July 12, 20188 yr Johan was the best the Twins had relative to the rest of the league. There’s a reason why Bert never got much Cy Young consideration (other than being on some low win total teams). Those reasons were mostly Seaver, Carlton, Ryan, Jenkins and others who’s names I’m blanking on. There were a lot of all time great pitchers in Bert’s era. That’s a big part of why it took so long to get him in. He was probably the least accomplished of his peer group. It was just an exceptional group. Kinda like comparing Vince Coleman and Tim Raines with Rickey Hendeseon. Just because Raines and Coleman weren’t as good as Rickey, doesn’t mean they weren’t great.These do not seem to me like reasons to consider Santana the best Twins pitcher ever. Just the opposite. I didn't compare Blyleven to the rest of MLB. I compared him to the list of Twins pitchers. Just because Bert wasn't as good as Seaver doesn't mean he wasn't better than Santana.
July 12, 20188 yr The "Get To Know Each Other" thread got me to thinking about Rik Aalbert Blyleven. He came up in 1970 at age 19. Starting in 1971, his age 20 season, over the next 6 seasons he put up the following numbers: 1745 Inning Pitched (an average of 290 per year). ERAs that ranged between 2.52 and 3.00 (with FIPs that ranged from 2.32 to 2.99) 1411 Ks, in an era where Ks were nowhere near as common as today 98 Ws. 110 complete games. One. Hundred. And. Ten. Over six seasons. An average of 18 per year. Times have changed, but talk about a horse. All of that was good enough to get him traded to Texas in 1976, BTW. Many consider Johan Santana the best ever Twins pitcher. I love me some Johan, but for my money, that title belongs to Bert.It's sad we'll never see pitching numbers like that ever again. I doubt the entire MLB will achieve 110 complete games this season.
July 12, 20188 yr These do not seem to me like reasons to consider Santana the best Twins pitcher ever. Just the opposite. I didn't compare Blyleven to the rest of MLB. I compared him to the list of Twins pitchers. Just because Bert wasn't as good as Seaver doesn't mean he wasn't better than Santana.Right, but Johan was clearly the best pitcher in MLB for a 3 year span and the runner up was not even close. For Bert’s best 6 years he was statistically the best, but really not by much. As to who was better overall at their peak is really hard to say even with ERA+ and WAR etc. I think if you were looking for a guy to give you one big game to dominate an opponent, I think you want Johan. If you want a guy that can give you a chance to win 30 times a year or more, that’s probably Bert.
August 5, 20188 yr 53-year-old Rafael Palmeiro was in town playing my local American Assiciation team. He's OPS'ing .942 through 27 games and 105 PA, easily the top mark on his team.
August 5, 20188 yr He's OPS'ing .942 through 27 games and 105 PA, easily the top mark on his team.I'm going to stick my neck out and guess that an age of 53 also ranks highly on the roster.
August 5, 20188 yr I'm going to stick my neck out and guess that an age of 53 also ranks highly on the roster.I didn't check on that one. I presume he is older than his son though, who is also on the team.
August 7, 20188 yr I didn't check on that one. I presume he is older than his son though, who is also on the team. It's not Griffey and Griffey, but that's still pretty cool.
August 17, 20188 yr The Houston Astros, entering play today, are 74-47. 27 games over .500, leading the ALW. Were they in the ALE, they would trail the Boston Red Sox by 9.5 games.
August 17, 20188 yr Author The Houston Astros, entering play today, are 74-47. 27 games over .500, leading the ALW. Were they in the ALE, they would trail the Boston Red Sox by 9.5 games. also the other division leader Cleveland would be 16 games back of Boston and Minnesota is 28 games back.
October 29, 20188 yr In 2018 more batters struck out 100+ times (151) than qualified for the batting title (141).
October 29, 20188 yr In 2018 more batters struck out 100+ times (151) than qualified for the batting title (141).Easy solution to that. Discard the PA threshold, and require 100+ strike outs. In fact, just declare the batter with the most strikeouts as the batting champ - after all, his manager must have had high faith in him to keep him in there despite such obstacles to production.
October 29, 20188 yr Easy solution to that. Discard the PA threshold, and require 100+ strike outs. In fact, just declare the batter with the most strikeouts as the batting champ - after all, his manager must have had high faith in him to keep him in there despite such obstacles to production.Adam Brett Walker III loves this post!
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