Author: Mike Farley (Page 34 of 36)

Some baseball players have a penchant for getting hit by pitches. Either they stand too close to the plate and can’t avoid it, or they like pain. No player was hit by more pitches than Hugh Jennings, who began his career with the Louisville Cardinals in 1891. Ol’ Hugh was hit by 287 pitches, and holds the record for a single season with 51 in 1896 while playing for the Orioles. Ouch. But there are a few active players who don’t mind a little pain now and then, and here is a list of the active Top 10 in the hit-by-pitch category:

1. Jason Kendall, Milwaukee Brewers (229)—Jason Kendall is a catcher, and those guys can pretty much endure pain more than any other position player. But Kendall is also scrappy as hell, even today at the age of 34. And with 229 times that a pitch has nailed his body, Kendall ranks first in that category for active players by a mile. He was hit a career high 31 times each in 1997 and 1998, and he’s on pace for 19 times in 2008.

2. Carlos Delgado, New York Mets (166)—At 6’3” and 220 lbs., Carlos Delgado is just a big dude who can’t help but get in the way of pitches sometimes. He’s had double digits in the category from 1998 through 2007.

3. Jason Giambi, New York Yankees (149)—Between 1995 and 2001 with Oakland, Mr. Giambi was hit by 48 pitches. From 2002 until now with the Yankees, he’s been hit 101 times. Either ‘roids have made this guy’s body stick out over the plate more, or opposing pitchers just don’t like Giambi or the Yankees.

4. Derek Jeter, New York Yankees (136)—Teammates and opposing players may respect him, but he’s still the captain of the Yankees. If you don’t know what I mean, read what I just wrote about Jason Giambi again.

5. Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees (132)—A-Rod was hit by 31 pitches while playing for Seattle for seven seasons, and has already been hit 50 times while wearing pinstripes since 2004. Damn, pitchers really do hate the Yankees.

6. Gary Sheffield, Detroit Tigers (131)—With an average of nine hit-by-pitches per season, this one is more about longevity than anything. But Sheffield did play for the Yankees for two-plus seasons.

7. Damion Easley, New York Mets (129)—Here’s an interesting statistic. Of Easley’s 129 times of being hit by a pitch, 87 of those were while playing with Detroit from 1996 to 2002. That’s 2/3 of his total in 1/3 of his career.

8. David Eckstein, Toronto Blue Jays (124)—This guy got a late start in the majors (at the age of 26 in 2001), otherwise he would be challenging Jason Kendall and maybe even ol’ Hugh Jennings. Eckstein has been hit 124 times, or 3 percent of every time he comes to the plate. Yikes.

8. Jeff Kent, Los Angeles Dodgers (124)—In seventeen seasons as a scrappy second baseman, 124 times is sort of inevitable.

10. Jose Guillen, Kansas City Royals (119)—Yes, he’s been hit 119 times. Bud oddly, Jose Guillen was hit 60 times in a four-year stretch between 2004 and 2007. I guess sometimes you have to just stick your body out there to get on base.

Source: Baseball Reference

My source for this information only goes back as far as 1985, but really, what players are making now in a single season may have been a career’s worth back then anyway. So here are the top earners of all-time, and naturally there are several active players on here.

1. Barry Bonds ($188,245,322)—Are you kidding? Almost $200 million over the course of his career? And you surely can’t put an asterisk on that statistic. But how much of Barry’s nest egg has gone and will go to legal fees?

2. Alex Rodriguez, ($170,416,252)—A-Rod signed that ridiculous 10-year, $250,000 contract with Texas back in 2001, and I believe he’s still honoring said deal with the Yankees. That’s a lot of money spent for zero World Series rings, isn’t it?

3. Randy Johnson ($152,449,473)—The Big Unit has earned it all, and has been maybe the most feared pitcher in the game over the last fifteen seasons. My favorite stat is that Johnson struck out 1417 batters between 1999 and 2002, an average of 354 per season, and won four straight Cy Young Awards in the process.

4. Greg Maddux ($143,845,000)—In most areas, a $500,000 home would be pretty freaking nice. If your lifetime salary can afford you 286 of them, that’s just insane.

5. Manny Ramirez ($143,328,346)—Think about this. Man-Ram is still only 36 and I’m guessing he’s got at least five more seasons left in him. And over sixteen seasons he’s averaged .312 with 40 homers and 132 RBI per season. Holy crap.

6. Gary Sheffield ($140,682,244)—Sure, this guy has hit the snot out of the ball, but in 2007 Sheff hit .265 with 25 homers and 75 RBI. Is that worth $11 million?

7. Derek Jeter ($139,630,000)—He’s not a power hitter per se (200 career homers over 14 seasons), but a leader on a consistently great team, and arguably the game’s most popular player today.

8. Ken Griffey Jr. ($139,070,987)—If anyone on this list has been underpaid, it’s this guy. He currently has 605 home runs and is the epitome of class.

9. Pedro Martinez ($134,446,234)—Pedro is on his last leg, or make that arm, with the Mets in 2008. But when he was with Montreal and Boston, he had some of the most wicked stuff I’ve ever seen.

10. Mike Mussina ($133,462,590)—I was going to say that $11 million, his 2008 salary, is ridiculously high. But Mussina is on pace to win 19 games for the Yanks when they need him the most. And he’ll take the Steinbrenners’ money all day long.

Source: Baseball Reference

When you think about baseball iron men, you most likely think of Cal Ripken Jr. or Lou Gehrig. Those guys set the benchmark for consecutive games with 2632 and 2130, respectively. But in career games played, Ripken ranks only eighth all-time. Gehrig ranks well below that, but that’s only because his career was cut terribly short by ALS, which also prematurely ended his life. As for today’s active iron men, here is the top of the heap, excluding “active” players who likely have played their last game, like Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa:

1. Omar Vizquel, San Francisco Giants (2632)—Here’s a guy who has always looked ten years younger than he actually is. Vizquel is 41, and has been playing in the majors since 1989. Still, he’s never played a full 162-game season, and his .153 batting average in 2008 might signify the end of a great career – in particular as one of the premier defensive shortstops ever.

2. Luis Gonzalez, Florida Marlins (2541)—When I say this guy’s name, you probably think “2001 World Series,” because that’s when Gonzalez had his shining moment, a game-winning Game 7 hit to give his Diamondbacks the title. And check out these numbers from that season: 57 homers, 142 RBI, .325 batting average. That was only good for third in the NL MVP voting, behind two guys named Bonds and Sosa.

3. Ken Griffey, Jr., Cincinnati Reds (2466)—For my money, this guy has the sweetest power stroke of any active player, and one of the best ever. He would be at the top of the list, too, if it weren’t for all the nagging injuries during his time in Cincinnati.

4. Gary Sheffield, Detroit Tigers (2416)—Sheffield, who is Dwight Gooden’s nephew, began his career in 1988 at the age of 19. He’s been hampered a bit by injury, but even if he were 60 I wouldn’t want to pitch to the guy.

5. Frank Thomas, Oakland Athletics (2295)—The Blue Jays thought he was washed up, and released him. The A’s re-signed him, but he hasn’t played a ton since then. Too bad, because Thomas may have eventually joined the 600 home run club.

6. Jeff Kent, Los Angeles Dodgers (2255)—Has anyone ever accused Jeff Kent of juicing? I know he’s never appeared to blow up physically, but this guy was an average hitter with the Mets and Indians. Then with the Giants, Astros and Dodgers since 1997, he’s almost always in the 30 homer, 120 RBI range. I’m not accusing him, I’m just scratching my head a bit.

7. Ivan Rodriguez, Detroit Tigers (2225)—A catcher with a career .302 batting average over 18 seasons? Just why is this guy an after-thought behind guys like Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza?

8. Jim Thome, Chicago White Sox (2096)—Along with this mark, Thome is also the game’s active windmill leader, with 2123 career strikeouts.

9. Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox (2038)—I know I said this before recently, but the fact that Man-Ram and Thome hit in the same lineup together, along with Albert Belle and Eddie Murray, is just scary. Can anyone tell me why the Indians haven’t won a World Series since 1948?

10. Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves (1976)—Ol’ Larry has been bit by the injury bug many times during his career, otherwise he’d be up a few notches here. But he’s still a great hitter, and putting up huge numbers even at the age of 36. I think this guy plays another seven or eight seasons.

Source: Baseball Reference

When you stop and think about all of the work and traveling involved in a 162-game baseball season, it’s no wonder that the game is littered with characters and funny stories. And while there have been your share of light-hearted songs about the game of baseball over the years, such as “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and “Talkin’ Baseball,” it was high time that someone poke a stick in the collective belly of the sport. Enter this group of wise guys – Scott McGaughey (R.E.M.) and Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate). After enlisting Peter Buck (R.E.M.) and Linda Pitmon (Golden Smog) to round out The Baseball Project, the group whipped up thirteen songs and hit the studio, and the result is Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails. Nothing is sacred here, including maybe the best song title ever, “Ted Fucking Williams.” They also pick on guys like Curt Flood, Harvey Haddix, and Fernando Valenzuela. But perhaps the best track of all is “The Yankee Flipper,” a reference to rocker and former pitcher Jack McDowell, about the time he flipped off 50,000 booing fans at Yankee Stadium. But here’s a bonus – the music is really good. It’s raunchy garage rock with R-rated lyrics, but melodic enough to suit most musical palates. Serious fans of both baseball and music should own this one and look forward to Volume 2. (LABEL: Yep Roc)

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