Note: This is a repost of my 2010 Veteran’s Day Blog.
Arlington National Cemetery
“But the mainstay of the big leagues was the reservoir of 4-Fs – males of draft age who had been rejected on physical grounds by the Armed Forces. Not since harem attendants had gone out of style were men’s physical deficiencies so highly prized. Ulcers, hearing defects, and torn cartilages were coveted by team owners.” – Frank Graham, Jr. in Farewell to Heroes (1981)
This and the following list of Hall of Fame Members Courtesy of Baseball Almanac.
Baseball Hall of Fame Members who Served in the Armed Forces.
Here’s the 2011 update to our 2010 Major League Baseball listing published November 22, 2010. This comes to us compliments of USA Today. If you’ll click the individual teams, you can access the individual players salaries. It will be interesting to note the annual salaries of the teams that make the playoffs; in other words, did they get what they paid for?
Update: Now available at Amazon as Book and Kindle.
Finally it’s here! My book’s been in the works since February and it’s being published today. It’s available for sale here first, and will be available on Amazon.com early next week and in Kindle form soon thereafter.
The book’s a compilation of some of my favorite blogs, some in expanded form, with a few little ditties added in and formatted in such a way you’ll hardly recognize it! I have to admit ~ writing a book is a great experience, but it’s much easier writing a blog!
Let me know what you think but please be kind. This is my debut you know ♥ Ronni
Okay, so we’re maybe 25% through the 2011 Major League Baseball Season. How is your team doing? How is your team doing in relation to their total payroll? In other words, are they getting what they paid for?
Here’s an interesting article published by Hayes & Taylor recently. I’m always amazed at the amount of work some of these guys put into their daily blogs; I mean who has time for this stuff? In any event, this is a great chart and one of the better blogs and I wanted to share it with you.
“The Cleveland Indians are in first place in the AL Central. They have the fifth lowest payroll in all of baseball. Which got me thinking, how do the other teams in the MLB rank in the standings relative to their payroll. It turns out that the Indians aren’t even the best example right now.
The Tampa Bay Rays have the second lowest payroll in the majors. The are currently in first place in the power packed AL East. Ahead of the number one payroll in baseball the Yankees, the number three payroll in Boston and numbers 19 and 24 in Baltimore and Toronto. The Royals, Marlins and A’s are all over .500, and are all in the bottom ten payrolls in the league. Not to mention all are very alive in the playoff races.
If the season ended today, four of the eight playoff teams would come from the bottom eleven in payroll (Rays, Indians, Marlins, Reds). On the other side, only three would be coming from the top eight in payroll (Angels, Phillies and Giants).
What does this all mean? Talent wins in baseball and not always how much you pay for that talent. If money was how you win, the Yankees would win every year, but they don’t. That makes me very happy. I love to see underdogs win. I love the fact that some of the lower payroll teams won’t be trading away all of their talent this season to teams who will pay whatever it takes. Baseball is stronger than ever right now.
Click here to link to a chart that shows where all 30 teams in major league baseball rank in payroll and where they are currently in the standings. Is your team over or under achieving?”
“2010 Baseball Players Mathematical Study, written by Don Davis, Department of Mathematics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA., and printed here with his permission.”
(GFBB Note: I found this information fascinating and posted the 2009 study last August. This is the 2010 updated version with a few variations. You can view the entire study here: http://www.lehigh.edu/~dmd1/baseball.html It explains the criteria used and the history behind the study as well as a wealth of other information related to it. You can contact Dr. Davis directly for more information regarding the list@ dmd1@lehigh.edu )
I came upon an interesting study a few months ago. It was written by Don Davis, Mathematics Professor at Lehigh University, Bethleham, PA. There’s a lot of criteria used in determining different aspects of this study, but for the most part the players names are all recognizable and only a few to make the list are surprises. The following table lists the top five All Star Teams, using 4 pitchers per team. It also lists the overall rating percentage by player. Take a look:
Pos’n
First team
Second team
Third team
Fourth team
Fifth team
P1
Roger Clemens, 266.2
Tom Seaver, 166.9
Bob Gibson, 129.2
Jim Palmer, 106.4
Johan Santana, 85.4
P2
Greg Maddux, 203.9
Warren Spahn, 160.5
Robin Roberts, 128.3
Gaylord Perry, 96.1
Tom Glavine, 84.8
P3
Randy Johnson, 202.4
Bob Feller, 143.7
Sandy Koufax, 126.0
Phil Niekro, 96.1
Curt Schilling, 80.7
P4
Pedro Martinez, 185.7
Steve Carlton, 140.7
Juan Marichal, 109.5
Fergie Jenkins, 91.7
Bob Lemon, 79.9
C
Johnny Bench, 115.5
Yogi Berra, 97.2
Mike Piazza, 82.2
Ivan Rodriguez, 77.7
Gary Carter, 75.5
1B
Albert Pujols, 145.4
Jeff Bagwell, 103.2
Eddie Murray, 95.2
Willie McCovey, 92.1
Harmon Killebrew, 86.4
2B
Joe Morgan, 140.3
Rod Carew, 94.5
Ryne Sandberg, 92.4
Jackie Robinson, 82.4
Roberto Alomar, 81.1
3B
Mike Schmidt, 173.2
George Brett, 119.2
Eddie Mathews, 111.7
Wade Boggs, 108.0
Brooks Robinson, 88.4
SS
Alex Rodriguez, 145.4
Cal Ripken, 113.6
Robin Yount, 93.0
Ernie Banks, 90.7
Derek Jeter, 81.6
OF1
Barry Bonds, 270.7
Stan Musial, 205.2
Frank Robinson, 145.3
Ken Griffey, 114.2
Tony Gwynn, 100.3
OF2
Willie Mays, 226.8
Mickey Mantle, 198.3
Rickey Henderson, 141.5
Al Kaline, 110.1
Pete Rose, 99.7
OF3
Ted Williams, 213.4
Hank Aaron, 195.6
Carl Yazstremski, 127.5
Reggie Jackson, 108.9
Roberto Clemente, 99.3
DH
Frank Thomas, 115.0
Edgar Martinez, 64.4
Paul Molitor, 62.4
David Ortiz, 43.4
Are you kidding me? Can you even begin to imagine a game with all of these guys on the same team? What was particularly interesting to me is that mathematically Roger Clemens is the highest rated pitcher and Barry Bonds is the highest rated batter. These ratings are through the 2009 season, and personalities and private lives are not taken into account. This is just using good old fashioned baseball statistics.
I found the study intriguing and spent a lot of time viewing the criteria used in coming up with the lists. Rather than go into all the particulars here, you can view the study yourself @ Lehigh University http://www.lehigh.edu/~dmd1/baseball.html
This information is being used with the permission of Professor Davis.
"I was the worst hitter ever. I never even broke a bat until last year when I was backing out of the garage." Lefty Gomez, Yankees pitcher.
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. ~George F. Will.
"Does Pete Rose hustle? Before the All Star game he came into the clubhouse and took off his shoes and they ran another mile without him." Hank Aaron.
More Baseball Quotes!
“You see, you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball, and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time.” - Jim Bouton
"I was such a dangerous hitter I even got intentional walks during batting practice." - Casey Stengel
"This isn't a job. This is a privilege, that's what this is!" - Mike Krukow, TV Commentator, on being at the ballpark each day.
"I've found that the knowledge of the game is usually in inverse proportion to the price of the seats." -Bill Veeck, Chicago White Sox owner.
"Derek Jeter's accomplishment puts Pete Rose's hits record in perspective. 3,000 hits is phenomenal. 4,000? Freakish!" - Anthony Castrovince via Twitter
"The best possible thing in baseball is winning the World Series. The second best thing is losing the World Series." - Tommy Lasorda
"You teach me baseball and I’ll teach you relativity.... You will learn about relativity faster than I learn baseball." - Albert Einstein
"Baseball is a game of race, creed, and color. The race is to first base. The creed is the rules of the game. The color? Well, the home team wears white uniforms, and the visiting team wears gray."
Joe Garagiola
GARLICFRIESANDBASEBALL is written by a long-time fan who simply loves the game. I write my own articles (hence the grammar and occasional misspellings). If I include an article from another source, credit is given to that source and will include links when appropriate. The opinions are my own.
Update: Now available at Amazon as Book and Kindle.
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