Remember These '80s League Leaders?
ALSO: THE BAD-NEWS BRAVES OF 1975
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Reader Reacts
“I saw that you acknowledged my favorite group The Four Seasons, so how about Save It For Me as the closer walks to the mound!”
— Eric Morrison, Myerstown, PA
Quotebook
“Riley and Albies are 28 and should be in the prime of their careers, and Harris is 24 and should just be approaching his. Instead, they are all playing as if they’re 10 years older.”
— David O’Brien on the Braves’ offensive struggles in The Athletic
Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
The death of Dave Parker at 74 means both players picked by the Eras Committee for the Class of 2024 are deceased, as Dick Allen died before his election last winter . . .
Kyle Wright, who led the majors with 21 wins while pitching for Atlanta in 2022, has yet to pitch for the Royals, who acquired him a month after the 2023 World Series . . .
Sidelined by shoulder surgery, Wright underwent a rehab stint in Triple-A but then suffered tightness in an oblique just as he was about to make his Kansas City debut . . .
Fellow right-hander Noah Syndergaard, who last pitched in the majors in 2023, will try a no-pressure comeback with the lowly White Sox at age 32 . . .
John Smoltz struck out 10 or more batters 12 times in 1996 and Spencer Strider had 11 such games in 2023 but no other Braves pitcher has had more than six double-digit strikeout games in a season . . .
The New York Yankees didn’t merit their Bronx Bombers nickname earlier this month when they were shut out for 29 consecutive innings . . .
The team had scored the most runs in the American League this year (370) before the streak started.
Leading Off
Surprising League Leaders of the 1980s
By Paul Semendinger
Over the past few weeks, I have shared lists of surprising league leaders from the 1970s, the 1960s, and the 1950s. Many people thought my next article would take us to the 1940s, but instead I decided to go in a different direction — to the 1980s. It's good to change this up every now and then.
This decade proved to be a bit more of a challenge because I came of age as a baseball fan in the 1980s. I had baseball cards of these players -- and plenty of them. I had many of these players' Strat-o-Matic cards (and still have some). As such, rather than the league leaders of the 1980s being obscure little-known players to me, these players are all very familiar. Many of these players grew up with me, or, better said, I grew up watching them.
It is much easier to assess a less popular player from the decades before I was born than with players with whom I was so familiar. Also, this was a decade dominated by some of the same big names year-after-year. The best players of the 1980s dominated the leaders board year-after-year.
Nonetheless, here are some lesser-known league leaders from the 1980s:
Rudy May, A.L. ERA, 1980 (2.46) - Rudy May pitched for 16 seasons but 1980 was his best season as he went 15-5. May won more than150 games in his career, but that was the only time he was ever a league leader.
Steve Stone, A.L. Wins, 1980 (25) - Across his career, Steve Stone won more than 15 games in a season only once. He was an All-Star once and he won one major award (the Cy Young Award). All of that happened in 1980.
Dick Tidrow, N.L. Games Pitched, 1980 (84) - Long-time Yankee Dick Tidrow was a Cub in 1980 when he led the N.L. in games pitched. Tidrow was 5-6 with 6 saves and a 2.79 ERA. This was the only time in his 13-year career that he led the league in any category.
John Castino, A.L. Triples, 1981 (9) - When I recall the way the game was played in the 1980s, I recall lots of triples being hit by speedy outfielders, many from teams like the Cardinals and Royals, not a third baseman on the Minnesota Twins. But, in 1981, John Castino led the A.L. in triples. Castino played for only six years. This was the only time he led the league in any category. I would imagine that many of the most knowledgeable fans don't even remember that he was the A.L. Co-Rookie of the Year in 1979.
George Wright, A.L. Games Played, 1983 (162, tie) - Cal Ripken Jr. played in every game in 1982, as did Alfredo Griffin (who was Co-Rookie of the Year with John Castino in 1979). And then there was George Wright, an outfielder on the Texas Rangers, who, in his second MLB season, also played in every game. This was George Wright's career year. He batted .276/18/80. He'd never bat that high again nor hit as many homers or drive in as many runs. Following this season, he never played in more than 109 games in a season. Wright's career was over after the 1986 season.
Ed Vande Berg, A.L. Games Pitched, 1982 (78) - As a rookie in 1982, Vande Berg led the league in games pitched. That was only good enough to earn him fourth place in the Rookie of the Year voting. Vande Berg went 9-4 that year but would go 16-24 over the remainder of his seven-year MLB career.
Dave Collins, A.L. Triples, 1984 (15, tie) - Dave Collins had a long career, playing for 16 seasons, but this was the only time he ever led a league in any category. This was the only time Collins ever reached double figures in triples. His next highest season total was six.
Ted Power, N.L. Games Pitched, 1984 (78) - It seems like a different pitcher leads the league in games pitched each season. Often these are one-year events for a pitcher. Ted Power was one such pitcher. This was the only time he ever led the league in any category, and it was, by far, his best season. Power earned 3.0 WAR. He never accumulated more than 1.6 WAR in any other season. Power pitched in 13 seasons and accumulated a career 7.6 WAR.
Greg Walker, A.L. Games Played, 1985 (163) - If you'd like to win a trivia question ask someone who led the A.L. in games played in 1985. The obvious answer is Cal Ripken, Jr. Of course he led the league. Only, he didn't. He played in only 161 games in 1985. (Of note - Bill Buckner and Alfredo Griffin played in 162 games.) Greg Walker played for nine years, but was never a league leader any other time.
Mitch Webster, N.L. Triples, 1986 (13) - Stop me if you heard this story before... Webster played for 13 seasons. He never led the league in any category other than this. This was the only season in which Mitch Webster reached double figures in triples.
Chuck Crim, A.L. Games Pitched, 1988 and 1989 (70,76) - I don't believe many fans remember Chuck Crim, but he led the A.L. in games pitched for two consecutive years. Crim pitched in 50 or more games for six consecutive seasons. His career was over just a few years later.
Todd Benzinger, N.L. At Bats, 1989 (628) - Across a career that lasted nine seasons, this was the only time Benzinger had more than 416 at-bats. In 1989, he played a lot. One would assume, he had a great year in 1989. Never assume. Benzinger hit .245. He was worth -0.5 WAR.
Jose DeLeon, N.L. Strikeouts, 1989 (201) - In 1988, Jose DeLeon struck out 208 batters and did not lead the league. In 1989, he struck out seven fewer and did. Those two 200+ strikeout seasons were the apex of his 13-year career. This, though, was not the only time he led the league in a major category. In both 1985 and 1990, he led the N.L. in losses.
Paul Semendinger loves writing about baseball. He is a frequent contributor to Here's the Pitch. Stay tuned because very soon we should be hearing more about the first of Paul's three books on the Battle of Gettysburg.
Cleaning Up
Braves Of 50 Years Ago Were Truly Horrendous
By Dan Schlossberg
In 1975, the National League West had a team that should have been dubbed “the Bad News Braves.”
A year before The Bad News Braves invaded theaters nationwide, those Braves personified a bad ballclub. They couldn’t hit, pitch, produce much power, play good defense, or close games.
No wonder they finished fifth in a six-team division, 40 1/2 games behind Sparky Anderson’s Big Red Machine.
Now that the Braves are again struggling mightily, it’s a good time to see how they were doing exactly 50 years ago.
Where shall we start?
The entire team combined for 107 home runs, 22 of them by team leader Darrell Evans, a lefty-hitting third baseman who had smacked 41 just two years earlier. Maybe the loss of Hank Aaron, who had been traded to Milwaukee at his own request, dragged on him and the team’s other sluggers.
Davey Johnson, the other member of the first trio of 40-homer teammates, was released early on, freeing him to spend the first of two seasons in the Japanese majors, while Dick Allen, obtained in a trade, refused to report because of racism concerns in the Deep South. He was one of the lucky ones.
The ‘75 Braves had players like Sugar Bear Blanks, Biff Pocoroba, and Rowland Office, negative counterbalances to coming young talents Dusty Baker and Ralph Garr.
In case you’re curious, Pocoroba’s given name was actually Biff. P.S. It didn’t help.
Earl Williams, in his second stint with the team, was far off his Rookie of the Year form (33 homers in 1971) and had an attitude to match. At 26, his career was deteriorating.
Behind veteran pitchers Phil Niekro and Carl Morton, who combined for 32 wins and 31 losses, were has-beens who ranged from Ray Sadecki to Gary Gentry, Blue Moon Odom, Roric Harrison, and Ron Reed, who also played pro basketball. Capra’s 1974 ERA title (2.28) was a distant memory.
Neither Clyde King, a soft-spoken tea-totaler, nor successor Connie Ryan could convince any of the players to perform up to their abilities.
Nobody hit 25 homers, knocked in or scored 100 runs, or saved more than 11 games (thank you, Tom House). To show how bad things were, Odom went 1-7 with a 7.07 earned run average. To say he won only once in a blue moon was painfully accurate.
The Braves barely avoided finishing last, a fate reserved for a Houston Astros team that employed Niekro’s brother Joe.
A year later, the team actually hit bottom — even after acquiring Willie Montanez, Jim Wynn, Andy Messersmith, Dick Ruthven, and Mike Marshall.
At 70-92, they were marginally better in ‘76 than in ‘75, when their final mark was 67-94. But the glory years were just a twinkle in the eye of new owner Ted Turner.
As bad as they were, the 1975 Braves will be remembered for employing at least one future Hall of Famer.
Niekro, elected in 1997, may soon be joined by Baker and Cito Gaston, Braves outfielders who later became elite managers. Johnson, mainly a second baseman, has a chance too after leading teams to two world championships.
HtP weekend editor Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ covers baseball for forbes, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Sports Collectors Digest, Memories & Dreams, and many other outlets. His email is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Extra Innings: Midseason Joel Sherman Awards
“We play in big-league stadiums on the road. We don’t have that at home right now. It’s not the same. It’s not the same atmosphere. We don’t have a lot of fans. Our clubhouse is in left field. When we play day games, we have to just be in the sun. There’s no air conditioning there, too. It’s really tough.”
— A’s pitcher Luis Severino explaining his 6.79 ERA at home but 2.27 on the road
In his annual mid-season awards, Joel Sherman of The New York Post awards his anti-Cy Young awards to Walker Buehler (Red Sox) in the AL and Zac Gallen (D’backs) in the NL, with the Senior Circuit’s anti-MVP given to suspended Braves outfielder Jurickson Profar . . .
His anti-MVP in the American League is Toronto signee Anthony Santander, signed for five years and $92.5 million, with Blue Jays pitchers Max Scherzer and Jeff Hoffman also in the mix . . .
Of the anti-MVP selections, Sherman writes, “Perhaps these dishonors should annually go to the Rockies’ Kris Bryant (NL) and the Angels’ Anthony Rendon (AL) until their long contracts expire because they hardly ever play and when they do, it is poorly. But they have mainly been out of sight and out mind.”
Of the MVP races, Sherman goes with Aaron Judge (Yankees) and Pete Crow-Armstong (Cubs), bypassing Shohei Ohtani, whom he lists as runner-up . . .
His mid-season Cy Youngs go to Hunter Brown (Astros) and Paul Skenes (Pirates), though Max Fried (Yankees) has the most wins in the majors.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles the Monday issue with Dan Freedman [dfreedman@lionsgate.com] editing Tuesday and Jeff Kallman [easyace1955@outlook.com] at the helm Wednesday and Thursday. Original editor Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com], does the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Former editor Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] is now co-director [with Benjamin Chase and Jonathan Becker] of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, which publishes this newsletter and the annual ACTA book of the same name. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HtP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.