League Leaders Of The '50s
PLUS: YANKS AND BRAVES SHOULD SWAP DEPOSED CLOSERS
Pregame Pepper
The Colorado Rockies of 2025 are even worse than the Chicago White Sox of 2024 . . .
On pace to lose something like 136 of their 162 games, the Rockies are especially pitiful on the road, where they could become the first team to hit under the Mendoza Line (the worst team road average to date was .203 by the 1908 Philadelphia A’s) . . .
Another struggling expansion team, the Miami Marlins, had 177 rain delays and 26 rainouts during the 19 years they played in topless ballparks . . .
Before this season, when they’re playing home games in the borrowed George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the Rays had played only six home games outdoors, all at Disney World’s The Ballpark, and won them all . . .
Going 0-for-8 in wins per start since signing with San Francisco, Justin Verlander is mired in the longest drought of his career . . .
Sandy Koufax never had such problems, maybe because he soothed his nerves by listening to classical music on the portable record player he carried on the road . . .
Adding Fredi Gonzalez has doubled the number of former managers (with Walt Weiss) on the coaching staff of Atlanta’s Brian Snitker, the oldest manager in the National League.
Leading Off
Remembering One-Year Wonders Of The ‘50s
By Paul Semendinger
Over the last few weeks, I have been sharing lists of some lesser-known players who led their leagues in various categories from the 1960s and the 1970s. I began to wonder if there were some similar "one-year wonders" from the 1950s. Of course there were!
While the following players are not remembered as stars today, for one season at least, they were something special:
Billy Goodman, 1950 A.L. Batting Champion (.354) - Billy Goodman should be better remembered today. While he led the league in batting (or any offensive category) only once in his career, he had a lifetime batting average of .300 across 16 seasons. Goodman was a two-time All Star who also received MVP votes in six different seasons.
Earl Torgeson, 1950 N.L. Runs Leader (120) - Earl enjoyed a 15-year career, but this was the only time he led the league in any category. This was also the only time he scored 100 or more runs in a season, though he did score 99 runs in 1951.
Sam Mele, 1951 A.L. Doubles Leader, Tied (36) - In his ten-year career, Mele played for six different teams. He tied (with George Kell and Eddie Yost) for the league lead in doubles in 1951. This was the only season in which Mele hit more than 26 doubles.
Saul Rogovin, 1951 A.L. ERA Leader (2.78) - I would imagine that if someone posed this as a trivia question among baseball fans ("Who led the A.L. in ERA in 1951?"), Saul Rogovin would not be among the first 100 guesses, or even 1,000 guesses. In fact, I do not believe most fans have ever even heard of Saul Rogovin. In that 1951 season, Rogovin pitched to a 12-8 record over 216.2 innings. For his efforts, he received no MVP votes. He also never appeared in an All-Star game. Rogovin pitched to a 48-48 record over eight MLB seasons.
Chet Nichols, 1951, N.L. ERA Leader (2.88) - Nichols led the N.L. in ERA in his rookie season... and didn't even win Rookie of the Year. The award that year went to an outfielder named Willie Mays.
Dave Philley, 1953 A.L. Games Played (157) - They didn't know of OPS+ in 1953. And they also didn't know about WAR. For Dave Philley, that was a good thing. He led the league in games played in 1953. But, for his career, over 18 seasons, Philley accumulated just 7.9 WAR. His career OPS+ was 92. Philley was, for all intents and purposes, a replacement-level player, and yet, he hung around for all those seasons, playing for eight different clubs.
Bob Porterfield, 1953 A.L. Wins Leader (22) - Sometimes a pitcher has a career year. The most wins Bob Porterfield ever had in a season, other than 1953, was 13 (which he did twice). In 1953, he was 22-10 leading the league in wins, complete games, and shutouts. That was an amazing year for a pitcher who went 87-97 over a twelve-year career.
Don Mueller, 1954 N.L. Hits Leader (212) - 1954 was Mueller's only 200 hit season. It was also the only season he had more than 185 hits. His next highest total was 160. All that being said, Mueller was a better hitter than might be remembered. For his career, he batted .296. Mueller batted over .300 for three consecutive seasons (1954, 1955, and 1956).
Sonny Dixon, 1954 A.L. Games Pitched Leader (54) - Sonny Dixon's career lasted all of four seasons. In 1954, he led the A.L. in games pitched while pitching for the Washington Senators...and the Philadelphia A's. No, he wasn't traded from the Senators to the A's. He was traded from the Senators to the Chicago White Sox to the A's. The next season, he was traded (with cash) to the Yankees in exchange for Johnny Sain and Enos Slaughter. Dixon pitched in four games with the Yankees... and that was that. Career over.
Bill Bruton, 1955 N.L. At Bats Leader (636) - Bill Bruton should be better remembered. He led the N.L. in stolen bases three times, in triples twice, in at-bats once, and in runs scored once. In addition, he served as “big brother” to a promising youngster named Henry Louis Aaron. And yet, unlike that kid, Bruton never received a single MVP vote and was never was selected for an All-Star game.
Sam Jones, 1955 N.L. Strikeouts Leader (198) - Like Bill Bruton, more people should remember Sam Jones as he led the league, often enough, in various pitching categories. Jones led the N.L. in wins (1959), losses (1955), walks (1955, 1956, 1958, 1959), and strikeouts (1955, 1956, 1958). Jones pitched for seven teams over 14 seasons. He was not related to Sad Sam Jones who pitched for 22 years in the American League.
Don Elston, 1958 and 1959, N.L. Games Pitched Leader (69,65) - Don Elston was a workhorse. He pitched in 50 or more games for six consecutive seasons. He was an All-Star, twice, in 1959 (when the leagues staged two games to raise funds for the players’ pension fund).
(This is too much fun...)
Paul Semendinger has authored many books including From Compton to the Bronx (with Roy White) and The Least Among Them. Paul has also been published by SABR and the IBWAA on some great anthologies of baseball. He still plays baseball too. Thus far, he is 2-0 on the season as a pitcher in a 35+ wood bat league. He continues to wonder daily why the Yankees don't call him to the big leagues.
Cleaning Up
Bullpen Panic Should Trigger Blockbuster Trade
By Dan Schlossberg
With erstwhile All-Star closers Devin Williams and Raisel Iglesias both impending free agents whose value dips whenever they pitch, both could salvage the rest of the season if they were traded for each other.
The Yankees, who acquired Williams from Milwaukee during the off-season, and the Braves, who landed Iglesias from the Angels at the 2022 trade deadline, have separate bullpen crises.
Disenchanted with the performance of Williams since he donned pinstripes, the Yankees kicked him out of their closer’s job in favor of Luke Weaver, who provided immediate relief but then went down with a hamstring injury expected to keep him idle for 4-6 weeks.
Forced to restore the role to Williams, the team wouldn’t need much prodding to try a new face with a record of success.
That face could belong to Iglesias, the hard-throwing Cuban right-hander who broke into the big leagues with the Cincinnati Reds.
After giving up four homers all of last season, he’s already surrendered seven this spring — while compiling an unsightly 5.64 earned run average.
Entering play Wednesday, the Braves stood fourth in the National League East with a 27-31 record, five-and-a-half games removed from the final wild-card spot. For a team with championship dreams, that’s embarrassing.
Williams has even worse stats: in his first 14 appearances for New York, he posted a 10.03 ERA and walked 10 batters in 11 2/3 innings with a pedestrian 22.4 per cent strikeout rate, and picked up a pair of losses in the process.
If contracts are a consideration, the Braves could throw some cash into the transaction. Iglesias is completing a four-year, $58 million pact he signed with the Angels, while Williams is on a one-year, $8.6 million deal with the Yankees.
Baseball history is filled with trades involving bad contracts, so this one would be no different. And Iglesias should be thrilled to join a first-place team that generates plenty of offense, something the Braves forgot how to do after their 307-homer season of 2023.
Williams, by the same token, would face less pressure in Atlanta than he did in the Bronx. Plus he’s familiar with the National League from his past tenure in Milwaukee.
The large Latino population of New York would embrace Iglesias if he fares well in pinstripes and he might even re-sign with the club if he gets his game back on track. He had a combined 67 saves in 2023-24 and the magic couldn’t be completely gone.
Williams has only one 30-save season — 36 in 2023 — on his resume but he’s five years younger than Iglesias. If he can’t recapture his former form, the Braves could always recall former hero Craig Kimbrel from Triple-A Gwinnett, where he’s been pitching well, and let him close again.
Since both Williams and Iglesias can walk this fall, age issues shouldn’t matter. An Iglesias-for-Williams swap is a move worth making. They might even return to the clubs that traded them via the free agent market.
HtP weekend editor Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ writes baseball for forbes.com, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Sports Collectors Digest, Memories & Dreams, and many other outlets. He’s also the author of 42 baseball books, including The New Baseball Bible. Email him at ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia
Spotrac figures show that Steve Cohen has spent $1.44 billion during his five years as owner of the Mets, with return on investment showing two playoff appearances and a spot in the National League Championship Series . . .
During the same time-frame, however, the frugal Tampa Bay Rays have spent $405 million — more than a billion dollars less — but won more games (365-342) . . .
Changing hitting coaches, with Bret Boone the latest, hasn’t helped the suddenly punchless Texas Rangers, whose newly-acquired sluggers (Jake Burger and Joc Pederson) mysteriously forgot how to hit . . .
Kansas City, also afflicted by a hitting malaise, hope they found their answer in just-recalled Matt Olson clone Jac Caglianone, a 6’5” lefty-hitting first baseman plucked off the University of Florida campus in the 2024 amateur draft . . .
Kudos to pending free agent Framber Valdez, whose asking price skyrocketed after he pitched a complete game with only 83 pitches for Houston against Tampa Bay . . .
Mookie Betts, back from his broken hand, may have competition from Francisco Lindor in the fan vote for starting NL shortstop in the All-Star Game.
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.
Mookie Betts broke his toe, not his hand, Dan.
This was a fun read!!!!