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Pregame Pepper
Did you know ...
Jason Kipnis, fighting for a bench spot with the Braves, was actually better in soccer than baseball when he was growing up . . .
Looking at his blue-dyed hair, it’s hard to believe Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said he’d be a dentist if he weren’t a ballplayer . . .
A pair of winter deals gave the Angels a monopoly on players named Iglesias: closer Raisel, acquired from Cincinnati, and shortstop Julio, obtained from Baltimore . . .
Southpaw Sean Newcomb, dogged by bouts of wildness even before the Braves got him from the Angels in the Andrelton Simmons swap, walked two of the first three hitters he faced in the 2021 Atlanta exhibition opener . . .
Former Colorado GM Dan O’Dowd said Sunday on MLB Network that the Mets, Nationals, and Phillies were sabotaged by weak defense last year and that the Mets have lingering problems at first, second, third, left field, and center field.
Leading Off
Sometimes Getting Older Means Getting Better
By Dan Schlossberg
Age is a matter of mind; if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.
That’s especially true in baseball, where life sometimes starts at 40.
Five active players are 40 or will get there soon but all could be key contributors to the 2021 pennant races.
In the American League, Albert Pujols of the Los Angeles Angels is the senior man. He turned 41 in January, sparking reports that he might retire after this season. He’s not saying, even those his 10-year contract expires after the current campaign.
Then there’s Nelson Cruz, still a devastating designated hitter. He’ll be 41 in July but the Minnesota Twins kept him from jumping to another club via free agency during the winter.
Another contending team, the Tampa Bay Rays, also discounted Father Time when it signed left-handed starter Rich Hill, 40, despite his long injury history. Hill’s assignment is to replace Charlie Morton, a 37-year-old southpaw who jumped to the Atlanta Braves via free agency.
The old man of the National League is Adam Wainwright, who hits The Big 4-0 in August. St. Louis brought back their erstwhile ace, who flirted with other clubs, as well as batterymate Yadier Molina, who hits 39 in July. Both are Cardinals legends who have never played for any other big-league teams.
Baseball history is filled with familiar stories of players who performed well long after they should have left the game.
Career strikeout king Nolan Ryan, who pitched a record seven no-hitters while playing a record 27 seasons, retired at the age of 46 years and 234 days but wasn’t the oldest player to grace the diamond.
In fact, there were 18 – that’s right, 18 – big-leaguers who played when they were even older.
The legendary Leroy (Satchel) Paige was believed to have been at least 59 when he pitched three scoreless innings against the Boston Red Sox in a publicity stunt for Charlie Finley’s Kansas City Athletics in 1965.
Ten years later, Bill Veeck answered by activating coach Minnie Minoso in September. Minoso, who hadn’t played in the majors since 1964, managed to poke a single at the ripe old age of 53.
Jamie Moyer, a soft-tossing pitcher who played in both leagues, had hoped to celebrate his 50th birthday on a big-league roster. He didn’t make it but did become the oldest man to pitch a shutout, at age 49.
Hoyt Wilhelm was actually more effective as a knuckleballer once he passed his 40th birthday. Like Moyer, he lasted until age 49.
An earlier, unrelated Wilhelm, nicknamed “Kaiser” after the World War 1 leader of Germany, also pitched long after most colleagues had thrown in the towel.
Knuckleballer Phil Niekro won more games after age 40 than any other pitcher but Warren Spahn, who also did his best work for the Braves, was close. Both men wound up as 300-game winners and could have threatened 400 – Spahn if he hadn’t lost three prime years to wartime military service and Niekro if he had pitched for a better team.
Niekro finished with 324 wins but was the only pitcher after 1920 to lead his league in both wins and losses in the same season (21-20 in 1979). Spahn, whose 363 wins are the most by a left-hander and the most by anyone since World War 2, was a left-handed control artist who mastered a screwball once his fastball faded.
The still-active geriatrics are fast approaching career goals.
Pujols, for example, is 38 home runs away from 700. The three-time MVP might need two years to get there so expect him to sign a two-year deal after this season ends. He might even return to his original team, the St. Louis Cardinals, just as Hank Aaron and Willie Mays did in returning to Milwaukee and New York (albeit with different teams).
Cabrera, the last man to win a Triple Crown, has a reasonable shot at collecting both his 3000th hit and 500th home run this season – barring Covid-19 interruptions. He’s not the same guy who won back-to-back MVPs in 2012 and 2013 but he’s still a formidable force for a Detroit Tigers team that’s rebuilding with youth.
Cruz, with four 40-homer seasons on his resume, is also aiming at the 500 Home Run Club and a berth in Cooperstown. He enters this season with 417, so he’s probably two years away.
In the National League, Wainwright needs 23 wins to reach 200 and could get there with two solid seasons. Backed by a Cardinals team strengthened by the acquisition of Nolan Arenado, he could make it if he stays healthy.
Any player who persists into his 40s is probably Cooperstown material as well. It won’t be long after they retire that most if not all find their way to the Central New York shrine.
Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is the author of The New Baseball Bible: Notes, Nuggets, Lists, and Legends From Our National Pastime. He also writes for forbes.com, Latino Sports, Sports Collectors Digest, and USA TODAY Sports Weekly. Dan’s e.mail is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Cleaning Up
Will Virus Delay Kayo Nick Markakis Quest For Cooperstown?
By Dan Schlossberg
Say what?
If slow and steady gets the worm, Nick Markakis might just complete his long troth to Cooperstown. You heard it here first.
Though raised in Georgia and hoping to stay in Atlanta, the free-agent outfielder will take his left-handed swing to any club not only willing to pay him but also willing to play him.
Unless the National League suddenly gets clearance to use the designated hitter for the second year in a row, Atlanta might not have an opening.
Marcell Ozuna, last year’s first-string DH on the All-MLB team selected by viewers of MLB Network, will play left field this time around, with Cristian Pache in center, and developing superstar Ronald Acuna Jr. in right. Because Pache is the best defensive outfielder since the heyday of Andruw Jones, the Braves turned the page on both Adam Duvall (now with Miami) and Markakis.
But logic says that may have been a mistake, both personally and professionally.
After witnessing Freddie Freeman’s pre-season bout with Covid-19 last year, Markakis opted out of playing. But then, after Freeman recovered and embarked on a season that culminated in a near-unanimous MVP award, Markakis returned and contributed to Atlanta’s fourth straight title season.
Though he’s not a home run hitter, he turns out doubles in droves, reaches base with regularity, and doesn’t strike out that much. He’s no longer a Gold Glove outfielder but he’s decent, a word that also describes his base-running.
Markakis is also a quality, though often stoic, presence in the clubhouse. Never loud but never complaining, he lets his play speak for him.
Elected to start the 2018 All-Star Game by the voting fans, Markakis may forever be known as the man who played the most games (1,928) before making the All-Star Game for the first time.
He also leads active players with the most games played (1,966) without reaching the World Series.
A 15-year veteran who owns three Gold Gloves, he carries a .357 lifetime on-base percentage – even after hitting .254 and posting a .312 on-base mark during a disappointing 2020 campaign. In 2019, the last full season, he hit a solid .285 in 116 games, had a .356 on-base mark, and collected nine homers.
The previous year, he had 43 doubles and 14 homers, earning Markakis some MVP votes.
His experience would be invaluable to any young team, from the contending Braves to the up-and-coming Kansas City Royals. Since former Braves executive Dayton Moore is the GM there,
don’t be surprised to see a sudden signing. Or maybe Moore thinks Markakis will return to Atlanta on a home-team discount.
Either way, we probably haven’t seen the last of Nick Markakis, who has played for four teams that reached postseason play.
He’s still hoping to play for a pennant-winner and would love nothing more than a World Series ring.
The Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies, both hoping to dethrone the Braves as champions of the NL East the last three years, could certainly make room for him in their lineup and in their payroll.
With 2,388 lifetime hits, Markakis may not last long enough to reach 3,000 but he’ll have stats that match Harold Baines, already enshrined in Cooperstown.
Don’t be surprised to someday find a Nick Markakis plaque in the Hall of Fame gallery.
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is weekend editor of Here’s The Pitch and author of 38 baseball books. Contact him via ballauthor@gmail.com or @braves1.
Timeless Trivia
Vin Scully, who broadcast more baseball games than anyone else, has a lifetime Emmy, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a niche in every major TV/radio Hall of Fame . . .
Scully once said on the air it was redundant to give noisemakers to fans under 14 years of age . . .
One of nine pitchers to lose 20 games for a last-place team in the modern era, knuckleballer Phil Niekro is the only pitcher since 1920 to lead his league in both wins and losses in a season . . .
Marcell Ozuna and Adam Duvall, the only National League players to have three-homer games in Fenway Park, did it in consecutive games last season . . .
In 2020, the only year the National League used the DH, an NL player (Ozuna) won the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter award.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Brian Harl [bchrom831@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.