The Baseball Digest Archive 8/78

Dec 30, 2024

August 1978

1978 was peak Jim Rice; it was the year in which he won the AL MVP award, and he led the league in multiple significant offensive categories. Perhaps his most impressive feat that year was topping 400 total bases, the first player to accomplish that since Henry Aaron almost two decades earlier. At the time this issue was put together, both Rice and the Red Sox were off to massive starts. I suppose I don’t need to tell you that the 1978 season did not end in the way that Sawx fans hoped it would. As for Rice, the article in this issue speculated on his chances of breaking both the single season and career home run records. He had a great career, but not quite. He finished the ‘78 season with a personal best total of 46; well short of Roger Maris. And Rice’s career total was 382, only a bit halfway past of Aaron’s mark.

I have mentioned more than once as I have paged through these old issues that many of the same stories are constantly recycled and many of the same arguments continue to be debated to this day. So of course this issue includes yet another article decrying the epidemic of pitching injuries as well as one on the ways in which players bend the rules. Here’s one not seen as frequently; one which claims that the classic managers of days past would not be able to handle the modern player. Gene Mauch flat out stated “A manager like John McGraw wouldn’t last 5 minutes today.” And Leo Durocher alleged that “You can’t be tough anymore.” At the same time, old school my way or the highway disciplinarians weren’t totally extinct; Billy Martin was one of the biggest names in the managerial game. Of course it’s also worth noting that he was fired as Yankees manager during the 1978 season and it was Bob Lemon who manned the team through their spectacular comeback.

I liked this piece, a look back at the rookie class of 1968. The cover from the March 1968 issue included the two men who would in fact go on to win their respective league’s ROY award, Stan Bahnsen & Johnny Bench. Or John Bench, as they called him. The other 2 guys featured - Cisco Carlos and Fred Lasher are guys whom I have zero recollection of. The article also included excerpts from the scouting reports that were written for many prospects who would go on to have long careers. Scouts were not all that impressed with Rollie Fingers or Al Oliver. The Nolan Ryan report was accurate. “Features fastball but needs to control it.” You think?

A couple of features this month focused on defense. One discussed the old standby of how important it is to have a strong defense up the middle. It included a graphic listing what was then considered the top middle defenses in the game. Next, defensive shifting on Jim Rice brought back memories of the Ted Williams shift, accompanied by illustrations of the two shifts.

One of the other noteworthy pieces this month was the feature on Steve Blass. This was only a few years removed from the inexplicable loss of control which prematurely ended his career. It was recent enough that the term Steve Blass Disease was not yet being used. As for the fastest game ever pitched? It was a 1919 game between the Phillies and Giants. No pitch clock necessary for this one, a late September game which was the first game in a doubleheader lasted only 51 minutes. Players on both teams clearly had early dinner reservations.

Finally, Bill Buckner. Because the first image that his name conjures up comes from the 1986 World Series it’s easy to forget how fast of a runner young Buckner was. He once stole 31 bases in a season! By 1978 he was already suffering the effects of the chronic ankle injury that had hobbled him so severely. In this article he was lamenting the constant pain, going so far as to consider retirement if it didn’t improve. As we know, the ankle never improved, but he continued to be a line drive machine. Boston fans would prefer that I not bring up the defensive part of his game.

The Ballot Countdown

Newcomer #3 CC Sabathia - Yes, I rank Felix Hernandez ahead of CC. I’ll explain that further on Wednesday. As for Sabathia, he was one of the great workhorses of his time, as well as someone who has an impressive history of coming through in the clutch. He won the 2007 Cy Young award, one of 5 times that he finished in the top 5 of the vote. He burnished his reputation following a deadline trade to Milwaukee in 2008. He essentially placed the Brewers on his back, pitching them into the playoffs, even though the heavy workload could have placed his health at risk as he was on the verge of free agency.

He signed with the Yankees and was the ace on their staff for what has been their most recent World Series title. He continued to work at ace level for the next several years, until age and innings took their toll. In his final years he was a reliable mid rotation innings eater, and he literally left it out on the field. His final appearance on a major league mound came in the 2019 playoffs. He had already announced his intention to retire; in that playoffs he blew out his shoulder while throwing his last pitch. It must have been devastating to go out like that, but he knew that he gave it his all.

Those last seasons when he was just a guy helped him achieve noteworthy career milestones; more than 250 wins and 3000 strikeouts. Particularly when it comes to pitchers I look at career totals more as extra credit. I prefer to judge a pitcher more by what he was when he was in his peak, and Sabathia’s peak was enough to make him a worthy choice. Another intangible that cannot be ignored is the fact that he seems to have earned an immeasurable amount of respect from his fellow players.

Holdover #3 Billy Wagner - I set a high bar for relievers. For me to consider a closer as a Hall Of Famer, he needs to have been completely dominant for a prolonged stretch with few down seasons. Billy Wagner filled those criteria.

Wagner currently ranks 8th all time in saves, but it’s his rate stats which make him stand out. A career WHIP of 0.998. A K/9 innings rate of 11.92. A strikeout percentage of 33.2%. An ERA+ of 187. A save percentage of 86%. A 2.81 career ERA. Those numbers are not just great, they are historically great. Many of these numbers are at or near the top of the list of pitchers who have thrown at least 900 innings.

There’s the rub. Using 900 innings as the barometer is an intentional cherry pick. It’s the nature of a modern day closer, but 900 is not a lot of innings. He did the job he was asked to do, and he did it better than almost anyone ever did, but is that workload heavy enough? And his playoff record is the elephant in the room. Because of the small sample size in any individual season, it’s probably unfair to hold that against a relief pitcher. One bad outing, and boom, his record looks bad. But Wagner did not just have one bad postseason. His career playoff ERA is over 10, and in his career his teams won a grand total of 1 playoff series. He bears a lot of responsibility for his team’s playoff results.

In short, I would vote for Wagner if I had a vote, and I’m pleased to see that his election this year seems inevitable. But if you make the counter argument that the low innings total and playoff failures are a bridge too far, I can’t argue with that. Those are both good points, but Wags is still a “yes” for me. That regular season dominance wins the day.

Introducing… The Hall Of Fame Cap Project

Like clockwork, the first question following the announcement of the Hall Of Fame voting results is: which cap will Player A wear on his plaque? It’s usually an easy answer - I’ll make the bold prediction that Ichiro Suzuki will have a Mariners cap - but for players who have starred for more than one franchise the decision can be tricky, if not contentious. Look at Andre Dawson’s request to switch his plaque from the Expos to the Cubs. The Hall politely turned him down.

Then there are those who choose to go with a blank cap, rather than make a choice and risk angering one fan base. I don’t like that, I much prefer to see a plaque which clearly connects one player with one team. It should be noted that the decision is entirely in the hands of the Hall itself; they will consult with the player to gauge his preference, but the Hall makes the final call. This prevents indefensible choices - in a Liberty Valance print the legend scenario there are still people who believe that Wade Boggs has been inducted as a Devil Ray. But what if instead, a neutral third party would make the selection, with the stipulation that a blank cap is not an option?

I volunteer as tribute. I’ll spend the next several Mondays assigning a team to each Hall of Fame player, and all decisions are final. The basic question for each man is - for which franchise did he create the most value? In some cases my choice is different from his actual plaque; hopefully there is a benevolent benefactor somewhere willing to splurge on the costs to create a new plaque where applicable.

I’ll tackle a different division each week, with Negro League players and 19th century players treated separately. (Some, but not all, 19th century teams have a direct lineage to existing franchises, so it’s easier to just treat them all as separate entities.) And of course franchises that have moved will cover their complete histories - the Orioles will also include the Browns, the Nationals will include the Expos, etc.

It will come as no surprise that the Yankees are the franchise with the most HOF plaques in this project, but their lead is not as large as you might think. Keep in mind that the Frankie Frisch era of the Veterans Committee led to the inductions of a lot of former Cardinals and Giants whose credentials are a bit shaky. Hopefully this feature will be fun and will lead to some respectful debate. It kicks off next week. I also realize that I’m slightly jumping the gun being that the 2025 voting is currently underway, but I’m fairly confident over who the BBWAA will induct this year. One final note - I am limiting this to players. I suppose that most of the team choices for managers are obvious, but I would rather not judge front office executives. What would that even mean, anyway? Pat Gillick ain’t wearing a cap on his plaque.

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Jimmy Carter

I started writing Tending The Herd in January 2023 & one of the first editions included a pre-obituary for Jimmy Carter after his family announced that he was entering into home hospice care. Amazingly, he held on for almost 2 full years before passing away yesterday at the age of 100.

I’m not sure what I can add that so many have not already said. It’s a cliche to dub him as America’s greatest ex-President. But just because it’s a cliche does not mean that it isn’t true. His humanitarian efforts over the course of his life put the rest of us to shame. He was both a good man and a great man.

One of my huge pet peeves regards religious hypocrisy. People in public life put on a big show, claiming how Christian they are. Few political figures walked the walk and talked the talk as well as Jimmy Carter did. He ran his administration and lived his life exactly the way his deep, genuine faith suggested he should. And yet, the ostentatious wing of the religious right belittled him, inspiring the classic Simpsons joke dubbing Carter as History’s Greatest Monster.

It’s sad that he paid a political price for his decency. He was honest and straightforward to the American people, and you can be sure that later generations of politicians took lessons from the fact that this honesty did not reward him with a second term as President. He was one of the giant figures in American life, and his loss opens up a gap in our nation’s soul. I am not going to claim that he was a great President - his intentions were noble, but as an outsider he was never able to build the necessary relationships with the Washington establishment. But we could use a lot more Jimmy Carters in public service.

The Oscar Mulligan - 2000

Best Picture - Gladiator

Other Nominees - Chocolat, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, Traffic

I was entertained, but I would have never given the Oscar to Gladiator. It was an impressive spectacle, Russell Crowe was terrific, and there was genuine inherent emotion to the story. But I found the famous “I’m terribly vexed” line to be very cringeworthy, and ultimately it’s more of an above average swords and sandals movie than it is a great one. There are at least 3 movies on the nomination list more worthy of the Best Picture prize.

Erin Brockovich was one of the better examples of the Little Guy Fights Against The Mega Corporation trope. Bonus points are also awarded for The Hero Who Is Underestimated By Their Antagonists plot line. It was a classic crowd pleaser, and it still has a strong cultural footprint all these years later, partially due to the fact that the real life Erin Brockovich continues to fight the good fight. Of course, this movie was only one part of what made 2000 the Year Of Soderbergh.

Steven Soderbergh directed 2 of this year’s 5 nominees. Traffic was a multi-layered tale of 3 connected stories involving the war on drugs. This is a format that can feel forced - see Crash as an example - but in this one the pieces fit seamlessly. It didn’t hurt that the cast was magnificent; a perfect mixture of big stars and first rate That Guys. It had the vibe of a film attempting to tell the audience that This Is Important without beating them over the head about it. That is a tricky needle to thread, but Soderbergh succeeded.

But Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the deserving winner. It’s one of those movies which works on multiple levels. It looks beautiful, the story is compelling, the characters are well-drawn, and it had a real sense of We Haven’t Seen Anything Like This Before. Many Americans were unfamiliar with wuxia films, so this was an eye opening experience for a large chunk of the audience. Crouching Tiger came out a year after The Matrix, so American moviegoers had already seen wire-based stunt work, but this movie took things to the next level. The treetop sword fight was stunning.

It was not only action packed, but it was romantic as well. And the stunt work has been highly influential. That, more than anything, is the chief factor which makes this the movie of 2000. Either of the Soderbergh movies would be a reasonable choice in most years, but Crouching Tiger was such a unique experience that it deserves the recognition.

Tending The Herd

The Baseball Digest Archive 8/78

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