By Hal McCoy
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, finding it hard to believe only two weeks remain in baseball’s regular season, until I see college football on every TV channel on Saturdays.
—THE SURGEON’S SCALPEL: Baseball’s biggest mystery is why so many pitchers end up injured, especially when they are totally babied these days.
One clue.
Five pitchers signed by the Tampa Bay Rays were told when they signed contracts, “Here’s what’s gonna happen. You’re gonna throw every ball as hard as you can on every pitch and when you break down we’ll get somebody else.”
That’s pretty much every team’s modus operandi and it’s why they line up outside a surgeon’s door for elbow surgery. Mostly it’s the ulna collateral ligament, a strip of tissue about the size of the orange rubber band the postman wraps around your mail.
In August of 1974, Dr. Frank Jobe performed the first Tommy John surgery on, of course, Dodgers pitcher Tommy John. The doctor removed a tendon from John’s leg and implanted it where the destroyed UCL once was.
Since then, through August of this season, 2,457 major and minor league pitchers have undergone the procedure, 35 so far this season. Some have it done twice and Cincinnati Reds pitcher Tejay Antone is trying to come back from his third Tommy John surgery.
Many believe that the injuries are piling up because pitchers throw every pitch as hard as they can with violence.
There was a report that somebody in the MLB executive suites suggested that they make a rule that any pitch thrown over 95 miles an hour be called a ball and that the pitcher be permitted to throw one pitch over 95 per batter.
Rumor is the guy is now on New York’s Times Square selling pencils. That rule would make the majority of every team’s bullpen unemployed and Aroldis Chapman would have to sell his Lamborghini.
—ANALYZE THIS: What I don’t like about analytics in baseball, other than everything.
Analytics involves data predicting what will happen if the analytics are used. Well, what makes baseball so exciting? Unpredictability. One never knows what is going to happen. In baseball, one sees something in a game every week they’ve never seen before and never expected to see.
Tell me analytics would predict that Cincinnati’s Scooter Gennett would hit four home runs in one game — a little guy who hit 87 home run his entire career.
—MORE Ks THAN HITS: Speaking of boredom, what’s more boring than watching a player take strike three right down Sesame Street? Every season since 2018 there have been more strikeouts during the season than hits.
And the Cincinnati Reds are a great example. After the disastrouss weekend in Sacramento against the A’s, Elly De La Cruz had 154 hits and 167 strikeouts, Austin Hays had 95 hits and 103 strikeouts. Contact hitter Matt McLain had 105 hits and 148 strikeouts and. . .well, you get the idea.
—OH, THE INJUSTICES: Juan Pierre hit above .300 six times during his career and stole 40 or more bases nine times during his career. And he never made an All-Star team, not once.
Tim Salmon hit 299 career home run. . .and never made an All-Star team. Travis Hafner was Rookie of the Year and was in the Top Ten in MVP voting a couple of times. . .and never made an All-Star team.
And here’s the stunner of all. . .Kirk Gibson never played in an All-Star game. He was, though, twice picked as an extra and turned them down.
Gibson was not a nice guy and knew it.
“There was a perception of me and I earned it because I was really intense, really gruff. I treated certain people poorly at times,” he said.
And I felt it. During a spring training game in Lakeland, Fla, I was standing by myself in the right field corner, near the foul pole, puffing on one of my cigar. The Detroit Tigers clubhouse was in that corner and Gibson walked out.
“Hey, bud, put that cigar out. You can’t smoke here,” he said with his admtited gruffness.
“But it’s outside and there is nobody around,” I said.
“I said to put it out,” he said.
I put it out.
—WHAT A DAY: Remember Scott Hatteberg, the centerpiece of the book and movie ‘Monehball?’ It was the birth of analytics and Ive Leaguers taking commond of baseball’s front offices.
Hatteberg was a back-up catcher in Boston to Jason Varitek, but Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane saw Hatteberg’s ability to get on base.
With coach Ron Washington’s tutelage, they turned Hatteberg into a first baseman. He actually finished his career with three years with the Cincinnati Reds.
He had one day no other player has ever had, from the doldrums to the heights. In one at bat he grounded into a triple play. In a later at bat he hit a grand slam home run.
—QUOTE: From Scott Hatteberg: “You can’t let the fear of failure stop you from trying. Believe in yourself, even when others doubt you.” (Fortunately for Hatteberg, Billy Beane was the one baseball executive who believed in him.)
—A COUPLE OF PESTS: Why is that some of baseball’s all-time great pitchers faced batters who dominaated them?
As good as he was, Sandy Koufax had a guy who hit .362 against him in 116 at bats. Well. . .that guy happened to be Henry Aaron, so Koufax gets a pass on that one.
But Bob Gibson doesn’t get a pass on a player who had 40 hits in 125 at bats (.320) with 23 RBI. The player was Willie Crawford, a career .268 hitter durng his 14 years in the majors.
—PERFECT? SO WHAT: This says it all about how pitchers are treated these days.
Since 2015, 28 pitchers have been removed from games after seven innings when they were pitching no-hitters. It happened seven times in 2024.
Rich Hill and Clayton Kershshaw were yanked after seven innings when they were pitching perfect games.
Wonder what Bob Gibson or Don Drysdale would have done if they were pitching no-hitters and the manager came to the mound to get them. He better bring a crowbar to pry the ball out of their hands, but Gibson and Drysdale probably would have twisted the crowbar out of the manager’s hands and put a crevice in their skulls.
—NOT BASKETBALL, FOOTBALL: It was in a high school football game 10 years ago in Pennslyvania when Meadville scored 90 points. . .and lost by 17, 107-90 to DuBois.
A kid name Journey Brown took a lot of long journeys in that game — 30 carries for 722 yards and 10 touchdowns. And sophomore quarterback Matt Miller, making his first start, hit 29 of 50 passes for 741 yards and 10 touchdowns.
There, of course, was not a third digit on scoreboard so at the end of the game it said Meadville 90, Dubois 07. But it was Meadville 90, Dubois 107.
And, yes, each team had 11 defensive players on the field at all times, but obviously they didn’t know how to tackle.
—TRIVIA TIME: Minutiae only enjoyed by baseball/sports junkies.
—Who is the only pitcher to win the Cy Young with a losing record? It would have to be a relief pitcher, right? And it was. Eric Gagne finished 1-and-2 for the 2003 Los Angeles Dodgers but saved 55 games with a 1.20 earned run average, good for the National League Cy Young.
—The first World Series was played in 1903, but it wasn’t until 1920 for somebody to hit a World Series grand slam.
It was hit by Cleveland’s Elmer Smith as the Indians beat the Brooklyn Dodgers. During the season, Smith hit only 12 homers, but he had 37 doubles and 10 triples while hitting .312.
I had heard of Ozzie Smith, Lonnie Smith and Will Smith, but my familiarity with Elmer was limited to Elmer Fudd and Elmer’s Glue
—How many quarterbacks have the Cleveland Browns used since they prematurely cut loose Baker Mayfield? He was let go by the Browns in 2021 and is in his third year as Tampa Bay’s starting signal-caller. And the Browns are on their eighth quarterback, and counting.
—PLAYLIST NUMBER 110: As English playwright William Congreve put it, “Music has charms to soothe a savage beast, to soften rocks or bend a knotted oak.”
—Breaking Up Is Hard To do (Neil Sedaka), Sheila (Tommy Roe), He’s A Rebel (The Crystals), Walk Right In (Rooftop Singers), Hey Baby (Bruce Channel), Soldier Boy (Shirelles)
Tossin’ And Turnin’ (Bobby Lewis), Pop Muzik (M), Ring My Bell (Anita Ward).
—Wooden Heart (Elvis Presley), Remember Then (The Earls), Maybe (The Chantels), Shining Star (Manhattans), Do You Believe Me Now? (Vern Gosdin), On The Other Hand (Randy Travis), You Drive Me Crazy (Shakin’ Stevens), Lotta Love (Nicolette Larson).