Connections


Connections

Wins & Fame

Roger Schlueter | Friday, January 3, 2025

It’s Hall of Fame consideration season.  Until the announcement of the new class, Connections will be looking at some of the names on the 2025 ballot.  From July 8 through September 28, the 2008 Brewers played 73 games and won 41 of them, a .562 clip of success.  The endpoints […]


Connections

The Laser Show

Roger Schlueter | Wednesday, January 1, 2025

It’s Hall of Fame consideration season.  Until the announcement of the new class, Connections will be looking at some of the names on the 2025 ballot.   Let’s make a lineup …   C     Thurman Munson 1B   Don Mattingly 2B   Lou Whitaker 3B   Stan Hack SS   Dave Concepción LF   Roy […]


Connections

The Wow

Roger Schlueter | Monday, December 30, 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.     The accumulation of baseball history has produced 31 players who, through the conclusion of their age-34 seasons, had manned center field in at […]


Connections

A Case For Chase

Roger Schlueter | Monday, December 23, 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.     By full decade, starting in 1900, here are the bWAR leaders among second basemen (min. 67% of game at second): Some pretty heady […]


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 […]