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What does Bonds, McGwire, or Sosa's home run records mean in a game that is just another version of video game? Set their record up as per cent of HRs hit. Ruth hit 60 and the teams averaged 58, Bonds hit 73 and teams averaged 185. Time to get some real perspective. Bonds would have needed to hit 191. In an era where we seem to forget how great baseball has been and have instead focused on the "three true outcomes" we have also lost the three great values - excitement, speed, and drama. I do not want to watch 3 hour and 7 minute versions of HR derby where only three HRs are hit. No wonder BB is losing out on fan response. Put it next to Basketball and football on TV and there is no comparison. I have always preferred radio for my baseball fix, but if I went back to my childhood with my transistor under my pillow I could no longer stay awake long enough for the extra 45 minutes, nor would I be captivated by the potential to steal, to hit and run, to bunt. Strike outs are just a prolonged whack-a-mole game. In 2019 the best pitcher in baseball - Gerrit Cole struck out 326 hitters and there were 21,415 strike outs in the AL. In 1946, Bob Feller the best pitcher in baseball struck out 348 batters and the AL had 5225. Cole struck out 0.015% while Feller struck out struck out 0.06% of all the batters who had a K in the AL that year. https://www.baseball-almanac.com/hitting/histrk4.shtml Yes, I like the bunt, the stolen base, and the hit and run. I do not mind the shift because in the past the batters would have adjusted. I do like BA/RBI/OBP/Slugging but I hate to see a percentage like Miguel Sano with 90 Ks in 186 AB - .483 average versus his real BA of .204. Miguel is projected for 2021 to bat 227 with 185 Ks. Baseball Reference. Here is the list of top strikeout percentages (lowest) for 1000 batters in MLB history. https://www.baseball-almanac.com/hitting/histrkop1.shtml or https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/at_bats_per_strikeout_career.shtml MLB has now hired Theo Epstein to help make the game more marketable, more appealing. I know - the true BB fan loves the game and does not need change. If we are going to attract the best athletes, the most fans, the most income for the game then we need to address more than the hardline stathead. In honor of my favorite player of all time - Hank Aaron never had a season with 100 strikeouts! He came close with 97 and 96 in 1966 - 67, but never reached 90 in the other 21 years! In 1958 he hit 44 HRs and struck out 58 times! The Minneapolis Tribune had this note - 0 Times Aaron struck out 100 times in a season; in 23 seasons he struck out 1,383 times, an average of 60 per season. Jason Stark adds, "And as long as we’re talking active hitters, you know how many have already had more multi-strikeout games than Hank Aaron had in 23 seasons? How about 51! That group includes the likes of Miguel Sanó (70 more multi-K games in 2,759 fewer games than Aaron) … and Mike Zunino (246 multi-K games despite 647 fewer homers than Aaron). … And coming right up, it’s Joey Gallo (202 multi-K games in the first 473 games of his career)."

The baseball owners through their lackey – Rob Manfred – have declared that they lost substantial and unsubstantiated amounts of money in 2020. A May 2020 CNBC report said, “Under the MLB’s plan, the highest-paid players could lose about 80% of their salaries, while players making the least amount could keep up to 90% of their pay. The plan calls for players to retain their salary via a tier system. In short, the more a player is scheduled to earn for the 2020 season, the less he retains under the plan.” There were alterations to the initial plan, but executives were doing what they always do, reducing losses. In August 2020, FOX business reported, “Major League Baseball salaries plummeted to their lowest level since 1996 this year during a coronavirus pandemic that forced a shorter season and limited paychecks for players…” October 20 Bleacher Report said, “After the COVID-19 pandemic forced 898 regular-season games to go on without fans this summer, MLB's 30 teams dropped a combined total of $3 billion in operating losses. "The clubs have done a really good job locally and we tried to do a good job centrally," Manfred told Ronald Blum of the Associated Press. "The liquidity is sufficient to get us through 2020. I think if we’re faced with limited activity next year and the kind of losses that we suffered this year, again, it will become more of a problem." Every article on TD and other sites say that salaries are going way down, free agency will be highly impacted and there were a number of very good players – Wong, Hand among them that were released when in the past their options would have been picked up. Since the wealth of owners, the paycheck for Manfred and the pay to the players is in a stratosphere that I cannot imagine it is still fascinating to see the billionaires taking advantage of this Covid opportunity. We can look back to the great depression when the baseball player was in a similar situation and then the wages were really determined by attendance. In a fascinating Sabr article the author found that the actual cuts in players’ salaries were common but did not match the percent that the drop in attendance would have demanded. Instead, like we are seeing so far this offseason, “When an owner determined that a player was no longer performing at a level worthy of his salary, he was more likely to waive him than cut his salary. When he was waived, he was likely to be replaced by a lower cost player, and the lowest cost players were almost always rookies.” The essay also saw a change in long term contracts, “as the economy worsened, teams proved even less willing to make long term commitments to players.” http://research.sabr.org/business/download/BoB-2009-2.pdf In 1918 the Spanish Flu and WWI had taken a toll on baseball too and the season was reduced in length to 126 games. “In desperate need of hitters after losing some 13 players to the war, Red Sox manager Ed Barrow turned to his best pitcher, Ruth, who had won 24 games the year before (2.01 ERA), while hitting just two home runs.” In May: The Babe got the flu, and when the Red Sox physician treated him with silver nitrate, it only made things worse, causing him to choke and pass out. After being rushed to the hospital, there were rumors that Ruth was on his death bed. https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-spanish-flu-baseball-1918-f498f2d4-7726-4a02-a5f5-59c63d982764.html As a side note - Prince Fielder was owed $24million this year, despite the fact he was not playing. That is the beauty of guaranteed contracts and why owners are hesitant to give them. Ken Griffey gets #3.6 million through 2024, and Manny Ramirez gets $2 M per year through 2026. "Bobby Bonilla is a retired MLB player who last took the field in 2001, but, 20 years later, is still getting paid $1.2 million a year by the New York Mets. In fact, he'll get p/aid $1,193,248.20 a year every year until 2035, when Bonilla is 72 entire years old." https://www.sportscasting.com/retired-athletes-big-paydays-former-teams/ During the World Series a crisis was averted as the two teams traveled by train together and talked about holding out for more money. The public was irate and soon Boston would be trading Ruth – retaliation? Who knows? Whether the reserve clause, the outlaw leagues, or the changes in media coverage the tussle between owner and player has never been smooth and no sport is immune to the economy, wars, or other factors. Now we have a CBA coming to an end, terrible player/owner/management relationships, players released, and no idea what the next season will be. How do those who are supposed to put together a roster manipulate through this haze? What will the Twins do? What do players do? I have to add this addendum - the Twins just let go two of their long-term coaches from the Appalachian League - Smith and Reed had a long history with us, but that means nothing in the new cut throat MLB that is cutting teams, leagues, coaches, players. Is Covid a reason or an excuse? Stay tuned.

Somehow I am trying to get my head around sixty games - and I keep coming up with the number 60 must have some significance or the curmudgeons that rule baseball might have taken the players options like 104 games. And of course 60 is the magic number - It is Babe Ruth. Sorry but 73 is a number I have to look up to remember Mr Bonds, maybe I need steroids to improve my memory. And Mark McGwire your 70 was really fun because you and Sammy smiled every day, but it was like a fantasy game and we never really believed in you. And of course 61 made a great movie, but all Maris got was clumps of hair falling out. 60 is still celebrated. It is still the holy grail. Sammy Sosa had 3 seasons with more than 60 HRs, McGwire had 2, Ruth, Bonds, and Maris had one each. And then there is the sixty yard dash. It is a test for baseball - I do not know if anyone else cares. The Baseball Training website says - "And for a good reason, we need this type of speed to steal bases, beat out a drag bunt, and get under the ball if we’re far away and in the outfield. Speed training for these reasons (and many others) is incredibly important for baseball performance." And this is quite funny since the space between bases is 90 feet so be as fast as you want for 60 - you better be able to go that last 30. And we have Byron Buxton who is so fast that he almost doesn't notice second base as he flies around the field. What happened in 1960 - the Yankees lost to the Pirates. Bill Mazeroski hit the winning home run and is the HOF because of it. Our team had not traveled west yet so they were in DC and finished 10th of 16 (71 - 63). Harmon hit 31 HRs, Bob Lemon hit 38. Lenny Green led in BA with 294, Harmon Killebrew was second on the club with 276. In OPS+ Killebrew had 142, Lemon 129. Pascual and Ramos were the pitching leaders. This was the final season of 154 games. In sixty games the 2018 Yankees and Red Sox were 41 - 19. Wow. In 2011 Jose Bautista had a 1.226 OPS. In 2008 Chipper Jones hit 408 In 1999 Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez struck out 143 batters - think what could happen in this K happy season. In 1998 Juan Gonzalez drove in 76 runs! https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-players-first-60-games-big-performances In 1936 Charlie Gehringer hit 60 doubles! The problem was - Earl Webb hit 67 in 1931 and Paul Waner, Hank Greenberg, Joe Medwick and George Burns hit 62 - 64 doubles in the thirties too (Burnes was 1926). In Triples there is the Pythagorean triple which I cannot understand https://mathworld.wolfram.com/PythagoreanTriple.html, but no one in MLB had 60 triples in a season. In Australia you can sign up for Triples - "The draw for the Men’s Over 60’s Triples is now available. Fifty two teams will battle it out to be crowned the 2019 champions. In a change from recent years sectional play and the alignment round will be played Monday 25th November at Como and Osborne Park Bowling Clubs with the finals all held on Tuesday 26th November at Osborne Park Bowling Club, meaning the competition will conclude in only two days instead of the usual three." Of the 162 Major League Baseball players who have hit 100 or more triples, 69 are members of Baseball's Hall of Fame. Who ranks number sixty in the career stats? Dale Murphy with 398 HRs, Roberto Alomar is number 60 in doubles with 504, Tony Perez is number 60 in hits with 2732 (yes he does belong in the HOF), Willie Keeler and Harry Davis are tied for number 59 which means they are also tied for 60th in career triples with 145. Chick Hafey is number 60 with a 317 batting average. Old Hoss Radbourne won 59 games in 1884, but wait a minute. "The classic MacMillan Baseball Encyclopedia, as well as other sources credit Radbourn with 60 wins (against 12 losses), other sources place his win total as high as 62." Bert Blyleven fell short of the record only giving up 50 HRs in one season (and he is HOF?) Number 60 is filled with two names who are also tied for number 59 in wins all time - Mordecai Brown and David Wells with 239. Jay Bruce is number 60 in striking out with 1535, Eddie Plank is the pitcher ranked number 60 with 2246 Ks and in those days batters did not want to strike out like today. Since there are 15, 213 people who have played in MLB since 1871 according to SABR, ranking number 60 is pretty good. Also according to USA Today Dallas Kuechel is the best player to wear number 60. According to Baseball Reference 1860 is when baseball was born - I know they played in the civil war and Tom Custer (George Armstrong Custer's brother) was a good pitcher. Baseball Reference has Sam Thompson as the best of the players from that time with a 44 WAR and in the HOF. John Ward with 34 WAR is second and also in the HOF. Does that justify the 60 games? No - I doubt if MLB is even aware of these connections.

Hitting the ball hard has virtually always been his path to success. We don’t need to rehash where his performances and outcomes rank him in 2019 - this previous blog post accomplished that - but the all-time greats have had their doors knocked on plenty by Nelson Cruz this season.By now you know the backstory. Cruz didn’t debut as a regular in the big leagues until 2009 as a 28-year-old. He’s now 39 and is experiencing the best season of his career. Minnesota beat out a tightly contested market including the Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays for his services, and he’s been an integral part of a team that’s hit the most home runs during a single season in major league history. It’s one thing to put up an incredible power season. It’s a great development to absolutely crush a free agent signing. It’s a completely different development to rival the likes of Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas, and David Ortiz. When checking in on seasons to take place after a player turns 38 years old is somewhat difficult for a guy like Cruz. He’s posted 3.6 fWAR in 104 games thus far, which ranks 37th of 210 seasons to meet the criteria. The top of the leader board is a Who’s Who of Hall of Famers, but it’s also chock full of guys still playing a position or those from yesteryear. Barry Bonds tops the list while names like Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, and Willie Mays all make appearances as well. In strict terms of value, Cruz comes up a bit short. When comparing his skill set though, there’s a lot of eye-opening to be done. Only five players, including Nelson, have ever posted an OPS north of 1.000 after turning 38. That list is Bonds, Williams, Ty Cobb, and Ortiz. Cruz trails only Bonds and Williams in the single season slugging department, and his 35 homers round out the top 10. Even more impressively, only 13 other seasons in that 210 total have been composed of fewer games. Cruz has missed time due to a nagging wrist injury, but it hasn’t slowed him down when in the lineup and has only dropped what would be an even more gaudy counting stat line. In recent memory Minnesota employed the services of another aging talent in the rotund form of Bartolo Colon. A 44-year-old back in 2017, there was nothing exceptional about his 5.18 ERA. He was brought in to eat innings and did exactly that down the stretch. Cruz was signed to be a key cog in a lineup destined to make noise, and his response has been greater than anyone could’ve imagined. Baseball is a unique sport in that the best players generally are consistent on a yearly basis. Aside from that group though, there are often breakouts that can be remembered for some time. Phil Hughes’ record setting K/BB ratio in 2014 comes to mind, and Nelson Cruz’s exploits for Rocco Baldelli this season will likely be remembered in the same vein. Cruz won’t be talked about in the same realm as the likes of Bonds, Williams, or the previously mentioned tie-ins, but for 2019 he absolutely has some real parallels. The Twins are given the opportunity to bring Nelson back in 2020 at a discounted $12 million, and you can bet they'll exercise that option. Expecting him to defy Father Time again may be foolish, and the age cliff can be steep when it appears. For now though, there’s no denying this has been one of the most exceptional seasons in Minnesota history, and it’s one that Cruz can hang his hat on well into retirement. Whether home run number 400 comes (he’s currently 5 shy) before September flips or not, the greatest of greats would be proud of this elder statesmen representing longevity well. Click here to view the article

Nelson Cruz was back in the Twins line-up on Monday, but he was never supposed to be to this point in his career. To call Cruz a late bloomer would be an understatement. He never made it on to any major prospect top-100 list and he didn’t debut until he was 24-years old. His first career home run didn’t come until his age-26 season and he wouldn’t play 100 big league games in a season until he was 28. Now Twins fans are witnessing an ageless wonder on the cusp of 400 career home runs.Few Twins fans may be aware of the journey Cruz has taken to the 400-home run mark. In recent years, fans saw future Hall of Fame player Jim Thome collect his 600th home run in a Twins uniform. Thome was a different player than Cruz and fans might not fully appreciate what Cruz has been able to do in the late stages of his career. Among players over 30, Cruz has the 10th most home runs all-time. Players ahead of him on the list include all-time greats like Bond, Ruth, Aaron, and Mays. Because of his late start, Cruz likely won’t be able to catch these historic players on the all-time list, but he has established himself as one of the best home run hitters among players over the age of 30. Home Run Number 1 Ironically, Cruz hit his first career home run against the Minnesota Twins in a game where the Twins destroyed the Texas Rangers. On July 31, 2006, Carlos Silva dominated the Rangers for seven innings by limiting them to one run on six hits. Minnesota had an 8-0 lead after two innings and added another six runs between the fourth and fifth frames. Cruz, a 26-year old rookie, was used as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning for Carlos Lee. He stepped in against Willie Eyre (talk about a name that is a blast from the past) and hit a solo shot to left-center field. His second home run wouldn’t come until more than two weeks later, but he recorded his first on the road to 400 at the Metrodome. Home Run Number 100 Almost five years to the day of his first home run, Cruz collected the 100th home run of his career. Like his first home run, it happened in a loss and it happened on the road. Cruz was still in Texas at the time and he was sitting at 22 home runs for the year on July 29, 2011. He would end the year with 29 home runs, the second highest total of his career at the time. In this game, Cruz stepped in during the second inning where neither team had yet scored. Brett Cecil was on the mound and he was on the way to seven innings of one-run ball. The only run he would allow was on a solo home run to Cruz, which turned out to be the 100th of his career. Home Run Number 200 Cruz hit quite the stretch of seasons when he reached age 33. From 2014 through 2016, he averaged over 40 home runs per season and led all of baseball in home runs in 2014. He entered the 2015 season only needing three home runs to accumulate 200 homers for his career and he made it to the mark in April. It was less than four full seasons since he had crossed the century mark, but he made his 200th home run one to remember. The trend continued with his 200th long-ball as Cruz was on the road (Dodger Stadium) and his team (Seattle) ended up losing. Cruz collected his 200th home run in the first inning off Brandon McCarthy. It was a two-run shot with two outs in the frame. Later in the game, he would hit another homer, a solo shot, off McCarthy again. It still wasn’t enough as the Mariners lost by one. Home Run Number 300 His 300th home run came even faster as he reached the total in July 2017. It was only two and a half seasons since his 200th home run, but that’s how fast a player can move up the list when he is hitting 40+ home runs per season. For the first time in his career, he hit a milestone home run at home and his team ended up winning the game. Cruz finished the game with three hits but his memorable long-ball came in the eighth inning after his team entered the frame up by one run. His three-run home run off of old friend Liam Hendricks helped Seattle to separate themselves. He drove in five of Seattle’s seven runs in the game. Home Run Number 400- Coming Soon? Cruz is coming off a ruptured ECU tendon in his left wrist, so there are plenty of questions about what kind of performance he will be able to produce now that he is back on the field. Prior to the injury, he was hitting at an unbelievable clip. Since the All-Star break, Cruz had a .333/.429/.900 slash-line with 16 home runs, the same number he compiled in the first half. He’s only eight home runs away from the 400 mark, which will hopefully take place before the end of the season. Looking at his other milestone home runs, it’s likely to come on the road and in a loss for the Twins. Even if he doesn’t get there in 2019, he’s still under contract for the 2020 campaign. When do you think Cruz will hit home run number 400? Leave a COMMENT and star the discussion. Click here to view the article