World Series: Did You Know?

Tsyoshi Shinjo became the first Japanese player to participate in the Fall Classic in 2002 with San Francisco. While he team came up short, it was an interesting first.

The Giants took on the Anaheim Angels (Now, the Los Angeles Angels) in the World Series of 2002, and Tsyoshi was batting ninth, in the role of DH. So his time would have to wait. But not long.

A home run by Barry Bonds and another by Reggie Sanders put the Giants up two runs in the top of the second. Troy Glaus got one back for Anaheim with a dinger of his own in the bottom of the frame.

So Shingo's moment came in the top of the third. Leading off the inning, he fanned. But it must have meant so much for him. But when he batted next in the top of the fifth, Singo came through with a leadoff single. Kenny Lofton sacrificed him to second. But the next two batters were retired, leaving him stranded.

Shingo batted again in the top of the seventh, again leading off. This time, he could only ground out. Tom Goodwin batted for him in the top of the ninth and grounded out. The Giants ended up winning the game, 4-3.



Tsyoshi did not play again until game five, where he came on as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the sixth. He fanned. But the next inning, with the Giants up 8-4 and runners on first and second, he hit a sac bunt to get 'em over. Kenny Lofton drove them both home. In the bottom of the eighth, Shingo reached on an error and scored a run.

The Giants ultimately lost this Fall Classic in seven, with Tsyoshi making an appearance in the finale. He never returned to the Fall Classic, and by 2004 he was back playing in the Japanese Pacific League, where it all started for him back in 1991.

Still, it's always great to see baseball be expanded internationally. 1969 brought the Montreal Expos in as Canada's first baseball team. Toronto joined in 1977 and won the Fall Classic twice in the early 90s. Japan has baseball all over the place. In 1992, there was a Tom Selleck movie, Mr. Baseball, about a washed-up big leaguer going to Japan to regain his swing. But long before that, Japan's Masanori Murakami pitched two seasons in the majors in 1964 and 1965, becoming the first to do so. Further back, George Gibson was the first Canadian to play in the Fall Classic in 1909. Joe Quinn, from Australia, played in the bigs from the 1880s into the twentieth century. Graham Lloyd was the first Australian to play in the World Series in 1998. The World Series is slowly involving more and more players from all over the world!


References

Baseball Almanac, Inc. “Baseball Almanac: Baseball History, Baseball Records and Baseball Research. Baseball Almanac, Inc. Web. 7 May 2015, <http://www.baseball-almanac.com/>.

Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.

Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.

Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.

Retrosheet. Web. 7 May. 2015.  <www.retrosheet.org>.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 8 May. 2015.

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 7 May 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/>.

Youtube. Web. 7 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/>.

2013 BBWAA, Part 4: Whose Votes To Pay Attention To

So from what I have read and heard, looks like everyone is sticking it to Bonds and Clemens. So, there's them and who else that the voters should take a look at, positive and negative:

There are two leadoff hitters: Tim Raines (6th time) and Kenny Lofton (1st time). Although not exaclty sluggers, they weren't exactly singles hitters either, as both his over 150 homeruns. Raines' OBP (.385) is the 5th highest of anyone on the ballot this year. Lofton stole more bases (622) than anyone else on the ballot except Timmy (802), and Raines played about 400 more games.

Personally, I'd have no problem with either of them making it. But somehow I don't think this year. Loften will probably have to wait at least 7 years. By then, hopefully, Raines will be in. Voters will vote this year for them, you just watch!

Then, as mentioned in an earlier blog, there are the big three pitchers: Morris, Wells, Schilling. Now all won less than 300 games, but all won more than 200 and all were great postseason pitchers. Granted, the lowest of the three's ERA was Schilling's 3.46. But the postseason success of all three, plus there is no PEDs here, should see them get a lot of votes this year. I doubt Morris and Wells will make it this time. Schilling might, because pitching the Red Sox to a World Series, gets everyone's attention!

Starters? How about closers? We have three very fine candidates in Lee Smith, Jose Mesa and Roberto Hernandez. All have over 300 saves. But like the above big three pitchers, all of them have high ERAs.

How about Dale Murphy? It's his last year on the ballot. And while I think it's a real long shot, because, note the irony here, he was so nice, and the guy who wasn't (Bonds) is also on the ballot for the first time. This makes me think he will get a lot of votes.

Now how about Alan Trammell? He had some power (185), hit a more-than-respectable .285 and was an excellent defensive shortstop. It's his 13th year on the ballot.

The guy with the highest OBP (.418), next to Bonds, is Edgar Martinez. Next is Jeff Bagwell (.408) and Larry Walker (.400).

My bet to get in this year would be Bagwell, since there is no steroid accusations, over 400 homeruns (449), an average around .300 (.297) and a high OBP. His 1529 RBIs is second to Fred McGriff (I think Freddie will make it in about 5 years) among non-steroid users. He'll get a lot of votes for that.

The other player who should make it is Mike Piazza. Again, no steroid use. 427 homeruns as a catcher is eye popping. And he batted over .300 (.308). The voters can't overlook a catcher that great.


References

Shalin, Mike, and Neil Shalin. Out By A Step: The 100 Best Players Not In The Baseball Hall of Fame. Lanham: Diamond Communications, 2002. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.