The Baseball Digest Archive 9/85

September 1985

Even though Lee Smith was on the cover of this month’s issue, not only was there no article in the issue which actually featured him, he only appears peripherally in the magazine this month. There is an article which bemoans the vanishing complete game, and one of the underlying causes is the increasing prominence of the star relief pitcher. Smith’s name doesn’t come up until the third paragraph from the end. I don’t need to tell you that the decrease in starting pitcher’s workloads is an evergreen argument. The accompanying chart illustrates how dramatic the drop was as of 1985. How about 2024? The entire league TOTALED 28 complete games. Yowsa.

What was the unique home run record that Dave Kingman was on the trail of? In the summer of ‘85, he was on pace to hit 40 home runs, which would have made him to first to reach that mark in each league. He didn’t keep up the pace, finishing with 30.

The Cardinals won the NL pennant in 1985, and second baseman Tom Herr was one of the biggest reasons why. He had an extremely unusual season; he generally hit third in the order and with Vince Coleman and Willie McGee hitting ahead of him Herr had plenty of RBI opportunities. He did in fact drive in 110 runs, which helped him finish in 5th place in the MVP vote. He drove in all of those runs despite hitting only 8 home runs. Looking at his stat line through the prism of 2025, placing a guy in the middle of the lineup with such a miniscule number of home runs sounds as implausible as a starting pitcher racking up 17 complete games.

There are several types of articles that frequently recurred in Baseball Digest. One of those would be a look at some of the more eccentric relief pitchers. In this instance it was Bill Caudill of the Blue Jays. It described an incident in which he filled his manager’s hotel room bathtub with Jell-O. It did not specify when he pulled that prank or which particular manager was his victim. Baseball Digest editors also loved to publish articles on spitball/scuffball pitchers. This month’s article named names, one of whom was Mike Scott. His (cough) hard slider would prove to be an effective pitch in the 1986 season.

One recurring article that I never got tired of focused on broadcasters, more specifically broadcasting humor, whether intentional jokes or unintentional gaffes. This month’s article was essentially a listicle of the “best of” 3 different men - Lon Simmons from Oakland, Hank Greenwald from San Francisco, and the always reliable Jerry Coleman from San Diego. From Simmons: “The X-rays came back negative? All X-rays are negative.” Greenwald: “Just think, if Houston and Montreal stay on top, it will be the first time the National League playoffs will take place entirely outside the United States.” I’ll let Coleman have the last word: “McCovey swings and misses, and it’s fouled back.”

The Hall Of Fame Cap Project - AL West

The A’s are the only AL West team that is an original franchise, so they have a considerably longer history than their division brethren, ergo they have more Hall of Famers. It’s an odd history, however. They had arguably the 2 greatest non-Yankee dynasties in the sport, but also multiple instances going as far back as the days of Connie Mack in which cash flow necessitated complete fire sales. As a result many of their greatest stars also played for other teams in their peak years, so not all of them are easy calls. But choose I must, so here are my selections.

Houston Astros (3): Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Billy Wagner

Los Angeles Angels (2): Vladimir Guerrero, Nolan Ryan

Vagabond Athletics (13): Home Run Baker, Charles Bender, Mickey Cochrane, Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Rickey Henderson, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Eddie Plank, Al Simmons, Rube Waddell

Seattle Mariners (3): Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Ichiro Suzuki

Texas Rangers (2): Adrian Beltre, Ivan Rodriguez

Differences: Nolan Ryan went with the Rangers. The A’s differences are, take a deep breath: Baker, Bender, Hunter, Plank, and Waddell all have blank caps. Foxx and Grove are both Red Sox. Cochrane is a Tiger. Jackson is a Yankee. The Astros and Mariners both line up with my selections.

Explanations: When Ryan was inducted, cap selection was still player’s choice. I see his rationale for choosing the Rangers, he brought his fame to a whole new level pitching there. But it’s gotta be the Angels. With the Angels he tallied his most wins, innings, strikeouts, lowest ERA, and most WAR points.

As for all of those A’s? Foxx played for them almost twice as long as he did the Sox, including his highest peak years. Grove’s time with each of the two franchises was roughly equal, but the Boston years included his decline phase. If you look at his Baseball Reference page, there is a lot of bold type, and more of it is with the A’s. Cochrane’s choice is puzzling. He was only a Tiger for 4 seasons, and in the last 2 he was only a part-time player.

Most of the blank cap players were from a time in which cap logos on the plaque were not a universal concept. Catfish is a different matter, and his choice makes little sense. I’ll chalk it up to his good nature; he probably didn’t want to offend either fan base. But if you compare his accomplishments it’s a no-brainer. He was a Yankee for 5 seasons, but only a star for the first. He won 2 rings in New York, but he was a back of the rotation starter in those 2 seasons. With the A’s he won 3 rings, a Cy Young, and achieved his greatest individual accomplishment by throwing a perfect game. He’s an A and it’s not even close.

Reggie is a closer call. Let me begin by saying that I recognize the appeal of a Yankees cap. They are the most successful franchise in American sports, not just baseball. If you can cement yourself as part of that legacy, of course you would. But I am being dispassionate here. Jackson played for Oakland twice as long as did New York, and like Hunter, he won more rings in Oakland as well as an MVP award. BUT… the signature moment of his career was the 3 homers he hit in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. When you picture Jackson in your mind, chances are very good that you are visualizing him in pinstripes. Still, as historically significant as his time in New York was, I don’t think it outweighs his Oakland tenure. It should be an A’s cap on his plaque. (Side note, there will be similar debate when Freddie Freeman’s induction happens. He is absolutely a Brave, but his walkoff grand slam from last year’s World Series will be the first clip in any Freeman highlight package. He’ll almost certainly have a blank cap on his future plaque.)

Fear not, Yankee fans. You may have lost Reggie Jackson, but next week I will wrap things up with the AL East. The Yankees have the most Hall of Fame players, but how many? Tune in to find out.

The SNL Homecoming Concert

Part 1 of the SNL reunion weekend took place on Friday night with a kickoff concert in Radio City Music Hall. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon (who largely kept the Fallon-isms that irk me to a minimum, so that’s a win) and with The Roots serving as house band, more than 2 dozen musicians stepped on stage to perform a song or two in front of a star laden audience. There was a fierce competition to see who would win the Taylor Swift Award as the A-list celeb most frequently seen having the time of their lives whilst dancing like no one is watching. That honor goes to Pedro Pascal. Jason Momoa was another strong contender, but the camera focused on Pascal more frequently. Besides, let’s be honest. Momoa’s bliss had little to do with the event; he seems like the kind of guy who would have a ball waiting on line at the DMV. Honorable mention goes to Keegan Michael Key.

There were also several comedy bits interspersed throughout the evening, beginning with Bill Murray as Nick the Lounge Singer. As per usual, Paul Shaffer accompanied him on piano, but it wasn’t a classic Nick sketch. There was much more banter between Nick & Paul, and there was no signature Nick medley. Instead, he eventually introduced a trio of backup singers - Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph, and a very pregnant Cecily Strong - and they proceeded to sing a straightforward version of You’re All I Need To Get By.

Gasteyer returned later on with Will Ferrell to revive The Culps. That one did follow the classic format of that bit. They complained about hot mics, admonished the crowd for giving them obscene gestures - after calling out Meryl Streep by name the camera cut to Meryl flipping them the bird - and then finished with a medley of songs one would not expect to hear from such a nerdy couple. Yep, they ended with Not Like Us.

The big comedic highlight of the evening began with Lady Gaga at the piano playing the opening notes to Shallow. As the camera pulled back Andy Sandberg was shown wearing a Bradley Cooper wig and singing along with her, badly. Gaga stopped and Sandberg admitted the song was out of his vocal range. But there is one song he can do… Sandberg and Gaga duetted on Dick In a Box, before Sandberg stood up and went into a full medley of some of the greatest Lonely Island songs, including Chris Parnell joining in for a little Lazy Sunday. With respect to the absent Bill Hader, it had everything. Bad Bunny, T-Pain, Jorma Taccone dressed up as a giant cupcake, Eddie Vedder filling in as Captain Jack Sparrow. It was over the top, and it was wonderful. (Not to worry, Gaga fans. She returned later on as the next to last performance and played Shallow in full then.)

There are only a limited number of clips from the show on YouTube, and sadly the single best performance of the evening is not among them. That would be the collaboration of David Byrne, St. Vincent, and Arcade Fire. (I realize that it’s uncomfortable to praise Arcade Fire in light of the terrible accusations that have been made against Win Butler.) They began by playing Heroes, then, after the Preservation Hall Jazz Band came in there was a spectacular version of Wake Up. Byrne returned to the stage later on. He & Robyn, in matching oversized suits, performed Dancing On My Own and This Must Be the Place.

There were strong performances from a couple of bands who had made memorable appearances in the first 5 seasons. Devo (with Fred Armisen sitting in on drums) performed. Rather than recreating their famous Satisfaction performance from back in the day, or going with the easy choice of Whip It, they instead played my personal favorite Devo tune, Uncontrollable Urge. Thank you gentlemen.

Armisen also drummed for the B-52’s, and I was once again angered over their lack of a Hall of Fame nomination. They played Love Shack, it was fun & joyous, and was another highlight of the evening. During the “bang bang” bridge Sarah Sherman and Bowen Yang joined in to serve as backup dancers.

I won’t go through every performer, so here are a few quick bullet points. Brandi Carlile blew the roof off the place. I was impressed by the audacity of booking Lauryn Hill - who was joined by Wyclef Jean - knowing her reputation for showing up hours late, but she was on time. Shortly after their thrilling performance at the Fire Aid concert, Nirvana kept their mini reunion going, this time with Post Malone filling in on vocals. And Jack White brought the night to an end with a ferocious performance of Rockin’ In the Free World, easily segueing into Seven Nation Army.

All in all, it was a pleasing appetizer for the big event. I’ll share my thoughts on the official 50th anniversary celebration on Wednesday.

Weekend Wrap Up

It was a very busy sports weekend, so let’s run through what happened, beginning with the announcement of the finalists for induction into the Naismith Hall Of Fame. Last year, there were 14 finalists and a whopping 13 of those went on to be elected. I’m generally a Large Hall guy, but that took things too far. This year there are 17 finalists, here’s hoping that the voters are more judicious this time.

The Hall recently amended eligibility requirements; now a player need only be retired for 3 years. That means several of the names inspire a “wait, didn’t he JUST play?” reaction; it also means this is going to be a star-studded induction class. Among the players I count 5 (pardon the pun) slam dunk, inner circle no doubters - Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard on the men’s side, and Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles, and Maya Moore from the WNBA. Unlike other halls of fame, Naismith does not require that coaches be retired, they need only have coached for 25 years. Hence, the still active Billy Donovan and Mark Few are on the ballot.

As for the less obvious names, former NBA players Marques Johnson and Buck Williams are finalists, as is former WNBA and Olympic star Jennifer Azzi. The 2008 Men’s Olympic Basketball Team (aka the Redeem Team) has been nominated, which means that Melo and Howard could both potentially be inducted twice on the same evening. Longtime coach of the legendary Yugoslavian national team Dusan Ivkovic is on the ballot, as is Miami Heat owner Micky Arison. The ballot is filled out with referee Danny Crawford, Division III coach Jerry Welsh, Molly Bolin from the women’s veterans committee, and Tal Brody, who was instrumental in establishing basketball in Israel. Results will be announced Final Four Weekend.

The finals of Unrivaled’s one on one tournament took place on Friday, and fittingly enough, one of the league’s co-founders, Napheesa Collier, was the inaugural champ. This is easier said than done, but I wonder if it’s worth exploring incorporating that event as part of NBA All-Star Weekend, because the Saturday night sure could have used some added juice. Nothing against Mac McClung, whose display of dunks was quite impressive, but his threepeat says a lot about the lack of star power in the dunk contest. McClung has now won almost as many slam dunk contests as the number of NBA games that he has played. At least the festivities gave us this - the San Antonio duo of Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama were disqualified from the skills competition for cheating. Perfect, no notes.

And the green flag dropped on the 2025 NASCAR season, with William Byron winning his second consecutive Daytona 500 after a lengthy rain delay. Finally, for what it’s worth the team of Shaq’s O.G.s won the NBA All-Star tournament. I didn’t watch, so I can’t comment on the new format. Did any of you? Thoughts?

50 Years Ago - Starsky & Hutch

Starsky & Hutch has left a large enough cultural footprint that it’s somewhat surprising that it only aired for 4 seasons. That was still sufficient to leave a mark. There are 3 elements to the show that were well remembered, although to be fair some of that is partially due to jokes from the Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson. On the other hand, it’s doubtful that the movie could have mined Starsky’s signature bulky button down sweaters for laughs if they weren’t so distinctive in the first place. In addition, Antonio Fargas’s Huggy Bear was one of the great supporting characters of the era. And in a time and in a genre where cool cars were practically a requirement, few stood out quite like their Gran Torino with its distinctive paint job.

For as many detective shows as there were in this time period, almost all of them focused on one hero cop, and the majority of those were simply titled with the surname of the lead character. Starsky & Hutch used that same naming protocol, but it was a rare show which starred a team rather than a solo cop. Despite that difference, it still contained the cliches that every police show had. Car chases galore, a plethora of fistfights, more gunshots fired in any episode than a typical officer would fire in their entire career, and a perpetually angry captain screaming at his detectives for not. following. orders!

S&H was a prime example of a “ones a” show. It’s not quite the same template as a prototypical buddy show; that usually necessitates two characters who start off with a sense of distrust, but these two were clear partners from the get go. Instead, this is the classic study in contrasts. Ones a hothead, ones an even keeled dude. And do not underestimate the importance of Huggy Bear in the show’s recipe. He was the informant whom the detectives would often rely upon; realistically it’s implausible that one man would be so connected that he would have his ear to the ground regarding every single crime that takes place in Southern California, but it’s equally implausible that any pair of detectives, no matter how skilled, would have the time to solve 22 cases in a calendar year.

The show was a bit of a comet; it was a huge success in its first season, but ABC began to bounce the show around the schedule too frequently, causing the ratings to sag. Still, memories of this show have lasted much longer than some of its contemporaries that had scored higher ratings at the time. The lesson as always is that there’s nothing quite like a cool car.

Closing Laughs

That should do for today. Thanks for tuning on, and I will see you again on Wednesday. Bye, bye!