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Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
Who knew that the Phillies would blow it again with a star-studded team, the largest payroll in franchise history, fortifying their team at the trade deadline, 21 games over .500 since Rob Thomson replaced Joe Girardi as manager on June 3, and be completely embarrassed at Wrigley Field? They scored a grand total of three runs in 27 innings against one of the worst teams in the National League. Their lead over Milwaukee for the NL’s final wild-card spot has almost disappeared.
Aaron who? On Thursday night, two-way star Shohei Ohtani of the Angels took a no-hit bid against Oakland into the eighth and was four outs away when Connor Capel hit a grounder that just evaded shortstop Livan Soto and rolled into center field. Ohtani gave up two hits, walked one, and fanned 10 in eight innings, and went 2-for-4 with an RBI in a 4-2 victory as 31,000 spectators cheered “M-V-P” . . .
Charlie Morton is the first Braves pitcher with consecutive 200-strikeout seasons since John Smoltz did it in 1996 and 1997 . . .
Maybe trading Josh Bell wasn’t such a bad idea for Washington, which filled the first base hole with 30-year-old rookie Joey Meneses (.328, 10 homers, 25 RBI, and .927 OPS in first 43 games) . . .
Another red-hot rookie, Cleveland outfielder Steven Kwan, hit .308 with five steals, two homers, seven RBI, and an .817 OPS in his first 21 games of September, helping the low-budget Guardians clinch an AL Central crown nobody predicted . . .
Highly-touted Cincy starter Hunter Greene has started to flash his immense potential again since coming off the IL.
Leading Off
Like Aaron Judge, Roger Maris Once Hit Leadoff For the Yankees
By Bob Ibach and Dan Schlossberg
When Roger Maris first came to the Yankees, guess where manager Casey Stengel batted him? As the leadoff man in the Yanks lineup. Not a misprint.
It was 1960, and Maris had come to NY from the Kansas City A's. New York opened on the road, in Boston, during Ted Williams’ final season.
On Opening Day, Maris batted leadoff, followed by Bobby Richardson, Gil McDougald, Hector Lopez, Mickey Mantle, Bill Skowron, Elston Howard, Tony Kubek and starting pitcher Jim Coates.
Maris doubled in the first inning against Red Sox starter Jim Brewer, then hit his first homer as a Yankee in the fifth inning off Brewer to give the Yanks a 4-1 lead. In the sixth inning, Maris singled in Kubek for his third hit.
In the eighth inning, facing Ted Bowsfield, Maris homered again, his fourth hit of the day. BTW, Williams also hit a homer that game for Boston.
Maris again led off in Game 2 of the season before Stengel moved Richardson into the top spot and Maris was moved to cleanup behind Mantle.
Roger went on to hit 39 homers that first season, with 112 RBI and a .283 batting average. His slugging percentage was .581. Maris was rewarded with the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award, which he would win again in 1961.
History had more in store for him the following season when Maris and Mantle battled it out head-to-head on the HR leader-board until mid-September, with Maris ending up with 61 homers to surpass Babe Ruth's magical mark of 60, set in 1927.
Ironically, 61 years later, here we are during the 2022 season awaiting a guy named Aaron Judge one homer shy of 61 homers and wearing the same pinstripes as Maris.
Like Maris, he is a heavy favorite for MVP honors as well — especially if he also wins the first Triple Crown since Miguel Cabrera in 2012.
Judge initially wanted to wear his old schoolboy number — 9 — when he joined the Yankees in 2016. But that digit had been retired for Maris.
Judge did the next best thing, selecting a number nobody would want: double-9.
Perhaps he knew he would become twice as good as Maris? Certainly, Maris never chased a Triple Crown. In fact, his .260 lifetime batting average is the leading negative whenever his Hall of Fame candidacy is considered.
Maris batted just .269 — against expansion-diluted pitching — the year he hit 61. Judge, with the additional handicap of inter-league play and unfamiliar National League pitching, obviously did a lot better. His 6-7, 282-pound size helps; Maris was only 6-0 and 197.
Where Judge winds up next is anyone’s guess. The Yankees want to keep him but could be outbid by the crosstown Mets, who could pair him with Pete Alonso in a lethal lineup, or the San Francisco Giants, since Judge has Northern California roots.
At age 30, he should be in line for a contract long in both years and dollars [Steve Cohen might be the only guy who can afford him].
It was great baseball theater to see Roger Maris, Jr. following the Judge parade all the way from the Bronx to Toronto. And it was moving to see him seated with Judge’s parents.
In an year sabotaged at the start by a 99-day lockout that wreaked chaos with scheduling, Aaron Judge did in 2022 what Cal Ripken, Jr. did in 1995 — he proved that fans prefer to see their strikes between the white lines.
Bob Ibach is the former publications and public relations director of the Chicago Cubs. His email address is bobdunk@aol.com. Dan Schlossberg is weekend editor of Here’s The Pitch and former columnist for Vine Line, edited by Ibach. His email is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Cleaning Up
Umpires Hate Arguments That Last Into The Next Game
By Dan Schlossberg
Umpires may be used to arguments but can’t stand to have them extended from one day to the next.
Al Clark, who umpired in the major leagues for 26 years, told me that when I was his writing partner in the autobiographical Called Out But Safe: a Baseball Umpire’s Journey (University of Nebraska Press).
When Frank Robinson was a manager and the Cleveland club was called the Indians, Robinson came out with the lineup card — and an addendum to the previous game’s confrontation.
Clark, never known to retreat from an opinion, wound up ejecting Robinson during the National Anthem.
Major League Baseball responded with a fine and reprimand for both.
Asked what he would do if the situation came up again, Clark said, “I would wait ‘til the song ended.”
His message survives in the minds of current umpires.
In late June, umpire Doug Eddings sent Toronto Blue Jays hitting coach Guillermo Martinez to the showers before a match-up with the Chicago White Sox after the two had words during the exchange of lineup cards. Martinez was apparently upset with what he perceived to be poor umpiring by Eddings the previous day. MLB later suspended Martinez for five games.
During his tenure as manager of the San Diego Padres, Steve Boros was thrown out before the game started after offering umpire Charlie Williams a videotape of a disputed call from the previous night’s 4-2 loss to the Braves. The date was June 6, 1986 — The Longest Day in more ways than one.
On July 17, 2001, temperamental Ozzie Guillen, then an Expos coach, was also ejected before the first pitch by umpire Greg Gibson for continuing an argument from the previous game.
Ejections are part of the game. Just ask Bobby Cox, who was tossed a record 158 times during the regular season and three more in post-season games.
No one was ejected from a World Series game until 1933, when Heinie Manush of the Washington Senators decided to make a point by snapping the elastic bow-tie worn by umpire Charley Moran. Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis then ruled that only he could eject players during the Fall Classic but the Landis Rule never had much punch.
Four men have actually been ejected in six different decades, according to The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball: Casey Stengel, Leo Durocher, Frank Robinson, and Don Zimmer.
And then there was poor Lee Elia, he of the notorious taped clubhouse tirade. With his Cubs in a losing streak, he asked umpire Frank Pulli to throw him out of the next game. The ump agreed, so Elia ran out to argue close play at the plate. “If I’ve got to watch this for five more innings,” Pulli said, “you’re going to watch with me.”
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ writes baseball 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. His byline is published by forbes.com, Latino Sports, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Sports Collectors Digest, Here’s The Pitch, and Memories & Dreams. Contact him by e.mailing ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia
With Paul Goldschmidt now running second in all three Triple Crown categories, fellow first basemen Freddie Freeman (Dodgers) and Pete Alonso (Mets) have pushed their way back into the MVP conversation . . .
In his first season with the Dodgers after leaving the Braves, Freeman not only has a good chance to grab his first NL batting title but could also lead the league in runs, hits, and doubles, with a Gold Glove also a possibility . . .
Entering Monday night’s game in Washington, Atlanta’s Matt Olson was the NL’s least productive qualified hitter in September, batting .102/.194/.159 (9-for-88) with one home run and 31 strikeouts in his past 25 contests . . .
With his 78th birthday just three days away, Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa just might make official a retirement that actually began after he took medical leave from the White Sox at the end of August . . .
Oneill Cruz, the 6’7” Pittsburgh shortstop, has impressed with his arm and power (13 homers since the All-Star break), but caused concern with his errors and strikeouts . . .
Fellow infielder Elvis Andrus is not only named after a famous celebrity but also the owner of a hot bat (.305, 6, 22, 8 SB, .842 OPS for the White Sox in his first 31 games there).
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.