Requiescat In Pace, Pete Rose

In Memoriam

Pete Rose (1941-2024)

Pete Rose (1941-2024): 4,256 career hits (most all-time), 1973 NL MVP, 1975 World Series MVP, 1963 NL Rookie of the Year, 17x All-Star, 3x World Series champ, 3x NL Batting Champ, 2x Gold Glove winner. Charlie Hustle.

Pete Rose passed away yesterday at the age of 83. 

HBP Should Count On WHIP

Just a short little post today while I'm preparing my longer one on the pre-pros. 

    WHIP (commonly called baserunners per inning) is a pitching statistic defined as (walks + hits) / innings pitched, hence the abbreviation WHIP. However, hit batsmen do not count toward a pitcher's WHIP. This is odd to me, considering that the whole purpose of WHIP is to quantify how many runners a pitcher allows to reach base for every three he puts away, and that hit batters have the same basic effect as walks. 

    I'd love to see WHIP revised to account for his omission, as you simply can't ignore HBP. 

Hey Y'all

Hey... I've been pretty busy lately traveling all over the United States, first to Virginia, then to California, then all the way across Texas for my brother's baseball tournament, so I haven't been able to put much research into longer posts lately. When three of your last four posts are requiems, you know that something is wrong. That said, I'm using this post to try and make my readers keep me accountable and publish a bit more than I have lately. You can't always control your schedule, but you can control your commitment. 

    I've got a really cool post in progress about the pre-pros, the amateur teams from 1857 through 1870. To get your reading palates warmed up, I suggest you read two old posts about Joe Start (https://thecooperstownadvocate.blogspot.com/2020/12/why-i-think-joe-start-should-be-in.html) and Dickey Pearce (https://thecooperstownadvocate.blogspot.com/2022/03/why-i-think-dickey-pearce-should-be-in.html), who were two of the biggest stars of the pre-pro era and carried their success into the first primitive Major Leagues in the 1870's. Hopefully my upcoming post will give everyone a rare and unique look into baseball's earliest days, and the enterprise that made it what it is today. 

Requiescat In Pace, Orlando Cepeda

In Memoriam

Orlando Cepeda (1937-2024)

Hall of Famer, 1967 NL MVP, 1958 NL ROY, 11x All-Star, 1967 World Series champion, Inaugural DH of the Year award winner in 1973, 1961 NL HR champion, 2x NL RBI leader, First Puerto Rican player to start an All-Star Game. The Baby Bull. 

Orlando Cepeda passed away on Friday at the age of 86. 

Requiescat In Pace, Willie Mays

In Memoriam

Willie Mays (1931-2024)

2x MVP, Rookie of the Year, and 24x All-Star. 660 Home Runs and 12 Gold Gloves. The Greatest Center Fielder of All-Time. The Catch. 

Willie Mays passed away on Tuesday at the age of 93. 

Why Does Catcher's Interference Count Against OBP?

Catcher's interference occurs when a batter hits the catcher's mitt during a swing, allowing him to go to first base. The rule was introduced in the 19th century after batters complained that Connie Mack would mess up their swings by swatting the bat with his glove. 

    If a batter reaches by catcher's interference, it is counted as reaching on an error, counting against his OBP. While I understand the mentality of calling it an error, I don't agree with punishing the hitter in any way. As in the case of a hit by pitch, the whole point is that the batter didn't get a chance to hit, and is awarded a free pass as a result. Unlike a hit by pitch, which raises a player's on base percentage, catcher's interference actually lowers it, even though the batter reached base (and certainly didn't fail to do so through any fault of his own). 

    This all raises another interesting question: when evaluating defensive players, what should be scored as errors? As it is, fielding errors, throwing errors, and catcher's interference all lower fielding percentage, but other mistakes such as wild pitches, passed balls, and balks (not to mention walks and hit batsmen) do not, but are isolated. I personally would like to see catcher's interference isolated, and continued to be scored as errors, but I see no need for them to do anything to a batter's OBP since neither he nor the pitcher won their battle. While one can argue that there is value in wearing an incoming pitch instead of getting out of the way, nobody would argue the same about catcher's interference. I'd probably also like to see wild pitches, passed balls, and balks scored as errors because the defensive team gave away free bases through its own fault. What do you think? 

Requiescat In Pace, Whitey Herzog

In Memoriam

Whitey Herzog (1931-2024)

Hall of Fame manager. Led St. Louis to 3 National League Pennants in 11 seasons. 1982 World Series Champion. 1985 NL Manager of the Year. Led Kansas City to 3 straight division titles.