Connections


Connections

Catch ‘Em If You (Mc)Cann

Roger Schlueter | Friday, December 20, 2024

It’s Hall of Fame consideration season.  For the rest of the calendar year, Connections will be looking at some of the names on the 2025 ballot.       Once upon a time, Bill James wrote this about Yogi Berra:  “Yogi was the only catcher in baseball history who could catch […]


Connections

Out With A Bang

Roger Schlueter | Wednesday, December 18, 2024

It’s Hall of Fame consideration season.  For the rest of the calendar year, Connections will be looking at some of the names on the 2025 ballot.     It’s rare to witness the perfect handoff from one immortal to another – the same club, the same position (or role), a short […]


Connections

Andy For The Win

Roger Schlueter | Monday, December 16, 2024

It’s Hall of Fame consideration season.  For the rest of the calendar year, Connections will be looking at some of the names on the 2025 ballot.    On September 28, 2013, Andy Pettitte made the final start of his 18-year career.  In one of those magical convergences where timing dances […]


Connections

Starts & Stops

Roger Schlueter | Friday, December 13, 2024

It’s Hall of Fame consideration season.  For the rest of the calendar year, Connections will be looking at some of the names on the 2025 ballot.   When the 2009 regular season had stopped adding box scores, 25-year-old Hanley Ramírez owned a Rookie of the Year Award, a pair of All-Star […]


Connections

Bobby & Tony

Roger Schlueter | Thursday, December 12, 2024

It’s Hall of Fame consideration season.  For the rest of the calendar year, Connections will be looking at some of the names on the 2025 ballot.  In his 2,440-game career, Tony Gwynn safely reached base 3,955 times. Playing in 15 fewer games, Bobby Abreu is just ahead of the Hall […]


Connections

Puff

Roger Schlueter | Wednesday, December 11, 2024

In the early efforts to build and grow a roster of baseball’s immortals, third basemen were notably absent from the Hall of Fame select.  It took almost a decade to promote a hot corner magician into the hallowed ranks, a filter that in 1945 finally summoned 19th/20th century third sacker […]


Connections

(W)right There

Roger Schlueter | Monday, December 9, 2024

It’s Hall of Fame consideration season.  For the rest of the calendar year, Connections will be looking at some of the names on the 2025 ballot.     Here’s a look at a pair of third basemen through their age-30 seasons.  Notice the numerical similarities: Player A is George Brett:  first-ballot […]


Connections

King For Many a Day

Roger Schlueter | Friday, December 6, 2024

It’s Hall of Fame consideration season.  For the rest of the calendar year, Connections will be looking at some of the names on the 2025 ballot.       Félix Hernández is one of 256 pitchers within Baseball Reference’s database who tallied at least 2,500 innings in a career.  He’s one […]


Connections

The Center Attraction

Roger Schlueter | Wednesday, December 4, 2024

It’s Hall of Fame consideration season.  For the rest of the calendar year, Connections will be looking at some of the names on the 2025 ballot.     On Tuesday, June 2, 1998, the Brewers hosted the Braves for the second contest in a three-game set.  Thanks to the new alignment […]


Connections

A Nearly Perfect Mark

Roger Schlueter | Monday, December 2, 2024

It’s Hall of Fame consideration season.  For the rest of the calendar year, Connections will be looking at some of the names on the 2025 ballot.       It’s July 21, 2004, and the Indians are hosting Mark Buehrle and the White Sox.   Through six-and-a-half innings, Chicago has erupted […]