Greg Maddux days

It's Greg Maddux days until Opening Day.

Greg Maddux is the name that inevitably comes up when someone asks the question if any player might be inducted into the Hall of Fame in the near future by a unanimous vote.

His 1994 and 1995 seasons together are one of the greatest stretches of pitching ever: 53 starts, 20 complete games, 6 shutouts, 411.2 innings, 337 strikeouts, 12 home runs, 54 walks (if you like ratios, that's a 1.60 ERA, 0.853 WHIP, 0.3 HR/9, 1.2 BB/9). Games in which he gave up more than one home run: zero.

And for those of you who care about this sort of thing, he was 35-8 during that time and won two Cy Youngs. He also won two more in 1992 and 1993, both 20-win seasons.

During his 23-year career, he faced 20,421 batters. Only 5,943 reached base (.291 OBP against). It helps that he threw 66% of his pitches for strikes (and topped 70% for the season three times).

He and former teammate David Justice were born on the same day.

Steve Carlton days

It's Steve Carlton days until Opening Day

Lefty did pretty much everything. He’s fourth on the all-time strikeout list today but there was a time when he and Nolan Ryan traded the all-time top spot back and forth (before Carlton got old and Ryan did not). He once struck out 19 in one game, a record at the time (but lost the game). He hit a home run and pitched a shutout in the same game – four times.

His craziest season had to be 1972, with the Phillies. He started 41 games and completed 30 of them (eight shutouts). He struck out 310 guys with a 3.56 K/BB ratio. His WHIP was 0.993, and his ERA was 1.97. He won 27 games – the Phillies won 59 total.

Lefty was one of the last Manly Men: he’s the last guy to throw 300 innings in a season (304 in 1980).

Carlton is the all-time leader in one statistical category: pickoffs. He has far and away the most, with 144. Andy Pettitte is second, with 99.

Eddie Murray days

It's Eddie Murray days until Opening Day.

Steady Eddie wore #33 for five different teams and had his number retired by the Orioles in 1998. He won Rookie of the Year in 1977 even though he was not the best rookie (and maybe not even the second best). He was a high school teammate of fellow Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, whose MLB debut was exactly one year to the day after Eddie's.

Eddie's number, 33, was a repetition of his position number. 33 is also the most home runs he ever hit in a season, the lowest such number for any member in the 500 home run club. But as his nickname suggests, Eddie was steady: he hit 20 home runs or more sixteen times.

Eddie is the career leader in sacrifice flies with 128.

Bryce Harper days

It’s Bryce Harper days until Opening Day.

Bryce got his GED in 2009 after his sophomore year in high school so he could be eligible for the MLB draft in 2010. Needing something to do for the year, he enrolled in a junior college in Nevada. He was drafted by the Nationals in 2010 and never finished college. He is currently in the midst of a $9.9 million contract; the only non-financial term of his contract is that the Nationals will pay for eight semesters of college for Bryce.

Getting drafted at such a young age enabled Bryce to make his Major League debut at age 19. Nolan Ryan also made his debut at age 19 and also wore #34. In fact, his #34 was retired by both the Astros and the Rangers.
When I think of Nolan Ryan I think of seven no-hitters and a billion strikeouts. He was also a dreadful hitter. He had a career .148 OBP. In 14 years in the NL (and one pre-DH year in the AL), he struck out 371 times -- 12 fewer strikeouts than he threw in 1973.

Ryan did hit two home runs in his career: the first off future Hall of Famer Don Sutton, and the second off no-name Charlie Puleo, who at one time was traded (among others) by the Mets for former Ryan teammate Tom Seaver.

Strasdays

It's Stephen Strasburg days until Opening Day.

Phenom, Strasmas, innings limit, Tommy John, etc.

But it's also Mike Bacsik days until Opening Day.

I remember Mike Bacsik because he gave up home run #756 to Barry Bonds. Incidentally, Mike Bacsik's father (also named Mike Bacsik) was also a Major League pitcher. Incidentally, Mike Bacsik the elder also was once on the mound facing a batter who at that moment was sitting on 755 home runs. Incidentally, Mike Bacsik the elder also at one time wore #37 (though not when he was facing Aaron, in 1976) (and I don't have a picture to prove it, but B-R says so).

So, anyway, baseball is neat.

Welcome back, Baseball

Mike Morse days

It's Mike Morse days until Opening Day.

I know he's no longer a National and that pictures of him in Mariners gear exist, but c'mon.

The phantom grand slam, the kung-fu batting stance, the interviews -- who doesn't miss Mike Morse?

I looked him up on Baseball Reference. Baseball Reference has a section on each player's page where names are pulled of other players who are similar statistically to the player whose page you're looking at. Under Mike Morse's "Similar Batters" section I saw Cliff Lee. Alarmed, I clicked.

It turns out Cliff Lee was an outfielder and first baseman (like Mike Morse!) and occasional catcher (not like Mike Morse) who played from 1919 to 1926. He played for, among other teams, the Phillies and the Indians. The current Cliff Lee has played for, among other teams, the Phillies and the Indians. The old Cliff Lee hit three career home runs at Wrigley Field. The current Cliff Lee has given up three career home runs at Wrigley Field.

Back to Morse. He came to the Nationals on June 28, 2009, in a trade from Seattle. The Mariners got Ryan Langerhans in the deal. Since then, Morse has a .343 OBP with 67 homers in 1,353 plate appearances. Langerhans has a .325 OBP and 9 homers in 320 plate appearances.

Roy Campanella days

It's Roy Campanella days until Opening Day.

Campy hit more home runs against HOFer Robin Roberts (13) than he did against any other pitcher. For most of his career, Roberts played for the Phillies, the current team of the other most-famous Roy in baseball: Halladay. (Friendly reminder: Hobbs was not real.)

Campy threw out 57.4% of base-stealers in his career, the best rate ever. He topped 60% four times, two of those times pushing 70% (68.6% in 1948, 69.4% in 1951). Just to put that into perspective, here is the number of catchers who have had single seasons of at least Campy's career average of 57.4% in the past 40 years: seven. 

Troy Percival days

It’s Troy Percival days until Opening Day.

The first Major League home run Percival ever served up was a walk-off, by Gary “the Rat” Gaetti.

The fifth Major League home run hit off Percival was hit by Frank Thomas, on September 13, 1995. Percival was 26 years old and Thomas was 27.

The 76^th Major League home run hit off Percival was also hit by Thomas, on May 20, 2008. Percival was 39 years old and Thomas was a week shy of 40.

Percival was on my first fantasy baseball team.