This player was a contemporary of Babe Ruth and played with both the Red Sox and Yankees. In his career on the mound he recorded the same number of strikeouts as Ruth had homers.

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Games of Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Padres 4, GIANTS 3 Linc Broken
San Francisco stalwart starter Tim Lincecum was scratched from his start with back spasms: bad news for the Giants, who saw themselves slip backward in the NL Wild Card race. In a seesaw battle of single runs, replacement starter Nathan Bumgarner gave up solo homers to Chase Headley and Kevin Kouzmanoff, but it was the game-tying blow against Kevin Medders by Will Venable that San Fran couldn't recover from. Headley notched the game-winning RBI off Jeremy Affeldt in the eighth; Heath Bell's 1-2-3 ninth preserved the victory for San Diego.

ANGELS 3, Mariners 2 (10) Seraphim Sing in Encore Innings
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim would have loved to put away the pesky Seattle Mariners of the Pacific Northwest with a tidy 2-1 game, but the M's script had a different ending. Starters Felix "The King" Hernandez and Scott Kazmir dueled for seven innings, but Mike Sweeney homered in the ninth off Brian Fuentes to send the game into overtime. The Angels finally clawed out the win with a Bobby Abreu hit, a sac bunt, and Erick Aybar's RBI-hit in the 10th.

Dodgers 5, D'BACKS 4 Blue, No. 83
A four-run uprising in the eighth inning gave Los Angeles its 83rd win of the year, keeping the Dodgers even with St. Louis for the best record in the National League. Arizona had taken an early lead with sac flies by Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds in the first, and starter Billy Buckner went seven strong innings, giving up only one run. But in the eighth he was replaced by Blaine Boyer, and the Dodgers' lumber went to work. Three bingles, two outs, and one run later, situational lefty Daniel Schlereth came in to finish the inning, only to serve up another RBI-single to Andre Ethier. Schlereth gave way to Esmerling Vasquez, who promptly walked Manny Ramirez, then coughed up two more RBI-singles and the lead in the game. Jonathan Broxton got the save for the Blue.

ROCKIES 3, Reds 1 Purple Beats Red
Rookie Matt Maloney was pretty good for Cincy (5 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, no walks), but Jason Marquis of Colorado was better, giving up one run over 7.1 while his teammates notched a few runs off the Reds' bullpen. Marquis' gem came at a great time--with offensive star Troy Tulowitzki suddenly sidelined with back spasms, the Rockies held steady at 3.5 game behind LA in the West and moved ahead of the Giants in the Wild Card race by 2.5 games.

Athletics 11, WHITE SOX 3 Green & Gold Over Black & White
Oakland romped all over rookie hurler Carlos Torres and the White Sox, collecting 20 hits on the night, including five runs in the first inning alone. The initial inning flurry included back-to-back jacks from Jack Cust and Mark Ellis. Brett Tomko gave up three runs in 5.1 innings, on homers by Mark Kotsay and Paul Konerko, but was handed the win by the torrent of offense.

ROYALS 7, Tigers 5 Blue & Orange Fall to Royal Blue
The Tigers, safely ahead in the AL Central absent an absolute collapse, let the game slip away when the Bengals' bullpen coughed up the lead in the seventh. Veteran Bobby Seay and rookie Ryan Perry let the game get away after the potential tying run was thrown out at the plate by Ryan Raburn--who hit his 11th homer in the third--for the second out. Seay then plunked Mitch Maier before exiting; Perry was greeted by singles off the bats of Billy Butler and Mike Jacobs for the decisive runs.

Cardinals 4, BREWERS 3 Relief Parade Ultimately No Relief
It was nearly a heroic effort for Milwaukee's bullpen--which trotted out seven relievers in the game--after Brewers starter Manny Parra left after one inning with neck stiffness. The Brew Crew built up an early three-run lead off St. Louis starter John Smoltz, who struck out seven in five innings of work. But the Cards chipped away until Trevor Hoffman came in to protect the 3-2 Milwaukee lead in the ninth. The all-time saves leader surrendered a two-run homer to Matt Holliday for his third blown save and the Brewers could not get anything cooking against Kyle McClellan in the end.

Braves 2, ASTROS 1 Javier Hurls Javelins
Javier Vazquez (12-9) outpitched Felipe Paulino (2-8), limiting Houston to three hits in seven innings while Paulino gave up solo jacks to Adam LaRoche and Nate McLouth. Houston nearly got to Atlanta closer Rafael Soriano in the ninth when Miguel Tejada led off with a triple. A Hunter Pence single brought him in right away, but Soriano managed to hold on for his 22nd save despite getting nicked for three hits in his one inning of work.

Marlins 4, METS 2 Beltran's Return Not Enough
The good news for the Mets is that they got Carlos Beltran back, and the veteran slugger/flychaser looked like his old self, making a sliding catch in the outfield, banging a double, and narrowly missing a home run that would have been the difference in the game. The bad news is that Tim Redding gave up two two-run long balls (to Hanley Ramirez and Cameron Maybin). Even though Florida's starter Rick VandenHurk left after four innings with back spasms, the Mets were unable to get more than two runs all night.

RED SOX 10, Orioles 0 Boston Barrage Blasts Birds
The Red Sox teed off on Birds starter David Hernandez, hitting four round-trippers before he was sent to the showers in the third, then adding two more off the bullpen. Dustin Pedroia went yard twice, with Kevin Youkilis, Alex Gonzalez, J.D. Drew, and David Ortiz also going yard at Fenway. Ortiz's 23rd round-tripper of the year tied him all-time for most homers by a designated hitter with Frank Thomas at 269. Clay Buchholz, meanwhile, turned in seven innings of three-hit ball.

BLUE JAYS 6, Twins 3 Rauch Rocked
After five innings things looked pretty good for Brian Duensing and the Twins. Up 3-0, the lefty rookie took the mound in the sixth only to give up two singles and then walk Vernon Wells. On came Jon Rauch, who not only allowed all three inherited runners to score, but also earned three more runs himself, giving up a two-RBI hit to Edwin Encarnacion and a three-run homer to John McDonald. The timely offensive explosion gave Toronto's rookie lefty starter Ricky Romero his 12th win.

YANKEES 3, Rays 2 Gaudin Not Gaudy, But Good Enough
Chad Gaudin didn't want to be the guy who broke the string of great starts for the Yankees, so he went out and pitched six dominating innings, then one mediocre one, to duel Tampa Bay lefty David Price. Gaudin's only mistake was a solo homer to Evan Longoria when the well-traveled righty tired in the seventh. Price, meanwhile, had served up a gopher ball to Nick Swisher in the second. With Johnny Damon on second in the sixth, Alex Rodriguez saw a steady diet of fastballs from Price, fouling off four before getting one he could lace into left for an RBI hit. Gaudin left with the Yanks up 2-1, but Phil Hughes' first pitch left the park off the bat of Jason Bartlett, giving the Yankees' reliever his first blown lead of the year. Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth to end up with the win when Swisher blasted his second jack of the night, good for the Yankees' 13th walk-off win of the season. Meanwhile, Derek Jeter went hitless for his third game in a row, racking up a sudden "slump" of 0-for-12; the Captain's previous longest hitless stretch this year was 0-for-10.

Phillies 5, NATIONALS 3 Cuatro-Treinta
For a little while it looked like Pedro Martinez might be the hard-luck loser on the end of a 2-1 score in a duel with Washington's John Lannan. But Pedro was still in the game when Lannan blinked, giving up three homers in the seventh in the span of 10 pitches; the Washington southpaw then walked Pedro on four pitches to put the capper on his night. In the end, all five Philly runs came on solo circuit clouts: two by Raul Ibanez and one each by Jayson Werth, Carlos Ruiz, and Chase Utley (his 30th). Pedro is now 4-0 since his return. Meanwhile, Philly becomes the 12th team in major league history to feature four hitters in their lineup with 30 home runs in a season (Howard, Utley, Ibanez, and Werth). Factoid: The first was the 1977 Dodgers, with Dusty Baker, Ron Cey, Steve Garvey, and Reggie Smith. The other 10 have all come between 1995 and the present. The Rockies appear on that 30x4 list four times, the Yankees zero.

Cubs 9, PIRATES 4 Pitt Keeps Driving Backward Despite Setting Record
The Cubs tied a major league record (held by the Yankees) for most consecutive hits to begin a game with eight. Although Zach Duke was hammered for seven runs in the first inning, the Bucs' lefty stayed in the game through four innings, only giving up one additional run after the opening drive on a Micah Hoffpauir solo shot. Pittsburgh's Garrett Jones also had a dinger, but Chicago's Ryan Dempster ably defended the cushion he'd been given, earning his ninth win.

Rangers 11, INDIANS 9 (game 1) Rangers Corral Tribe
As the Rangers make a legitimate run at the AL Wild Card, they grabbed a golden opportunity to gain ground on Boston by winning both ends of their twin bill with the Indians. The first game was a slugfest, as both the visitors and the home crowd got their first look at Tribe pitching prospect Carlos Carrasco. Carrasco's pick-off move caught both Ian Kinsler and Marlon Byrd, but the debutante gave up five runs. Both teams piled on the offense long after the starters had left the mound. Ultimately it was four Texas big flies (by David Murphy, Marlon Byrd, and two by Julio Borbon) that trumped Cleveland's two (by Travis Hafner and Matt LaPorta).

Rangers 10, INDIANS 5 (game 2) Byrdland
Marlon Byrd's hot bat stayed hot into the second game, adding three more hits, as the Rangers tallied another 18 base knocks for a total of 31 on the day. After four innings, the score stood at 7-0 in Texas's favor. The Indians rallied back in the fifth, sixth, and seventh, including homers from Kelly Shoppach and Asdrubal Cabrera, but they couldn't muster nearly enough offense, given that the Rangers scored three runs in the ninth as well. Even though Boston won, Texas gained ground to stand two wild games back. And with seven head-to-head games with the Angels still to come on their schedule, the Rangers are still within striking distance of an AL West upset as well.

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After his stint with the Yankees, he returned to the Red Sox' organization. Later, he took a position as an American League umpire.

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Immense hype is being tossed about in New York over the imminent takeover by Derek Jeter of Lou Gehrig's top spot on the Yankees' all-time hits list. Although it may be mind-boggling to realize that Jeter has long since passed such greats as Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Babe Ruth, it's useful to look beyond New York for some perspective.

At the start of the 2009 season, Jeter was 82nd on the all-time major league hits list, with five active players above him. Here's where they were at the close of 2008, versus where they are now:

At the end of 2008:

No.   Hits    Player

58    2,679   Ken Griffey Jr.

66    2,657   Omar Vizquel

69    2,615   Gary Sheffield

70    2,605   Ivan Rodriguez

75    2,591   Luis Gonzalez

82    2,535   Derek Jeter

92    2,468   Frank Thomas

95    2,461   Jeff Kent 



As of September 9, 2009

No.   Hits    Player

47    2,751   Ken Griffey Jr.  +71

54    2,718   Derek Jeter     +183

60    2,701   Omar Vizquel     +44

61    2,700   Ivan Rodriguez   +95

62    2,689   Gary Sheffield   +74

77    2,591   Luis Gonzalez    retired

96    2,468   Frank Thomas     retired

99    2,461   Jeff Kent        retired

By the way, look who else is now in or nearing the top 100:

No.   Hits    Player

88    2,509   Alex Rodriguez

92    2,481   Garrett Anderson

              Manny Ramirez

110   2,411   Johnny Damon

113   2,390   Chipper Jones

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He was the winning pitcher in the famous Ruth "called shot" game--Game 3 of the 1932 World Series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
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Who would win in a match-up between the 1927 "Murderer's Row" Yankees and the 1975 Cincinnati Reds "Big Red Machine?" This is the sort of question that has whiled away rain delays and winter off-seasons since time immemorial.

Now it can also be a huge time sink on the Internet to rival World of Warcraft and Second Life, thanks to What If Sports. A visit to WhatIfSports.com today answered the question with a simulated game match-up: Yankees over the Reds 7-4 in an offense-dominated contest in which each team knocked 12 hits.

Choose each team, press "Set Away/Home", then "Play Game" and the free fantasy baseball simulation spins out the play-by-play info. In the simulated Yanks-Reds matchup at Riverfront Stadium, New York scored first after a Bob Meusel leadoff triple, but the Reds answered back with two runs right away as Pete Rose tripled, Joe Morgan knocked him in and then stole second, and came home himself on a Johnny Bench base hit. Cincy couldn't keep the Yankees in check though, and a bottom-of-the-ninth rally was snuffed by Bob Shawkey.
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On this date in 1928, the Yankees started play in second place, a half-game behind the Athletics. Philadelphia had been edging up on New York's lead for more than a month, finally grabbing it by a half-game when they swept all four games of back-to-back doubleheaders against Boston. But now the two teams would meet head-to-head for a twinbill in the Bronx.

Taking the hill in pinstripes that day was 28-year-old right-hander George Pipgras. An over-capacity crowd of 85,265, described in the New York Times as "the largest crowd that ever saw a baseball game in the United States, Asia, Africa, Australia or other parts," crammed The House the Ruth Built to see the pennant race face-off between the two titanic teams.

Both pitchers were having career years. Pipgras would end up leading the league at year's end in wins (24-13), innings pitched (300-2/3), and second in strikeouts (139), while the veteran spitballer Jack Quinn, then in his 20th season in the big leagues, would go 18-7 with 18 complete games and a 2.90 ERA. The two dueled through five shut-out innings, but in the sixth, the vaunted Bronx Bombers got to Quinn, putting up three runs and knocking him from the game. Pipgras would work out of a few trouble spots, but otherwise smother the potent A's, winning by shutout, 5-0. The Yanks would take the second game, too, with Bob Meusel slamming a grand one off knuckleballing swingman Eddie Rommel, pitching in relief only one day after having started. New York would not relinquish first place again that season.

Pipgras would go on to win Game 2 of the World Series sweep over the Cardinals. His fortunes would follow the team's, slipping a bit for the next few years, then getting back to the top of their game in 1932, when Pipgras would face off against Charlie Root in Game 3 of the World Series at Wrigley, the infamous "Called Shot" game.

That was the end of the glory days for Pipgras, who would go the following May to the Red Sox, where he pitched for a few more years before hanging up his spikes with 714 career strikeouts, a 102-73 record, and career ERA of 4.09. He moved from the mound to behind the plate, joining the AL umpiring crew in 1938, a post he held through 1946. Pipgras was the home plate umpire for Dick Fowler's no-hitter on this date in 1945. He would later scout for the Red Sox and eventually retire to Gainesville, Florida, where he died at the age of 86 in 1986.
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The Baseball Early Bird is a free daily newsletter published jointly by the two leaders in the field of baseball reference: Sports Reference LLC--which produces Baseball-Reference.com--and 24-7 Baseball, L.L.C.--which produces the ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia and the ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia.

Gary Gillette is the Early Bird's Executive Editor and Co-Publisher. He also edited and contributed to today's issue. Sean Forman is the Early Bird's technical guru and Co-Publisher.

Cecilia Tan, daughter of Yankees fan Sergio Tan (who turns 74 today), wrote today's issue.

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