Category: November

NOV 20 IN BASEBALL HISTORY – Japan’s Cy Young

NOVEMBER 20, 1934 | SHIZOUKA, JAPAN – The Japanese equivalent of the “Cy Young” award is called the Sawamura Award largely because of what Eiji Sawamura, a teenager, did on this date in 1934.

At the age of 17, and still in high school, Sawamura faced a team of American all-stars, several considered to be among the greatest in history – Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx. Sawamura entered the game in the fourth, and pitched the rest of the way. In five innings, the teenager gave up just one run – a home run by Babe Ruth – on five hits.

The highlight was when he struck out Charlie Gehringer, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx in succession. Though Sawamura took the loss, he provided Japan with a moment of national pride.

Sawamura went on to pitch in Japanese professional baseball. He threw three no-hitters, finishing with a record of 63-22 and a 1.75 Earned Run Average.

His career was cut short in 1944 by World War II. He lost his life that same year when he ship he was on was torpedoed by an American vessel.

After his death, Eiji Sawamura became an icon of Japanese baseball. In 1947, the Sawamura Award was created to honor the best pitcher in Nippon Professional baseball. Twelve years later, Sawamura became one of the initial members of the Japan Baseball Hall of Fame. 

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
The New York Times, November 21, 1934
Japanese pitcher could have been an American baseball star but fought America instead
SABR Society of American Baseball Research  
Baseball’s Greatest Sacrifice

NOVEMBER 18-BRETT’S FLIRT WITH .400 EARNS MVP

NOVEMBER 18, 1980 | KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – This was an easy one. In 1980 Kansas City Royals’ 3rd baseman George Brett became the only American Leaguer since Ted Williams to flirt with a .400 batting average since. So, who else but Brett should be awarded the American League’s Most Valuable Player award for that year?

Brett didn’t start out gang-busters in 1980. The first two months of the season his average hovered around .260 . As far into the season as May 22nd he was hitting only .255.

George Brett kicked it into gear in June and July, topping out at .390 July 31st. Brett eclipsed .400 (.401 to be exact) on August 17th, going 4 for 4 with 5 RBI.

Fans all over the country followed his march toward the first .400 average since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941 for the Boston Red Sox.

Brett was hitting .406 on August 20th,  .407 on August 26th. Brett’s batting average was over .400 16 of the final 35 days  of the regular season, but not the last day. He finished the 1980 season with a .390 average with 24 home runs and 118 runs batted in.

Brett’s .390 remains the second highest batting average in the Major Leagues since 1941. Tony Gwynn hit .394 in 1994 for the San Diego Padres.

The highest averages since Brett and Gwynn are:

Larry Walker of the Colorado Rockies who hit .379 in 1999, and Nomar Garciaparra  of the Boston Red Sox and Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies both hit .372 in 2000.

Will we ever see a .400 batting average again? The Cubs won the World Series in 2016, so anything is possible.

Contributing Sources:
Single season batting average leaders
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/batting_avg_season.shtml

Nov 17th in baseball history ST. BROWNS fade to BLACK

NOVEMBER 17, 1953 |ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI • On this date in baseball history stockholders of the beleaguered St, Louis Browns franchise voted to change the team’s name from the St. Louis Browns to the Baltimore Orioles.

The name change was the final step in the transition from former owner Bill Veeck to a new group of owners which would start the 1954 baseball season near the shores of Chesapeake Bay rather than the banks of the Mississippi river.

The Browns began as the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901 – a charter American League franchise – not to be confused with the present day Brewers. The team stayed only one year in Milwaukee, moving to St. Louis in 1902 and becoming the Browns, which was the color of their uniforms.

In all the years spent in St. Louis (and one in Milwaukee) the Browns went to the post-season once. They won the American League Pennant in 1944, losing the World Series to the cross-town St. Louis Cardinals.

The franchise’s change of scenery did them good. The Baltimore Orioles have been to the post-season more than a dozen times since moving to Baltimore. They won the World Series in 1966, 1970 and 1983.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 18, 1953
World Series results year-to-year 
More on the St. Louis Browns

Nov 16: Most MVP’s were outfielders

NOVEMBER 16, 2017 | NEW YORK, NEW YORK • The baseball world is waiting to hear who the MVP (Most Valuable Player) award winners are for 2017. A review of past MVP’s demonstrates that more often than not, they were outfielders.

[I combined the three outfield positions as one position] You may ask, “Why not combine all infield positions?” My response is, first base is a distinctly different position than shortstop.

MVP recipients by position (as of 11/16/2017)
American League
OF       29
1B       14
P          12
3B          9
SS           8
C            8
2B         4
DH        1

National League
OF       31
1B       15
P          10
3B          9
C            8
SS          7
2B         6

There were several MVP-type awards early in the 20th Century, but the criteria were often suspect. Raising doubts about their legitimacy was the fact that players like Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb never won such an award.

The Baseball Writers Association of America took over voting for the Most Valuable Player award in 1931 and continues the task to this day. This brings credibility to the conclusion that most MVP’s were outfielders.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
List of MVP winners
MVP recipients by position