Catcher:

The best hitting catcher is probably Ramon Castro, who I see as a DH but can catch some.  You have a couple of receivers with good defensive skills but a limited offensive outlook (Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Varitek) and a couple of catchers who have recently been regulars (Chris Snyder, Ronny Paulino).  If you took Castro and Rodriguez, at least you’d have someone who could work with the pitchers and throw, and you’d have a decent enough backup who could help put a few runs on the board.

First Baseman:

With Prince Fielder still available, you have the centerpiece of an offense – but you still have some competent backups.  Casey Kotchman seems to have found his hitting stroke, and Carlos Pena could help in a platoon role (can’t hit lefties, though).  If you weren’t willing to pony up $20 million per year for Fielder, a platoon of Pena and Derrek Lee might give you depth and a solid platoon.

Second Baseman:

Not a lot to choose from here…  The best player is probably Carlos Guillen, but he’s only going to play 40 games (not to be mean here, but his injury history is becoming problematic).  That leaves you with someone who can, at best, not embarrass you with the glove – Jeff Keppinger, for example – and even play a couple of positions since you may need some flexibility.

Third Baseman:

If you thought the pickings were thin at second, it’s even thinner at third base now.  Casey Blake has had a couple of good years, and Wilson Betemit can swing the bat.  After that, it’s guys who used to be able to play some (Eric Chavez, Alex Cora, Omar Vizquel).

Shortstop:

Three guys who can’t really cover the position anymore – Orlando Cabrera, Edgar Renteria, and Miguel Tejada.  The best overall option is probably Cabrera – or letting him play second and moving Keppinger over to play short.

Outfielders:

There are still a few players here who could contribute, but most of these guys are past prime players and few have the wheels to cover center.  However, Johnny Damon could still play left, Cody Ross can play right or center (though he’s running out of years he’ll be able to cover center).  Kosuke Fukudome is a fantastic right fielder and can still bat leadoff.  Behind that you have a couple of guys who could be good fourth outfielders and pinch hitting types – Jonny Gomes, Andruw Jones, Juan Pierre.  If you needed a defensive guy, Joey Gathright is there.  And, if you want to take a real chance, you could go for Yoenis Cespedes.

A lineup as listed below would score some runs, and probably fight the defense to a draw.

Fukudome – RF
Damon – LF
Guillen – 2B
Fielder – 1B
Castro – C
Ross – CF
Blake – 3B
Keppinger – SS
(Pitcher – assuming a National League team)

Starting Pitchers:

A couple recent signings has killed off much of the top remaining pitchers, but you still have a few guys who can win games.  I see a rotation that includes the following as having some potential:

Roy Oswalt
Edwin Jackson
Jon Garland
Joe Saunders
Livan Hernandez

And I’d give a sixth spot to Rich Harden – pitch him until something breaks (which it will).  Or, you could take Harden’s stuff and make a closer out of him.  Your emergency arm might be Kevin Millwood – I just don’t know if he has one more year left.  I’d stash him in AAA until Rich Harden breaks down…  The staff is really missing an ace, but you have two guys who can win at the top and three guys who can give you 650 innings at the bottom, which helps the bullpen.

Relievers:

The signing of Ryan Madson takes away the best available closer, but you can do a bullpen by committee and hope someone takes charge.  I see the top six arms as follows:

Michael Gonzalez
Danys Baez
Francisco Cordero
Juan Cruz
Brad Lidge
Arthur Rhodes

Out of that list, you can give Lidge the last inning (if he’s healthy) and mix and match the rest to be reasonably effective.

I haven’t done the math on this, but a team with this roster could possibly make a run at 85 wins.

Butka was born in Canonsburg, PA on January 7, 1916 and from what I gather, spent pretty much his whole life there – except for his days playing professional baseball.  He must have gone to college or played semi-pro baseball for a while – but none of the few references I have available to me today explain what he did until 1940, when he is listed as having played D level ball for Newport in the Appalachian League at the age of 24.  From 1940 to 1943, Butka played for Newport, Salisbury, Orlando, Utica, and Springfield.  In his second season at Springfield, he caught the eye of Senator scouts who were hurting for help at first base – the war having taken a lot of talent away from the game.

For some reason (I haven’t found out why), Butka was listed as 4F by his draft board – which is either physically, mentally, or morally unfit for combat.  And yet he was playing baseball…  He got three games with the Senators in 1944, getting three hits in nine at bats, but was sent back to Buffalo anyway.  He was basically optioned – meaning he could get recalled at any time by the Senators – and every now and then, when someone got hurt, Butka would appear in a few games.

The only game in which Butka is specifically mentioned by The Sporting News, he actually didn’t play.  Browns pitcher Nels Potter got frustrated when he gave up a seventh inning rally and took it out on George Case.  Case didn’t take kindly to getting plunked, so he yelled out to Potter – who met Case halfway to first base.  At that point, Case landed a quality right hand and both benches cleared.  Case and Potter were both ejected, as was our man Ed Butka – who was tossed for indescriminately joining into the fray, suggesting that the best contact Butka made in 1945 was with a Browns player.  Case, for what it’s worth, injured his shoulder and missed a week of games. (Povich, Shirly. “Griff Spending to Duck Cellar”, TSN, 8/31/1944 – pg. 6.)

As a player, Butka looks like he was a contact hitter and didn’t have much power.  Baseball-Reference.com doesn’t list a season where he had more than seven homers and his batting average ranged from the mid .250s to the low .300s, with a decent enough eye at the plate.  The only recorded nickname I see is “Babe”, which must have referred to his youthful smile or maybe a playful attitude.

Butka’s hitting in the majors wasn’t top notch, and he was out of baseball for a short while.  He came back to play a season at New London, and then New Brunswick in 1947 and 1948 – in 1947, he was a player/manager for a team that finished 50 – 67.

At this point, Butka came home.  Returning to Canonsburg, he became a dispatcher for the borough and lived the suburban life.  He had married Helen Mae Meeks after the 1944 season – now they came home and had five kids.  Evenings and weekends, Butka coached community baseball teams, or worked the garden and played golf.  In 2001, he was inducted into the Washington/Greene County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame.  Less than two months after the death of his wife, Helen, Butka met his demise on April 21, 2005 and was laid to rest in the grounds of his hometown.

The Chicago White Sox have been active shedding salary in a remaking of the 2012 roster.

Carlos Quentin Going Home to San Diego

The Chicago White Sox dealt outfielder Carlos Quentin to the San Diego Padres for two pitching prospects, Simon Castro and Pedro Hernandez.

Quentin broke out in 2008 after the Sox lifted him from Arizona for Chris Carter.  Now, the GM that traded Quentin away (Josh Byrnes) gets him back – just in a different city.  Quentin grew up in the San Diego area and attended the University of San Diego, so this is a homecoming of sorts for the power hitting outfielder.  What might make the Padres nervous is that Quentin has never played more than 131 games or made it to 500 at bats – but he is a consistent threat to hit the ball out – even in spacious San Diego.  My take on it, though, is that he will likely hit about .225 with 18 homers – I’ll have to do the math…

White Sox GM Kenny Williams says that Dayan Viciedo will likely get the first shot at being the regular right fielder.  Essentially equal in talent to Quentin, Viciedo is also seven years younger and not arbitration eligible…

Simon Castro is a righty starter who has struggled as he has moved up into AA and AAA ball – he’s been especially hard hit at AAA Portland and Tucson.  The Sox will have to tinker with him to find an out pitch.  Left Pedro Hernandez has superb control and has been more successful at the higher levels.  Both will likely need one more year, though, before they contribute to the Sox rotation or bullpen.

Sox Send Frasor to Jays in First Trade of 2012

Just days after acquiring veteran lefty reliever Darren Oliver, the Blue Jays added Jason Frasor – a former Jay – in a trade with the White Sox.  The White Sox receive minor league pitchers Myles Jaye and Daniel Webb.

Jason Frasor spent eight seasons in Toronto before being sent to Chicago as part of the Colby Rasmus deal last summer and actually has pitched in more games than any other player in Blue Jays history (455).

Myles Jaye was a 17th round pick in 2010 and pitched reasonably well in Bluefield (RK) of the Appalachian League, finishing with a 3 – 3 record with 49 Ks in 54 innings with decent control – not bad for a first year kid out of high school.  Daniel Webb pitched at two levels last year, is 22, and hasn’t shown signs of a career a couple of years removed from his days at the Northwest Florida State (thanks to a writer/visitor for pointing out an error here).  Unless Jaye pans out, this looks like a salary dump if you ask me.

Ryan Braun’s Suspension a Lock?

Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote that he had spoken with an MLB person “in the know” and that person suggested that there is little chance that Ryan Braun‘s positive test for a banned substance will be overturned.  According to the article, two things are working against him: (1) that both test samples came back positive, and (2) that the Brewers did not approve anything Braun may have been taking at the time.  Already likely without Prince Fielder, the Brewers are planning for a third of the season without the 2011 MVP in left field.

Braves Trainer Loses Wife in New Year’s Eve Crash

The Atlanta Braves are joining together to help Head Athletic Trainer Jeff Porter deal with the aftermath of a horrific car crash that killed his wife, Kathy, and injured himself, his son, David, and family friend Courtney Ann Williams.  Porter’s car was hit by a state police car that was racing through an intersection en route to participate in a high speed chase nearby.

Jones Remains a Yankee…

Andruw Jones will return to the Yankees as a utility outfielder and DH for $2 million and incentives.  Last year, the veteran outfielder hit .247 with 13 homers in hitter friendly Yankee Stadium.  Is Jones still thought of as a Hall of Fame candidate?

Happy Birthday!

Those celebrating with cards, cake, or remembrances include:

Tim Keefe (1857)
Bumpus Jones (1870)
Ethan Allen (1904)
Hank Greenberg (1911)
Earl Torgeson (1924)
La Marr Hoyt (1953)
Fernando Tatis (1975)

Hank and Hoyt you probably heard of…  Bumpus Jones was a pitcher for hire in the 1890s and early 1900s – mostly in the minors.  However, in his first ML game, he threw a no-hitter.  Fernando Tatis, you may recall, hit two grand slams in the same inning – the best inning of hitting ever.

Born in Lockland, Ohio – a small town north of Cincinnati – Viox began his career playing for Lexington in the Blue Grass League.  After a successful year in 1910, the Cubs signed him but let him go.  Viox hit .291 in 1911 and was signed by Pittsburgh to play third base.  It took a little while for Viox to earn a spot, but eventually the 5′ 7″ infielder found his way to a starting role at second base.  He was quick enough, but not fast – and had a decent eye.  In his first full season, Viox finished in the top five in the National League by hitting .317, hitting doubles and triples and getting on base at a .399 clip.  While Viox would never approach .300 again, his ability to work the count and get on base was a valuable commodity.

However, the end of the Wagner era had an unhappy ending – by 1915, the Pirates were no longer competitive and Viox was one of many players who were cut by Pittsburgh in 1916.  Viox wasn’t a rangy fielder and started to put on a little weight (in 1921, when managing for Portsmouth and still playing second base, The Sporting News noted that Viox was heavy in the team photo…), so even though he was still a better batter than anyone else the Pirates used at second base for the next decade, he was dispatched to the minors.  (He reminds me a little of Jeff Treadway, just looking at his numbers.)

Viox first landed in Kansas City but when he was claimed by Salt Lake City, he decided he would rather play semi-pro baseball in the Cincinnati area than head west.  In 1920, Portsmouth of the Virginia League tapped Viox to become its playing manager and Viox took with him a number of players he had seen playing ball in the Queen’s City area.  Among them was pitcher Larry Benton, who along with shortstop Harold “Pie” Traynor, would lead Portsmouth to the 1920 Virginia League pennant.  Viox managed another pennant winner in 1921 – though that team won its pennant only after Wilson and Rocky Mount were declared to be in violation of the league’s salary cap and had to forfeit games.

While managing, Viox also played – one season he batted .371 – and earned a trip to the high minors; Viox played for a season and a half for Louisville in the American Association.  However, he was called back to managing and took over teams in Lexington, Rocky Mount, and Raleigh before leaving organized baseball.

Viox may have retired, but never lost his love of the sport.  He frequently played in old-timers games in Cincinnati and would attend events sponsored by the Retired Ballplayers Fraternity in the Cincy Area.  He shows up in The Sporting News at William (Dummy) Hoy’s 86th birthday party in a couple of pictures.  His son, James Jr. grew up to be an engineer, a career that Viox’s grandchildren continue today.  Viox died on January 4, 1969 at his home in Erlanger, Kentucky, a short ride south of Cincinnati.

Links:

Jim Viox page on Retrosheet.org
Portsmouth Truckers Team Page on Baseball-Reference.com
Jim Viox Minor League Page on Baseball-Reference.com

As a hitter, Mueller could make contact with anything – earning the nickname Mandrake the Magician, after a cartoon character of the 1930s.  He used a short compact swing, choked up on the bat, and would slap line drives between infielders for singles.  His ability to make contact was a good and bad thing; Mueller rarely struck out and he walked even fewer times – usually about 25 times in a full season. A modern analyst reviewing Mueller’s stats would read his batting line and think, “wow – he made a lot of outs…”  Still, he only struck out 146 times in his entire career – think about that next time you see the single season strikeout numbers of many modern players.

Though not generally known as a power hitter, Mueller is one a few players to have hit five home runs in over the span of consecutive games.  Mueller’s five homers came as his wife, Genevieve, was home in labor – he must have really been concentrating considering how he must have missed being home with his family.  Instead, it being September and with his team trying to rally to catch the Brooklyn Dodgers down the stretch in 1951, he stayed with the Giants and helped ignite the final stretch run with his heroics.  After hitting three homers in the second game of a Dodgers series on September 1st, he hit two more on September 2nd – the second after Monte Irvin tapped Mueller on the shoulder while in the on deck circle.  Irvin told Mueller that his hands were sweating and he should dry them off – and then relax because he was the father of a baby boy and everybody was alright.  So, within minutes of hitting his fifth homer of the series, he was passing out cigars in the locker room.

Baseball Digest ran a fantastic article by Harold Sheldon that covered his trip from a St. Louis childhood learning baseball from his dad, Walter (himself a former outfielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1920s), whipping his way through semi-pro baseball and the minors after a short stint in the Merchant Marines at the end of World War II, and his making it to the Giants and finally becoming a regular outfielder.  [Harold Sheldon,"Don Mueller - Star by Birth", Baseball Digest, Nov. 1951, Pages 67 - 69.]

Mueller played alongside Willie Mays in the 1950s and, if you read any of the Mays biographies, you learn that Mueller was one of a handful of Giants players that were jealous of the fame and accolades given to Mays at that time.  When Mays edged Mueller to win the batting title on the final day of the 1954 season, Mueller seemed to take it personally, and manager Leo Durocher didn’t help any by coddling his star and referring to Mueller as the guy who lost the batting title to Mays.  [James A. Hirsch, Willie Mays: The Life, the Legend, pages 187 - 188].

By the late 1950s, Mueller’s batting average – at one point over .300 for three straight seasons – fell to the .260 range.  Not necessarily a fine fielder, the Giants cut Mueller who then signed with the Chicago White Sox.  He was a backup outfielder and pinch hitter in the 1958 season and got four pinch hitting appearances in 1959 before being released in mid-May, missing out on a third opportunity to play in a World Series.

After his playing days were over, Mueller returned to the St. Louis area, worked a family farm, did a little scouting for the Giants, and eventually worked as an insurance investigator.  He spent his final years in Chesterfield, Missouri.

Other Links:

Don Mueller’s Page on Retrosheet.org
Don Mueller’s Biography at SABR.org
Don Mueller’s Obit Article on MLB.com

Cohen’s major league debut became one of those The Sporting News anecdotes of the 1930s – he got his first hit in his first major league at bat, even though he batted out of order.

In the second game of the 1931 season, Wilbert Robinson’s Brooklyn Robins were getting pounded by the Boston Braves and Uncle Robby was not happy with the play of his outfielders.  Brooklyn made seven (!) errors that day, and Robby took it out on Babe Herman.  Herman responded to Robinson’s tirade with, “Well, if you don’t want me out there, why don’t you send in somebody else?”  So, Robby did just that.

The Robins rallied in the top of the fifth, so Robertson sent in Ike Boone to pinch hit for the pitcher – then sent Boone out to right field in the bottom of the fifth.  When Robby saw Boone out there, he had already forgotten his tiff with Herman and told Herman to get out to right field before he was removed from the game.  However, the umpires got wind of Boone and Herman’s discussion and ordered Herman to the bench.

Robby didn’t want Boone in right either – so he called for Alta Cohen, effectively making a double switch (Cohen replaces Boone who batted for the pitcher in the nine spot and stays to play right field, while the new pitcher, Cy Moore, takes over and bats in the three spot where Herman had batted).  However, in top of the sixth, Cohen mistakenly batted in Herman’s spot and got a single.  Nobody noticed Cohen’s error, though, and Cohen didn’t score – so it counted.  In the next inning, Cohen lined a second single and later came around to score on a Wally Gilbert hit.  He went two for three in the game.  What is not as easily noticed in the box score was that Cohen also threw out two base runners in his three innings in the field.

The next day, Cohen was optioned to Hartford where he would play on one of the better minor league teams of the period and help lead Hartford to the Eastern League crown and earn a berth on the All-Star team.

Cohen got a second, longer stint with the Dodgers in 1932 but didn’t stay with the club.  Eventually he was released and signed by the Phillies but failed to make that club after a couple of months pinch hitting and occasionally starting in center field during the 1933 season.

Cohen’s early minor league trek is listed in a response to a letter written to The Sporting News – and doesn’t jive with the data found on Baseball-Reference.com.  According to TSN, he was signed by Syracuse in 1927 and then moved to Houston, who then farmed Cohen to Rochester – though I don’t see that he ever played there.  Houston released him in April, 1928 and Cohen next signed with Evansville for the 1928 season.  He earned a job with Macon (GA), who then optioned him to Rocky Mount for the 1929 season.  Macon kept him in 1930, playing so well that the Brooklyn Dodgers gave him a tryout in spring training 1931.

The Dodgers retained his rights, but optioned him to Hartford where Cohen was an all-star in 1931 and was batting .412 in 1932 when the team (and league) folded.  Cohen was then sent to Jersey City for the rest of the 1932 season, but didn’t finish as strongly as he started, which led to his release.

After a brief run with the Phillies, Cohen spent a year with Durham of the Piedmont league before signing with Toledo in 1934.  In 1935, with the Mud Hens low on pitching, Cohen made six starts and five relief appearances, winning four of seven decisions.  In 1936, he became a member of the rotation and would go 29 – 19 over two seasons, earning two all-star game appearances as a pitcher and a trip to spring training with the Dodgers in 1938.

Cohen’s second shot at a major league job didn’t fare as well.  Joe Medwick remembered Cohen years later saying that he would have paid half of Cohen’s salary to have kept him in the league.  “When they sent him out they took 25 points off my batting average,” Medwick added with some measure of unnecessary meanness.

Cohen’s lawyer suggested that marital strife may have also contributed to Alta’s poor spring and equally poor season with Minneapolis in the American Association that year.  A blurb in TSN read “Mental disturbance caused by marital difficulty was responsible for the loss of a $5,000 pitching job with the Brooklyn Dodgers by Alta Cohen, the southpaw’s lawyer told the Chancery Court in Newark, N.J. last week.  Cohen was the defendant in a suit brought by his wife, Mrs. Dorothy Cohen, for separate maintenance pending divorce action.  Claiming he made only $1,500 for three months with Minneapolis… and that his mother had to pay for a recent appendicitis operation, Cohen was ordered to pay $5 per week toward the support of his wife and infant child…”

His career came to an end after 1940 – he couldn’t come to terms regarding a bonus clause when he signed with Jersey City – and was released in late May.  However, Cohen made a good decision, too – he started his own business, AltCo, and ran that for more than 40 years.  He was a member of the Board of Directors for the Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, a member of the Green Brook Country Club, and was honored by Hebrew University for his charitable efforts on its behalf.

When Cohen died on March 11, 2003, at the age of 94, he was listed in his obituary as the oldest living Dodger alumni member – he wasn’t, Ray Berres and Al Lopez were older (maybe they hadn’t paid their Alumni dues).  He was certainly old – as some of you may know, in Yiddish Alta means “old”.

ONLINE Sources:

Alta Cohen’s Minor League Page on Baseball-Reference.com
Alta Cohen’s Wikipedia Page
Alta Cohen’s Obituary
Alta Cohen’s Page on Retrosheet.org

Newspaper Sources (many blurbs, but specific articles are mentioned below):

“Hen Pitching Scatters Seventh-Place Clouds”, TSN, 1/30/1936 Pg. 8.
“Grimes’ New Hurler ‘Once Dodger Hero’” TSN, 11/4/1937 Pg. 5.
TSN Note About Cohen Divorce – TSN, 2/9/39 Pg.9.
TSN Note About Cohen Release – TSN, 6/6/40 Pg. 7.

I love to bake – it’s something my mom taught me to love when I was a kid and I still make her recipe for snowball cookies most every Christmas.  (Hershey’s Kiss wrapped in an almond cookie dunked in powdered sugar.)

Anyway – this is a brownie recipe I once shared in an old employee baking handbook.  The National Association of Insurance Commissioners was a pretty cool place to work when I got out of college.  We would have a holiday baking party - those who participated would bring enough for the others and we’d take the recipes and make a holiday book.

This one is pretty rich – I’d make two recommendations.  First – when the brownies first come out of the oven, the Bailey’s can seem a bit overwhelming.  I’d let them cool a little while.  Second – and I’m serious about this – don’t eat like four of these at once…  LOTS of sugar here.  I swear that one time I felt an artery squeeze as my heart raced.

Ingredients:

1 Box of your favorite fudge brownie mix
1/2 Jar (no more than 8 oz) of your favorite hot fudge ice cream topping
1 cup of creamy peanut butter
12 oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 good sized dark chocolate bar
2 cups Bailey’s Irish Creme.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Make the brownie batter according to instructions.
3. Melt half of the chocolate chips, all of the hot fudge, the peanut butter, and one cup of the Bailey’s in a sauce pan.  When a liquid – pour this into the brownie batter.  Combine and pour into a 13×9 baking pan.
4. Melt the remaining chips, the dark chocolate bar, and the other cup of Bailey’s in a sauce pan.  Drizzle over your brownie batter.  Save some of it as a topping for ice cream should you serve it with the brownies later.
5. Bake for about 35 minutes.
6. While it’s baking, make sure it doesn’t rise too much (it will a little bit).  A good slam might help from time to time.
7. Toothpick test when done.

Cabrera, 27, had a career year in 2011, batting .305, with 201 hits, 44 doubles, and 18 homers – well beyond any season he put together while a member of the Yankees or Braves.  Sanchez turns 29 on the 18th and comes off a poor season where he missed time due to bicep tendonitis.  Sanchez had a fantastic 2010, but returned to his more erratic ways in 201, walking 66 in just over 100 innings of work.  Both players become free agents at the end of 2011, and the Giants apparently will save a couple of million in salary for next year.

For the Royals, this gives Lorenzo Cain a shot at being the regular center fielder – better range, might be a comparable bat with a little less power.  And, it gives the Royals a mid-level starter should Jeff Francis and Bruce Chen not return in 2012.  The Giants get an insurance policy in center or left fields, but to be honest – he’s only marginally better than a healthy Andres Torres or Nate Schierholtz.  If nothing else, Cabrera would be a candidate to have worse stats, moving to the spacious home at AT&T Park and having to play road games in Los Angeles and San Diego (as well as regressing from his peak season). And who knows how Sanchez is going to fare – he throws the ball all over the place and is frustrating when you see someone with his kind of stuff have no idea where it’s going.  We’re talking about someone with a no-hitter and a string of bad starts (and now a slight injury history).

Pitcher Ryan Verdugo was the third player in the deal, a 9th round draft pick in 2008 by the Giants out of LSU.  Last year, as a starter, Verdugo was pretty good – this after a couple years in relief where he seemed unhittable if not slightly wild.  He doesn’t have a grade A fastball, but he throws hard enough and couples it with a nasty change up.  He tends to walk too many people, so improvement in his command might make him a Royals roster member in 2013 as a long or middle reliever.

Many of this group have been topics of arguments amongst baseball writers and historians – especially Santo and Hodges.  Jim Kaat may get greater consideration with the recent addition of Bert Blyleven to the Hall.

Among the reasons that these guys haven’t already made it:

Career Was Too Short

Santo, Boyer, Oliva, and Reynolds…  Santo and Boyer are pretty similar players – some power, good gloves, about 300 career homers, and only 15 years in the majors.  Reynolds had an even shorter career, but spent the bulk of his time as a member of the Casey Stengel Yankees where he appeared in a number of World Series and even had a season where he threw two no-hitters.  Oliva’s career was cut short by injuries, but for about six years was a deadly hitter.

As a Cub fan, I guess I am supposed to extol Santo’s virtues – and he was a great player for about seven seasons.  Bill James thinks he’s one of the ten best third basemen in baseball history and deserves to go.  Most of me agrees with that sentiment – and yet at the same time, the Cubs never won a division with him, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins and (an old) Ernie Banks in the lineup.  Of course, the biggest stars were corner players and not up the middle types – and the Cubs could have used a better lead-off hitter.  I think that if you take Santo, you have to take Boyer.  Boyer had a comparable defensive record, similar RBI totals, won an MVP and made the post-season, unlike Santo.  Santo cleared 300 homers, Boyer just missed.  Santo is marginally better, but not much better.  Neither guy lived long enough.

Allie Reynolds, had he pitched anywhere else but the Yankees, is not even going to get a whiff of the Hall of Fame.  Fewer than 200 career wins – he led the AL in strikeouts twice, but he also had five seasons (of twelve full seasons) where he walked more guys than he struck out.   He has a bunch of years with the Yankees where his career looks like that of Mike Mussina, but not enough of them.

Tony Oliva is a better candidate than all of this group except maybe Santo.  He led the league in batting three times, hits a few more, doubles and runs, too.  He was a six time all-star, winning a gold glove, and appearing in three post seasons, including the 1965 World Series.  There’s no doubt in my mind that he was among the best hitters playing – and he was hitting .310 or higher when the rules were definitely favoring the pitcher.  Like the others, however, he’s missing the long career and big career numbers.  He didn’t make 2000 hits or 300 homers (he would have 2000 hits had he not missed a full season with knee injuries), and he faded into memory as guys like Willie Mays and Henry Aaron were finishing their careers.

Very Good – but was he GREAT?

Jim Kaat pitched for 47 seasons (not really, it just seemed that way), won 20+ a few times, finished with 283 wins.  I’ve always been a fan of his – but I can’t remember any time when he was the best pitcher in baseball.  He was just one of the pretty good ones.  Similar arguments have been made about Sutton and Blyleven – guys who pitched forever but weren’t ever as good as the guys like Gibson, Carlton, Seaver, Marichal, or Jenkins.

Luis Tiant actually had a short period of time (like Oliva) where he truly was GREAT.  Unfortunately, that lasted just a brief period – and Tiant needed three years to figure out where his arm went.  Eventually he came back as a heavier, cagier version of himself, with a deceptive motion and a ton of guile.  He won 20 three times with the Red Sox and, in his worst season in Boston, was the staff ace of that surprising 1975 team.  My heart would totally vote for Tiant, but I’m not sure he did enough.  I do think he did more than Allie Reynolds, and I think he was better than Kaat.

Gil Hodges was a Dodger during their Boys of Summer days and had a decade where he was among the best first basemen in baseball.  He lost a little time at the beginning of his career because of World War II, which may have kept him from making 400 career homers or 2000 hits.  He also was the Mets manager when they won the World Series.  He’s certainly FAMOUS enough for the Hall of Fame but, like Santo, his full career numbers seem to fall a bit short.  He wasn’t a league leader in anything (like Oliva), but he was a member of a great team for a long, long time.  I wouldn’t argue against him – but (as it is with most of these guys) if the sportswriters didn’t vote him in after 15 tries, why are we trying to add him now?

Executives

I’m not old enough to remember Buzzy Bavasi, but I know he was a significant member of Dodger management for a long period of success and made many contributions to the game.  Charley Finley was an interesting story, but I don’t ever think that he ever considered the greater good that comes with his role in baseball.  He is linked to night baseball in the post season and the DH – he is also linked to selling off players he couldn’t afford and holding cities hostage (Kansas City, for example).

LONG OVERDUE:

Minnie Minoso was the Ernie Banks of the AL.  Happy, hustling, popular, and successful.  The reason he isn’t in the Hall of Fame is because he lost half of his career to the color line, spending a decade in the Negro Leagues.  Had he been able to play in the majors starting in, say, 1945 rather than 1951, he likely has 3000 hits, a career average over .300, several seasons with 50 stolen bases, 600 career doubles and 200 career triples.  He’s the best player not in the Hall of Fame.  It’s time he got in.

First Week of Hot Stove Transactions:

The Philadelphia Phillies had the headline deal, signing Jim Thome to pinch hit and play a little first base for 2012 at the relatively low price of about $1.25 million.  However, a few other teams started signing and dealing players…  Here’s a short list:

Washington signed pitcher Chien-Ming Wang to a one-year deal ($4 million) after Wang returned for eleven decent starts in 2011.  Wang took more than two years to recover from surgery to repair a torn shoulder capsule.  Early returns show Wang to be in the neighborhood of his old self – keeping the ball down, good control, and not much of a strikeout pitch.  30 good starts in 2012, and Wang will hit the free agent market.

The A’s signed free-agent swingman Edgar Gonzalez, who has pitched for four different organizations in his career.  I don’t think Edgar has ever had a good season in the majors, so unless this is organizational depth or he’s going to coach, I don’t get it.

The Dodgers signed veteran outfielder Juan Rivera to a one-year deal.  He’s a fourth outfielder, pinch hitter type as he nears 34 years old, but he’s not a bad guy to have on the roster.  Rivera had a good run with the Dodgers after a slow start in Toronto, and Rivera would be familiar with the area, having spent much of the last decade with the Angels.

The Diamondbacks resigned backup catcher Henry Blanco and utility infielder John McDonald, who had been acquired late in 2011 from Toronto (with Aaron Hill) for the stretch drive.  McDonald’s deal was for two years.

Toronto reacquired pitcher Trystan Magnuson from Oakland for cash.  Magnuson was a first round pick of the Blue Jays out of Louisville (also played forward on the basketball team) and was sent to Oakland as part of the Rajai Davis deal.  Pitching occasionally for Oakland, the tall (6′ 7″) righthander has a low 90s fastball that can occasionally hit 95 and a sinker.  He’s had one season where he had really good control – that was two years ago in AA, but he looks like a middle reliever with a bit of an upside.

A sad week (no MLB!) made even sadder…

Matty Alou passed away due to complications related to diabetes.  The 72-year-old played in 15 different seasons finishing with a .307 career batting average.  I remember Alou – he was a slap hitting outfielder who would use a heavy bat to knock liners and loopers over the heads of infielders for singles.  In 1966, he slapped his way to a National League leading .342 average, and few years later led the league with 231 hits.  Alou saw action in the 1962 World Series with the Giants and was a late addition to the Oakland A’s when they won their first World Series in 1972.  He is most famous, of course, for being one of the three Alou brothers (Felipe and Jesus) who played together on the Giants and occasionally would occupy the entire outfield.

Then, just days after tossing out the ceremonial opening pitch before game seven of this year’s World Series, longtime Cardinals starter Bob Forsch died of an aneurism at the too young age of 61.  I probably have every Bob Forsch Topps Baseball card – he won 163 of his 168 career wins as a member of the Cards and pitched in three different World Series.  Like Alou, Forsch had family in the game – his brother Ken pitched with the Astros for a number of years.  Forsch threw the only two no-hitters in the original Busch Stadium, and – with Ken – the Forsch brothers are the only brothers to throw no-hitters.  [SI]

I actually remember LaRussa as the young gun who turned the White Sox around in the early 1980s and got Chicago to the top of the AL West in 1983.  When the Sox grew tired of waiting for him to repeat his success (despite horrible support from upper management), the A’s were only too happy to snap him up, where he next guided Oakland to three World Series.  He managed in five different decades, winning divisions in four of them, and had a winning record in the postseason, too.  [Multiple Sources]

Sabathia to Stay a Yankee

CC Sabathia signed a one year extension which, when coupled with a buy-out clause, added $30 million to his existing contract with the New York Yankees.  This keeps the rotation anchor in pinstripes through at least the 2016 season with an option for 2017.  Sabathia added that he will refocus on maintaining a healthier body size, which he had done during the previous off-season by eliminating (among other things) Capt. Crunch cereals.  [MLB]

Indians, Braves Swipe Pitchers – Derek Lowe Heads to Cleveland

In the first trade of the Hot Stove season, the Cleveland Indians acquired starting pitcher Derek Lowe from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for minor league reliever Chris Jones.  The Braves will pay $10 million of Lowe’s 2012 salary, the last year of his four-year contract.

In his favor, Lowe has been a workhorse for the better part of a decade.  Working against him is the fact that he’s been in decline for the last couple of seasons and collapsed as the Braves fell apart in September.

In addition to unloading salary, Atlanta looks to get younger in the rotation.  With Lowe gone, the Braves make room to promote any of four potential rookie starters – including top prospect Julio Teheran, who got a cup of coffee after a 15 – 3 2.55 season at AAA Gwinnett.

For the Indians, they will pay $5 million of Lowe’s salary and add him to the rotation behind Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jiminez, and Fausto Carmona – hoping that Lowe has one more bounce back season and can add leadership to a generally young pitching staff.

Chris Jones was drafted by the Indians in 2007 but fell off the map for a couple of years.  He returned to pitch well for Kinston (A+) last year – winning seven of eight decisions with a decent strikeout rate.  His control is a bit out there, but he just turned 23 and is a converted lefty starter.

Twins Claim Maloney, Gray off Waivers

The Minnesota Twins bolstered the bullpen by claiming two pitchers off the waiver wire.  In Jeff Gray, the former Seattle middle reliever provides depth, and in Matt Maloney, the former Reds starter provides a little potential.  Gray has been up and down between AAA and the majors for about five years and hasn’t displayed much of a strikeout pitch, while Maloney has great control and fares pretty well against AAA bats.  Of the two, Maloney probably has the greatest chance to stick as he is a lefty who can either start or relieve.

Happy Birthday!

Those celebrating with cards, cake, or remembrances include:

Bid McPhee (1859)
Vic Power (1927)
Miguel Dilone (1954)
Gary Redus (1956)
Fernando Valenzuela (1960)
Coco Crisp (1979)