ so far.

It looks like Mookie is too far behind to ever catch up and he needs to play nine more seasons to equal Robinson’s 21 MLB seasons. Then I looked at the first 12 years of their careers as Mookie is now in his 13^th season.

That’s a lot closer. In terms of bWAR they are extremely close over their first 12 seasons. Frank Robinson played in 255 (16.6%) more games than Mookie did over those 12 years. Adding 16.6% to Mookie’s numbers would still leave almost all of them (except for hits), short of Robinson’s. Mookie has never been, nor will ever be the power hitter that was Robinson. What Mookie does bring to the table is defense in a way Frank Robinson never did. That’s why their bWAR totals are so close after their first 12 years.

Great players can be valued differently and yet equally. It seems almost sacrilegious to compare any player to an all-time great like Frank Robinson. But let me try to do that with Mookie Betts.

How will Mookie’s career turn out?

Robinson was incredibly durable and consistently provided power into his mid-30s. Mookie has excelled due to his elite defense, excellent baserunning and underrated positional versatility in addition to his great hitting.

In the postseason Mookie has already played more than 2.5 times the games than did Frank (91-35). Both had their big moments, but Mookie has had many more opportunities, and as long as he stays healthy (no guarantee), and continues to play for the two-time WS Champion Dodgers, he will continue to get more opportunities.

I think it’s fair to claim that at one point in both of their careers, Frank Robinson and Mookie Betts were arguably the best all-around players in MLB.

While Robinson played all three outfield positions, his career dWAR is -14.8, although he did win a Gold Glove in 1958. Robinson also played in a challenging era for hitters until 1969 when the mound was lowered after the year of the pitcher in 1968.

Mookie not only has won six Gold Gloves, but his ability to play and excel in Right Field, Center Field, Second Base, and Shortstop may exceed the amazing-ness of HOFer Craig Biggio, who was a four time Gold Glove second baseman after beginning his career with the Astros as a catcher, then moving to the outfield (255 games in center), before finally settling in at second base. Betts has won all his Gold Gloves as a Right Fielder.

What the stat sheets don’t show

Respect in the clubhouse is incredibly important in helping teams be successful. Frank Robinson was so well respected that nobody was surprised when he became baseball’s first African American manager in 1975 (when he was named Player Manager of the Cleveland Indians). Nothing against Dodger manager Dave Roberts who does an excellent job but if there were player-managers today, Mookie Betts’ name would be at the top of any list.

Neither player generated attention via controversy. Preparation, pride, and performance were their three P’s.

Betts is a certain Hall-of-Famer, but is he all-time great like Frank Robinson?

Frank Robinson was a playing contemporary of Wille Mays, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, and Roberto Clemente. While there’s no denying his all-time greatness, those four took up much of the spotlight when it came to star outfielders. And that leaves out Carl Yasztremski!

Mookie Betts has played in the Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, Shohei Othani era. In many ways those three have pushed mythological boundaries in ways that all-time greats tend to push. He may be obscured in history by those three the same way Frank Robinson was by Wille, Hank, Mickey and Roberto.

I think Mookie Betts still has a chance to be an all-time great and while his 2026 season has not gone well so far, Mookie’s track record would suggest he’s likely to turn that around. Can he do that for another seven or eight seasons? That longevity might be too hard to achieve.

Finally, I wondered if Frank Robinson was any good at bowling since we’ve known for a long time about Mookie Betts’ bowling a perfect 300 game. Frank may not have bowled a perfect game, but he did enjoy the sport as a recreational bowler and sometime host of charity events involving bowling. Maybe Mookie will be an on-field manager one day, although I suspect he’s too smart to take that bait!

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.

Random baseball players come into my mind in various ways. Last week I noticed it was the birthdate of HOFer Billy Williams who was born June 15, 1938.I was a huge Billy Williams fan when I first began following baseball although I don’t exactly know why. Williams played from 1959 through 1976, so I was able to watch the latter half of his excellent career. A 16-year Chicago Cub, Williams followed fellow HOFer Ernie Banks to the Cubs although not directly as Mr. Sunshine joined the Cubs in 1953. The always gregarious Banks was the first African American player for the Cubs and was instrumental in helping the quiet Williams who was from a small town in Alabama, adapt to Major League Baseball.

‘Sweet Swingin’ Billy from Whistler’ (AL). Williams did have a sweet swing and could really hit. That’s why he’s a HOFer. You can read the good SABR bio of Billy Williams by Mark Armour. I really began to write this post with the idea of writing about Billy Williams alone. I ended up making a turn to Dwight Evans. But first let me explain my Billy Willams fandom.

Billy Willams was high up on all-time career lists when he retired

When Williams retired, he was 14^th all-time in career home runs (426), 13^th all-time with 2,711 career hits, and was in the top 20 all-time with 4,599 total bases. Because he played the bulk of his career with the Cubs, Williams never played in a postseason game although he did have nine ABs at age 37 in the Oakland Athletics’ loss to Boston in the 1975 ALCS. He only got one base one time with a base on balls, so there’s not much of a postseason resume to write about.

Williams’ career bWAR was 63.7 which averages 3.53 per season. He did have five seasons where he exceeded 5.0 bWAR – something I always like to see in a HOFer. What I didn’t realize was that Billy Williams was a terrible outfielder. I knew he wasn’t great but that’s understating the case. His career dWAR of -18.0 is alarming. Were he to have been an average defender his career bWAR would be close to 80. That feels more HOF-like.

Then I remembered that while doing my recent research for the 60+ bWAR position players, the name Dwight Evans name stood out. It always does. Dwight Evans has a career bWAR of 67.2 although he did play 20 MLB seasons to Billy Williams’ 18.

I compared three Hall-of-Famers (including Williams) to Dwight Evans.

Dwight Evans’ Red Sox teammate HOFer Jim Rice played 16 MLB seasons, and HOFer Dave Winfield played 22 seasons. So, Rice falls short of averaging 3 bWAR per season. That’s one reason Rice is called out sometimes as being less HOF-worthy than some who just missed out. He does have five 5+ bWAR seasons (nearly a third of his career). How was Rice as a defender? Not good. Ok, worse than that. Rice had a -8.0 career dWAR and compared to Billy Williams, Rice had three seasons in which his dWAR was positive compared to Williams’ two.

Dave Winfield won seven Gold Gloves. Dave Winfield also had a -22.7 career dWAR. Both these things are true, and that doesn’t make any sense at all. For many years the Gold Glove was awarded as a legacy trophy to those who had earned it at one point in their careers and were incumbents.

Those that watched Winfield play the outfield know he had a strong throwing arm, and he played nearly two-thirds of his games as a right fielder. Four times in his career he led his league in outfield assists. Yet despite his 6’ 6” frame, and galloping strides, Winfield had poor range and made a lot of errors. Like Billy Williams and Jim Rice, his career bWAR would be much higher were he to have been merely an average outfielder. In Willams’, Rice’s, and Winfield’s case, carrying big lumber made the difference.

Then there’s Dwight Evans. When he played, he was often referred to as Dewey Evans. I remember Vin Scully always calling him Dewey, but his baseball card read Dwight. It was a little confusing. The nickname originated when he was a minor-league and his manager Don Lock began giving players nicknames ending in “-ie” or “-ey”. It stuck around for Evans’ entire career.

Andruw Jones will be (and it is richly deserved) inducted into the Hall-of-Fame next month in July. Jones’ home run prowess and spectacular defense are the reasons.

Dwight Evans’ combination of 67+ bWAR, 385 career home runs, eight Gold Gloves, and 157 outfield assists are unique among those on the outside looking into the Hall of Fame. Winfield, Rice, and Billy Williams all are where they belong in the Hall of Fame.

Call him Dwight, Call him Dewey. It’s about time that Cooperstown calls him too.

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.