Serving Central and South Texas Since 2006
We will be gathering at Iron Works BBQ located at 100 Red River in downtown Austin on Tuesday, March 20 starting at 6:00 p.m.
There is a small parking lot on-site, a larger lot on the south side of Cesar Chavez plus large pay lots across the street to the east. Please RSVP to Jan Larson at jan.a.larson@gmail.com if you plan to attend.
Monte tells chapter members about his trip to Santo Domingo for the 54th Serie del Caribe
Fifteen members and guests gathered at Iron Works BBQ in downtown Austin on Thursday February 16 for our chapter’s regular monthly meeting.
Guest Don Anson introduced himself. Don is from Nolanville (west of Belton), is an Army veteran and retired civil servant, is active with veterans’ affairs, and has an interest in sabermetrics.
Jim Baker reminded everyone to be thinking about their Predictatron entries, as Jim will again manage the Predictatron contest for the 2012 season.
Jan Larson is making arrangements for us to attend the Rangers-Express exhibition game at Dell Diamond on Monday evening, April 2. If you want to pre-order tickets, get in touch with Jan asap at jan.a.larson@gmail.com
General topics of discussion included pending trades (especially current speculation about AJ Burnett), the recent death of Hall-of-Famer Gary Carter at age 57, and the status of arbitration (Steve Fall reports that all pending arbitrations are settled as of tonight).
Monte Cely discussed his recent trip to Santo Domingo, DR to attend the 54th Serie del Caribe (the Caribbean World Series). The quiz topic was “Latin American Baseball – with a Dominican flavor”. Chuck Kauffman won the quiz with an excellent score of 22 of a possible 25. You can take the quiz by clicking here.
The next chapter meeting will be Tuesday, March 20 – 6pm, back at Iron Works. More information will be forthcoming.
(scroll over the right-hand column to display the answer)
| 1. | Every year, players are inducted into the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame. One of this year’s inductees, a former Astros pitcher, liked to describe himself as "one tough Dominican". Name him |
Joaquin Andujar
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| 2. | There is currently only one Dominican player in the U.S. Baseball Hall of Fame. Who is he? |
Juan Marichal |
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| 3. |
Name the other Latin American players in the U.S. Hall of Fame. There are: Three Puerto Ricans Two Cubans One Venezuelan |
PR – Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda, Roberto Alomar Cuba – Martin Dihigo, Tony Perez Venezuela – Luis Aparicio |
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| 4. |
"No hablan ingles a la Serie" – they don’t speak English at the Serie del Caribe. Match these plays (en espanol) with the correct symbol (in English) on your scorecard: a. Cuadrangular RBI b. Boleto gratis 3B c. Sencillo WP d. Error del jardinero central DP e. Ponche 1B f. Doble HR g. Lanzamiento descontrolado BB h. Triple 2B i. Carrera remolcada K j. Doble matanza E8 |
a. HR b. BB c. 1B d. E8 e. K f. 2B g. WP h. 3B i. RBI j. DP |
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| 5. |
There are six teams in the Dominican Winter League. Match the Dominican team name with its meaning (or synonym): Licey a. The Chosen Ones Estrellas Orientales b. The Big Ones in the Valley Escogido c. Bright Lights from the East Aguilas Cibaenas d. Big Horns in the East Gigantes del Cibao e. A river in the Dominican Rep. Toros del Este f. A Majestic Bird over the Valley |
Licey – e Estrellas Orientales – c Escogido – a Aguilas Cibaenas – f Gigantes del Cibao – b Toros del Este – d |
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| 6. |
The Dominican team once again took the "campeonato" (championship) at this year’s 54th Serie del Caribe. How many times have the Dominicans won? 12 15 19 22 |
19 | |
| 7. | (tie breaker if needed) There is one other latin american player in the U.S. Hall of fame. Who is he? (hint, he’s from Panama) |
Rod Carew |
We will be gathering at Iron Works BBQ located at 100 Red River in downtown Austin on Thursday, February 16 starting at 6:00 p.m.
There is a small parking lot on-site, a larger lot on the south side of Cesar Chavez plus large pay lots across the street to the east. Please RSVP to Jan Larson at jan.a.larson@gmail.com if you plan to attend.
Estadio Quisqueya – Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana – site of the 2012 Serie del Caribe
I had so much fun at the Caribbean World Series last year, in Puerto Rico, that I went again in 2012. This year’s Serie del Caribe is being held in Santo Domingo on the traditional dates – Feb. 2 – 7. The site is Estadio Quisqueya, built in 1955 by the government of then-dictator Rafael Trujillo (as you might guess, it was originally called Estadio Trujillo).
Only one of the four winter league champs is making a repeat appearance in 2012, and it happens to be last year’s Serie champion from Mexico. The 2012 participating teams are:
Yaquis de Ciudad Obregon, Mexico
Indios de Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Tigres de Aragua, Maracay, Venezuela
Leones de Escogido, Santo Domingo, DR
I will summarize my observations of the 2012 Serie now, followed by a few pictures and then by my daily “blog” items at the end of this article.
The hosts win the 2012 Serie del Caribe
The format of the Serie del Caribe is a “double round robin”, where each of the four teams plays the other clubs twice. This yields a six day tournament, with a double header each day (at 3pm and 7pm). The host Dominican team, Leones de Escogido, won their first four games and clinched the tournament on day 5 via an early-game loss by Yaquis de Obregon. Consequently, the last three games did not figure in the championship although national pride was still at stake to see who could finish second. The final tournament standings are:
Dominican 4-2
Venezuela 3-3
Puerto Rico 3-3
Mexico 2-4
Dominican manager Ken Oberkfell was staying at our hotel, and he was very accessible. I spoke with him on several occasions and he was very friendly and open. He told me this was his third season as “dirigente” at Escogido and he loves it. He has won two Serie championships in his three seasons here. Moises Alou is the GM of Escogido.
The stadium
As mentioned above, Estadio Quisqueya is 57 years old in 2012. It has been remodeled/updated several times and it’s in great shape. Seating is about 16,500. The playing surface is natural grass and it was in excellent shape for the Serie. It’s a pitcher’s park, with dimensions of 335′ down the lines and 411′ in center. With the heavy, humid tropical air, lots of shots “died at the warning track”. There were only two home runs hit in the 12 games.
The stadium is “home” to both Santo Domingo teams, Licey and Escogido. Consequently, team stores, dugouts, offices etc down the right field line are “rojo”, the red for the Leones de Escogido. Likewise, the same facilities down the left field line are “azul”, the blue for the Tigres de Licey. If someone refers to a local club as the “felinos” (cats), you may have to clarify whether they’re talking about Lions or Tigers.
Personnel at the park were well organized and friendly. Ushers and security people were evident and helpful. The Serie overall was well-planned. Each day, upon entering the gates, we received a free 32-page newspaper/program that contained interesting articles & interviews, summaries of the previous day’s games, standings and rosters. Food was plentiful, varied and cheap. The empenadas were a taste sensation — I ate the pollo (chicken) and carne (beef), but did not have the courage to try the “medianoche especial” (the midnight special) … El Presidente, the most popular beer on the island, was the main sponsor of the Serie and was flowing freely at the stadium. Ron Brugal, the local rum, was also sold in small bottles at the stadium.
We had two electricity failures, but that just added to the fun at the ball park.
The players and the game on the field
The key games were low-scoring. The clubs played for a run at all times, leading to lots of sacrifice bunts, taking the extra base, and exciting plays on the bases. As I observed in Puerto Rico last year, hitters in the middle of the order would even bunt to advance the runner. With expanded rosters (28 – 30 players), the managers went to the bullpen often to get matchups they liked.
The rosters featured lots of familiar names — Francisco Liriano, Julio Lugo, Fernando Tatis, and Julio Borbon (Rangers) for the Dominicans, Karim Garica for Mexico, and Nelson Figueroa for Puerto Rico. Most of the players are late-20s to mid-30s and are mainstays on their winter-league teams and possibly looking for a major league contract or spring-training invite. Two players for Escogido — Andy Dirks (Detroit Tigers) and Pablo Ozuno (formerly with White Sox) would qualify as “rock stars” in Santo Domingo with their January/February play. Aneury Rodriguez, with the Astros, was on the Dominican pitching staff. Raul Valdez, a Cuban currently under contract to the Phillies, has starred the last two years as an “abridor” (starter) for the Dominicans.
While any U.S. baseball fan would enjoy baseball “south of the border”, there are a few elements of the game that will strike an MLB fan as “different”. I’ve already mentioned the strategy to play for a single run even very early in the game. Another is the use of the “bat boy”. In reality, the bat boy in latin american baseball is another base coach. He positions himself near the on-deck circle and watches closely for potential passed balls/wild pitches. If the catcher “can’t find the ball”, the bat boy will signal the runner to advance. He also signals the runner in other instances, and consults with the batter.
Another difference is the presence of advertising on the team uniforms. Even the umpires’ shirts had advertisements (for Samsung). Only the Puerto Ricans did not follow this custom. As an example: the Dominicans’ shirts had ads for El Presidente (beer) and Orange (cell phones), and their batting helmets said “Frosted Flakes”.
But the most exciting and enjoyable difference for the U.S. baseball visitor is …
The fans
With the help of my good friend Juan Antonio Jasso Rodriguez (an important and well-known Mexican fan from Hermosillo) I made my travel arrangements with a Mexican agency (Travesias Mundiales from Hermosillo). I met Juan Antonio and the Mexican contingent at our hotel, travelled together on the bus and taxis, and sat together in great seats in row A of the box seats near the first-base on-deck circle. Meals and drink together added to the fun. It was a tremendous experience.
While most U.S. fans probably have some concept of a latin american ball game, it really must be experienced first-hand and close-up to be fully appreciated. The Mexican fans I was with brought their own band (complete with tubas, drums, trombones, etc) and are well-known throughout winter baseball for their big noise-makers (known as “matracas”, loosely translated as “rattlers”). To rally the fans and club, and to acknowledge good plays, the matracas are swung above their heads to create lots of noise. One of the Mexican fans and “matraqueros”, Enrique (“K.K.”) Estrada, is well-known throughout latin american baseball and was honored at the last Serie del Caribe in Puerto Rico and threw out a “first pitch” there.
The Mexicans fans, along with the Dominicans, Puerto Ricans and Venezuelans, are both passionate and extremely knowledgable about baseball — in their home countries, the U.S. and in the Far East. With the Dominicans both hosting and winning the tournament, my Mexican friends took a lot of good-natured “razzing” at the stadium and on the streets. It was all in good fun.
In closing my summary, I’d like to say “thank you” to all that have taken a moment to read this article. I hope you enjoyed it and, if you haven’t already, will take the opportunity to experience latin american baseball for yourself.
I’d also like to say “THANK YOU” to my good friend Juan Antonio for all his help and kindness, as well as express my thanks to all the Mexican fans that I met that helped me enjoy the 2012 Serie del Caribe. I hope to see you all next year, when the Serie del Caribe will be hosted in Hermosillo, Mexico!
Best wishes, Monte
The author, my friend Juan Antonio Jasso Rodriguez, and his friend Jesus Villegas at the 54th Caribbean World Series
The author with Mexico mascot “Chacho” the tiger and fanatico “Chapulin” (the grasshopper)
***** A day-by-day log of events follows *****
Tuesday, 31 January
I had uneventful flights to Atlanta and then on to Santo Domingo. There was an ESPN crew on my flight to Santo Domingo, as well as several guys wearing MLB gear in first class, assume they’re scouts.
I had a big treat for dinner as Ken Oberkfell sat down next to me. The former Cardinals third baseman is currently el dirigente (manager) of Escogido, so he’ll be managing the Dominicans in the upcoming Serie. He told me this is his third year managing winter ball in DR and he loves it. Had a very enjoyable conversation, and he even bought me una cerveza (no XX down here, it’s all El Presidente) !
Wednesday, 1 February
Lots of scouts at breakfast this morning. I saw lots of San Diego guys, some Rangers and some Royals-clad gentlemen. Two older guys were giving a hard-sell to a young Dominican in the lobby — he looked like he was 15 or 16, probably just coming upon legal signing age here.
Almost ran into Miguel Tejada in the hotel lobby!
Thursday, 2 February
I met up with my friend Juan Antonio Jasso R. from Hermosillo, MX today. He is an important baseball fan here, as our seats were in row A of the box seats — between home and the first-base dugout. We sat next to “Los Matraqueros”, the men with the matracas — huge noise makers that they swing around to rally the Mexican team and fans. (loosly translated, “matraca” means “rattler”).
Both games today were close, low-scoring affairs.
In the early game – Puerto Rico defeated Venezuela 3-1. The Venezuelans put together four hits in the top of the first, but could only plate one run and had another thrown out at home. Nelson Figueroa started the game on the mound for Puerto Rico and he had good stuff throughout and recorded the win.
The late game did not go well for my Mexican friends. The Mexican team could only muster three hits and lost to the host Dominicans 2-1. The Dominican team features many familiar names, including Julio Lugo, Julio Borbon, Esteban German, and Fernando Tatis, among others. They seem to have added talent throughout their playoffs.
I’d guess attendance was around 9,000 at the late game. Very loud and lots of fun!
Friday, 3 February
At breakfast this morning, my friend Juan Antonio and I were interviewed on a Mexican radio show being broadcast from the hotel back to Hermosillo! With my poor Spanish, I’m afraid that the listeners back in Sonora did not get too much insight from me …
Back at Estadio Quisqueya, the Mexican team rebounded with a great defensive effort and good pitching to win 2-0 over Puerto Rico in the opening game. Mexico is now 1-1.
The late game was really late — it took 13 innings for the home team to defeat Venezuela by a score of 5-2. Due to the late hour, we took cabs back to our hotel — it was an exciting ride with five of us in one car with the cabbie. We arrived safely at our hotel to a band playing outside the lobby.
Each team will play six games over the six day Serie. At the end of two days of play, the standings are:
Dominicana 2-0
Mexico 1-1
Puerto Rico 1-1
Venezuela 0-2
Saturday, 4 February
Team Mexico won their game against Venezuela by a score of 4-2. Only one of the six runs was earned, as the teams commited five errors in total.
The late game was delayed two hours due to a shortage of electricity at the ball park. All of the field lights would not come on, and power was shut off under the stands. The game finally got underway at 9pm. This was the highest attendance so far, I would guess around 14,000 fans, to see the home team play Puerto Rico. The Dominicans prevailed over Puerto Rico 6-1.
Sunday, 5 February
In the first game today, Venezuela notched their first win with a victory over Puerto Rico. The Puerto Ricans looked flat after their late-night loss to the hosts yesterday. Final score — Venezuela 7 – Puerto Rico 0
The second game was a key match-up of the two leaders in the Series so far. Francisco Liriano started for the Dominican team. In another low-scoring game, Team Mexico gave up an unearned run in the top of the first and it turned out to be the game-winner. Liriano overcame poor control (4 walks) and got the strikeout or double-play when he needed it, pitching five innings and recording the win. Final score – Dominicana 2 – Mexico 0.
As a result, Team Mexico is on the ropes with a 2-2 record. Dominicana can clinch with a win or a Mexico loss. Mexico will need lots of help from Venezuela and Puerto Rico to stay in contention.
The standings after four days:
Dominicana 4-0
Mexico 2-2
Venezuela 1-3
Puerto Rico 1-3
Monday, 6 February
Team Mexico had a must-win game with Puerto Rico in the first game this afternoon. Things went well early for my friends, with Mexico jumping off to a 3-0 lead. However, the Puerto Ricans chipped away at Mexico’s lead and the game went into the bottom of the ninth tied at 3-3, with the Puerto Ricans at bat. The first PR batter walked — a bad omen. After a single, an intentional walk, an out, and another intentional walk — the bases were loaded with one out. An RBI single followed to win the game for Puerto Rico.
The loss by Mexico clinched the Series title for the host Dominicans!
In the second game, Venezuela prevailed 7-0 agains DR, but the game was meaningless. The game did feature two home runs by the Venezuelans, the first circuit clouts of the Series.
The standings after five days:
Dominicana 4-1 (clinched the Championship)
Mexico 2-3
Venezuela 2-3
Puerto Rico 2-3
Tuesday’s games will be for fun and a chance to claim second-place. Congratulations to the Dominican team!
Thanks for reading. Monte
Thirteen members and guests celebrated SABR Day 2012 on Saturday with good food, fun baseball highlight shows and demonstrations of baseball simulation games.
Hosts Gilbert and Raeanne Martinez served dinner at their home in southwest Austin, while attendees brought appetizers, side dishes, beverages and desserts.
We watched a variety of highlight shows on MLB Network, including ones that featured the 75 greatest catches of all time, the most memorable League Championship Series moments, and baseball bloopers. There was also some viewing of the 40 most overlooked plays/players in MLB history.
We also watched a video of Reese “Goose” Tatum of the Negro Leagues Indianapolis Clowns from 1946 depicting his comedic warm up routine. The SABR national office shared the link on their Twitter account last week. We learned that Tatum later went on to perform with the Harlem Globetrotters, which wasn’t a big surprise considering his antics in the baseball video. Click here to see that video.
Another clip we watched was a video game depiction of the bottom of the 10th inning of the 1986 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets. The video uses footage from R.B.I. Baseball, a Nintendo video game from the 1980s, and matches it with Vin Scully’s broadcast. Click here to see that video.
We also watched a short video of Yoda and Jar-Jar Binks from the “Star Wars” films performing “Who’s on First?” Click here to see that video.
In addition, Cy Morong brought two electronic baseball simulation games with him to share with the group: Main Street Baseball and Starting Lineup Talking Baseball. Both games involved the use of baseball statistics to enhance the simulation. Gilbert Martinez showed a more mechanical baseball simulation from his childhood in Okinawa, Japan. Epoch’s Baseball Game involved a small ball bearing as the ball, a small bat and a playing field. (See photo below with the Epoch’s Baseball Game in the foreground; Cy Morong, seated, and one of his electronic baseball games, and Tom Thayer, left, and Jan Larson.)
Bill Gilbert’s 2012 analysis of the Hall of Fame Vote may be downloaded here: Analyzing the 2012 Hall of Fame Vote.
The Rogers Hornsby Chapter will celebrate SABR Day along with chapters across the country and around the world on Saturday, Jan. 28.
The event will be at the home of Gilbert and Raeanne Martinez in southwest Austin starting at 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28. A main dish will be served and participants will be asked to contribute to the potluck dinner with side dishes, desserts and beverages. A viewing of various MLB Network shows will be presented.
Please contact Gilbert Martinez (gmartinez46 AT austin.rr.com) to receive directions, to RSVP for the event and to sign up for your contribution.
(Pictured above: upper left, Branch B. Rickey; upper right, Norman Macht, John Moore and Jim Kreuz; bottom right, Frank Coffland; bottom left, Monte Cely, Jan Larson and Cy Morong)
Tales from a retired Triple-A umpire, glimpses of early 20th century baseball when Babe Ruth was known as a good pitcher, and personal stories of Branch Rickey’s impact on baseball from his grandson were just some of the topics tossed around during the Sixth Annual Winter Meeting of SABR’s Roger Hornsby Chapter on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012.
Nearly 30 members and guests were treated to a photo montage of Rogers Hornsby images available online through the Library of Congress and photos from recent chapter activities. Chapter commissioner Gilbert Martinez served as the master of ceremonies.
Frank Coffland, 34, spent eight years umpiring in the minor leagues. A product of the Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring, Coffland has umpired in the Pacific Coast League, the Texas League, the Southern League and the Venezuelan Winter League. He retired before the 2005 season to spend time with a growing family, but continues to umpire in college baseball and aspires to umpire in the College World Series some day.
Coffland said he knew he wanted to be an umpire when he was in high school. He said he loved watching the umpires on the field with their strike and out calls. He also fielded questions from the group, including how he maintains his cool when coaches, players and fans yell at him. “It’s tough,” he said. “It’s part of the game. At umpire school, we learned that we have to remain under control and professional.”
At umpire school where he was one of the youngest students, he said umpires are taught to be authoritative and firm so that they don’t get run over by managers and players. He relayed a role-playing exercise in which he was the home plate umpire and his instructors played managers. After a strike call resulted in razzing from one instructor, Coffland – wanting to show how aggressive he was – made a stop gesture with his hand at the instructor. After the instructor continued to argue as a manager would, Coffland threw him out of the game with great flourish. At this point, Coffland said, the instructor called a time out and admonished him about his quick trigger. He learned how to dial it back some, he said.
Coffland said he supports instant replay because he believes that’s the direction of all the major sports and because the umpire’s primary responsibility is to get the call right. But he also acknowledged that mistakes will happen. “Every umpire makes a mistake,” he said. “It’s part of the game, but we’re expected to be right 99 percent of the time.”
Coffland teaches at the South Texas Umpire Clinic and is fitness manager at Spectrum Athletic Club, both in San Antonio.
Another featured speaker at the meeting was Branch B. Rickey, president of the Pacific Coast League, which is headquartered in Round Rock. He is also the grandson of legendary Branch Rickey, who signed Jackie Robinson, resulting in a challenge to the organized baseball’s prohibition of black players.
Rickey told stories he heard from his grandfather about baseball in the early 20th century, such as when he was the baseball coach at Ohio Wesleyan. A hotel refused to admit a black player, but Rickey convinced them to allow the player to sleep on a cot in his room so the hotel wouldn’t have to list the player’s name on the register. Upon entering the room, Rickey said the player, rubbing his arm, told his grandfather, “Mr. Rickey, if I could just get this color off, I’d be as good as anybody.”
Rickey told how his grandfather and Jackie Robinson made a partnership that allowed them to successfully eliminate the color barrier in baseball.
Rickey said his grandfather used to have a framed quotation, which now hangs behind Rickey’s desk, from Sir William Drummond: “He who will not reason is a bigot; he that cannot reason is a fool; and he that dares not reason is a slave.”
Scott Barzilla, author of “The Hall of Fame Index” and member of SABR’s Larry Dierker Chapter, gave a presentation about evaluating players and managers based on the average total number of runs player contributes to his team. His “Total Run Index,” identified Jose Bautista as the most valuable player in 2011 with a rating of 217.3. Matt Kemp was second with 187.6 and National League MVP Ryan Braun trailed with 170.9. According to the index, the top pitcher was Justin Verlander (163.8), followed by four pitchers with a few points of each other: CC Sabathia, Roy Halladay, Clayton Kershaw and Cliff Lee.
Barzilla also found a way to evaluate managers based on the team’s run differential. Managers who scored high were Freddie Gonzalez and Charlie Manual; those who didn’t were Ozzie Guillen, Clint Hurdle and Terry Francona, among others. Barzilla is a founder and contributor to www.hardballchat.com and Hard Ball Chat radio podcast on iTunes.
Longtime SABR member and former SABR board member Norman Macht read an excerpt from the second volume of his Connie Mack biography series, “Connie Mack: The Turbulent and Triumphant Years 1915-1932.” Macht observed how the Babe Ruth era began and changed baseball. He said that other players would watch Ruth take batting practice and adopted his longer and heavier bats, ushering in the tape-measure era. The new volume is expected to be published later this year.
Director of Broadcasting for the Round Rock Express, Mike Capps, shared his observations about the Triple-A club, including players to watch and highlights from the past season. He praised Estéban Germán, who swiped 44 bases for the Express, and Matt Kata, who had a career high in home runs. He told the group to watch for Mark Hamburger, whom he believes will make the Rangers rotation as a starter. “He’s a lefty in a righty body,” he said, adding that Hamburger brings a 97 miles-per-hour fastball along with a 93-mph slider. Capps also lamented the loss of catcher Kevin Cash, who retired from baseball and joined the Toronto Blue Jays as an advance scout.
Capps said that former Mets and Dodgers catcher Jerry Grote, who spoke at the 2011 winter meeting, will be rejoining him in the broadcast booth for the 2012 season. “He’s already wearing me out on the cell phone,” Capps quipped.
Some members brought – and wore – baseball memorabilia to the meeting. Jan Larson appeared in a Mariano Rivera, #42 Yankee jersey with matching gray baseball pants and and a Yankees cap. There is no truth to the rumor that he was throwing cut fastballs in the hallway. He also brought a small Yankees clock that had a container of dirt from the old Yankee Stadium and a Brooks Robinson signed baseball. Scott Barzilla wore a game-worn #56 Astros jersey worn by his cousin, Phillip Barzilla, who made his debut with the Astros in 2006. Jim Kreuz brought yearbooks with Stan Musial, and Norman Macht brought profit and loss statement that included the salaries of the players from the Philadelphia Athletics in 1913.
The new dean of Texas State’s College of Fine Arts and Communication, Dr. Timothy Mottet, welcomed the group to historic Old Main and the university. Dr. Mottet, an expert in communication studies, praised the group for their passionate interest in baseball. He said that people are more interesting when they explore and enjoy interests outside of their work and personal lives. He also quoted Robert S. Weider, author of “In Praise of the Second Season,” who wrote, “Baseball fans are junkies, and their heroin is the statistic.”
Who Were the Most Productive Offensive Players in 2011?
By Bill Gilbert
Numerous methods have been devised to measure offensive performance. The most common are batting average, on-base percentage and slugging average. Since none of these averages provides a complete picture by itself, a more comprehensive measure of offensive performance is useful. Such a measure would include the following elements:
1. The ability to get on base.
2. The ability to hit with power.
3. The ability to add value through baserunning.
The first two elements are measured by on-base percentage and slugging average. A measure of offensive performance, which encompasses both as well as baserunning achievements, is Bases per Plate Appearance (BPA). This measure accounts for the net bases accumulated by a player per plate appearance. It is calculated as follows:
BPA = (TB + BB + HB + SB – CS – GIDP) / (AB + BB + HB + SF)
Where: BPA = Bases per Plate Appearance
TB = Total Bases
BB = Bases on Balls
HB = Hit by Pitch
SB = Stolen Bases
CS = Caught Stealing
GIDP = Grounded into Double Plays
AB = At Bats
SF = Sacrifice Flies
The numerator accounts for all of the bases accumulated by a player, reduced by the number of times he is caught stealing or erases another runner by grounding into a double play. The denominator accounts for the plate appearances when the player is trying to generate bases for himself. Sacrifice hits are not included as plate appearances, since they represent the successful execution of the batter’s attempts to advance another runner.
Major league BPA for the past fifteen years are shown below along with the number of players with BPA over .550 and .600:
Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
BPA .463 .463 .479 .481 .468 .457 .461 .468 .456 .470 .463 .458 .461 .446 .442
.550 34 41 50 50 46 39 42 33 34 46 34 41 42 19 25
.600 15 22 29 30 26 17 15 18 13 14 15 11 16 7 7
Offensive production peaked in 2000 before declining in the early years of this century. BPA in 2011 was down slightly from 2010, an 8.1% reduction from the peak in 2000.
In the 1990s, there were 14 individual .700 BPA seasons. In the eight year period from 2000 to 2007, there were 18. The highest BPA in the 1990s was recorded by Mark McGwire in 1998 (.799). Barry Bonds shattered that with .907 in 2001, the highest figure ever recorded, topping Babe Ruth’s best two years (1920 and 1921). Bonds followed that with .869 in 2002, .818 in 2003 and .882 in 2004. There have not been any hitters with a BPA of .700 since 2007. The last player to make it was Alex Rodriguez (.702) in 2007. Surprisingly, Albert Pujols has not had a .700 BPA in his eleven seasons.
The .700 BPA seasons in 2000-2011 are listed below:
Player Team Year BPA
Barry Bonds San Francisco 2001 .907
Barry Bonds San Francisco 2004 .882
Barry Bonds San Francisco 2002 .869
Barry Bonds San Francisco 2003 .818
Sammy Sosa Chicago Cubs 2001 .758
Barry Bonds San Francisco 2000 .745
Todd Helton Colorado 2000 .720
Luis Gonzalez Arizona 2001 .713
Todd Helton Colorado 2001 .709
Larry Walker Colorado 2001 .707
Jason Giambi Oakland 2000 .706
Travis Hafner Cleveland 2006 .703
Alex Rodriguez NY Yankees 2007 .702
Jason Giambi Oakland 2001 .700
Ryan Howard Philadelphia 2006 .700
The yearly leaders since 1992 are as follows:
1992 Bonds .734 1993 Bonds .740 1994 Bagwell .768
1995 Belle .692 1996 McGwire .765 1997 Walker .770
1998 McGwire .799 1999 McGwire .735 2000 Bonds .745
2001 Bonds .907 2002 Bonds .869 2003 Bonds .818
2004 Bonds .882 2005 D. Lee .699 2006 Hafner .703
2007 A. Rodriguez .702 2008 Pujols .685 2009 Pujols .696
2010 Bautista .671 2011 Bautista .681
The benchmark for an outstanding individual season is .600. Following is a list of 7 players with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title and with a BPA of .600 in 2011.
——————————
2011 2010 .600+
1 Bautista, J .681 .671 A 2 Second straight year at the top.
2 Braun, R. .663 .535 N 3 Filled the stat sheet.
3 Kemp, M. .647 .476 N 1 Big-time breakout season
4 Cabrera, M. .615 .642 A 3 Consistently near the top.
5 Granderson, C .614 .534 A 2 Found power against lefties.
6 Fielder, C. .610 .555 N 3 Had better year than Pujols.
7 Ellsbury, J. .607 .361 A 1 Found a power stroke.
The only repeaters from last year’s list are Bautista and Cabrera. Bautista topped the list in both years. Pujols had a BPA of .548, by far the lowest of his career, ranking 27th among qualifiers. Five other players had a BPA over .600 in 2010 but fell short in 2011.
No. of
2010 2011 .600+
Player BPA BPA LG Seasons Comments
1 Votto, J. .657 .576 N 2 Not quite up to 2010 MVP season.
2 Hamilton, J. .653 .559 A 1 Held back by injuries again.
3 Pujols, A. .634 .548 N 8 Down year would be a career year for most.
4 Gonzalez, C. .632 .576 N 1 Not quite up to 2010 season.
5 Konerko, P. .613 .551 A 1 Another strong late-career season.
Six players have a BPA over .600 for their careers:
2011 Career
Player Age BPA BPA Comments.
———— — —- —- ——–
Albert Pujols 31 .548 .641 Easily the best in 2000-09 decade.
Alex Rodriguez 35 .500 .617 Signs of a decline.
Manny Ramirez 39 .059 .617 Great career down in flames.
Jim Thome 40 .531 .615 600 HR clinches HOF spot.
Lance Berkman 35 .598 .602 Still a tough out.
Ryan Braun 27 .663 .602 2012 season in question.
Another list of interest is of players with a BPA of over .600 in 2011 who did not have enough plate appearances (PA) to qualify for the batting title.
Player Age BPA PA Comments
————— — —- — —————————
Brett Lawrie 21 .663 171 Looks like an impact player.
Mike Napoli 29 .662 432 Can he do it again?
Jason Giambi 40 .645 152 Still hits with power.
Alejandro De Aza 27 .600 171 Pleasant surprise for White Sox.
Looking at the other end of the spectrum, sixteen players who earned enough playing time to qualify for the batting title had a BPA less than .400 in 2011. Ichiro Suzuki narrowly missed this list with a BPA of .400. Adam Dunn, with a BPA of .369 in 2011 and a career BPA of .580 would be on this list if he had enough plate appearances to qualify.
Player BPA Comments
—————– —- ——————————
Vladimir Guerrero .398 Had 7 seasons with BPA over .600.
Omar Infante .396 Third straight year of decline.
Miguel Olivo .395 Only catcher on the list.
Robert Andino .392 First year as a regular.
Danny Valencia .390 Failed to repeat promising 2010 season.
Alcides Escobar .386 A repeater on this list.
Gordon Beckham .385 A major disappointment.
Martin Prado .385 Down from .474 in 2010.
Mark Ellis .382 First time below .400.
Juan Pierre .379 Career BPA of .445.
Darwin Barney .373 Tailed off in second half.
Placido Polanco .368 Career BPA of .425.
Alex Gonzalez .367 A candidate for this list every year.
Yuniesky Betancourt .366 Career BPA of .384
Jason Bartlett .364 Had .572 BPA in 2009.
Casey McGehee .355 Season long slump from .473 in 2010.
Alex Rios .353 Even worse than Adam Dunn.
Two players compiled a batting average over .300, an on-base average over .400, a slugging percentage over .500 and bases per plate appearance over .600 in 2011:
Player (2010) BAVG OBA SLG BPA OPS
Jose Bautista .302 .447 .608 .681 1.055
Miguel Cabrera .344 .448 .586 .615 1.033
Two active players have these numbers for their careers, although Manny Ramirez was active for only 17 plate appearances in 2011.
Player (Career) BAVG OBA SLG BPA OPS
Albert Pujols .328 .420 .617 .641 1.037
Manny Ramirez .312 .411 .585 .617 .996
Bill Gilbert
12/28/11
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