DN&N Congratulates…

…Trevor Hoffman on recording the 479^th save of his major league career to surpass Lee Smith for first place on the all-time major league saves list.  No matter what some might think of Hoffman, Smith or even Goose Gossage, DN&N fully believes all three are much more than “great but not outstanding” closers and that all three belong in baseball’s most hallowed museum.  The trio have all had a hand in shaping the way the game is now played and among those who have ever closed a major league game – no matter how their role was defined – Hoffman, Smith and Gossage are among the best to have ever played.  DN&N remembers a time back in 1993 when Hoffman drew our ire by breaking Robby Thompson face with a fastball in the heat of the pennant race and possibly costing the Giants the NL West title.  It took some time, but a deep rooted respect for him – even as a longtime division rival – long since erased that anger and as he reaches this historic milestone, we salute a very worthy pitcher and his remarkable achievement.  Congratulations Trevor.  You deserve it.

…Barry Bonds, who this weekend in Milwaukee tied and passed Hank Aaron for first place on the all-time National League home run list.  With home runs on Friday and Saturday against the Brewers, Bonds tied and passed the Hammer in the city where Aaron played a large part of his career.  The all-time home run king hit 420 of his 755 career home runs in a Milwaukee uniform (390 with the Braves, 22 with the Brewers) and the fans who embraced the Hammer as their own gave Bonds a chilly reception after his accomplishment.  With his blast on Saturday against Chris Capuano, the 434^th pitcher to allow a home run to the future Hall of Famer, Bonds became the third Giants player ever to lead the National League in career home runs (Ott – 511 and Mays – 660). It was the first time since August 6, 1972 that the NL home run title had changed hands.  Aaron hit two home runs on that day, including a tenth inning game winner off of Don Gullet and the Cincinnati Reds to pass Willie Mays for first all-time in the NL.  Bonds, of course, now needs just 22 more home runs – the same amount Aaron hit in two seasons as a DH with the Brewers – to pass the Hammer for first on the all-time list.

…Ken Griffey, who in dramatic pinch-hit style tied Reggie Jackson for tenth place on the all-time home run list with a three-run, game winning shot against the Cubs on Monday.  With the Cubs’ season long over and the Reds playoff hopes quickly fading away – and in a game with only 16,000+ in attendance – Junior gave his team another day of hope by clubbing the historic shot off of Scott Eyre in the eighth inning to give the Reds a thrilling 5-4 come-from-behind win over Chicago.  It was Griffey’s first at bat since he dislocated his toe scaling the wall trying to rob Bonds of home run number 730 on September 4th.  Cincinnati trails both Philadelphia and Los Angeles in the Wild Card by 5 games with 6 to play.  They trail the Cardinals by 3.5.

…Carl Crawford, whose 15^th triple of the season on Sunday made him the first player since 1930 to hit 15 or more in three consecutive seasons.  Three Hall of Famers did it that year led by Paul Waner (5 straight – 1926-30), Earle Combs (4 straight – 1927-30), and Charlie Gehringer (3 straight – 1928-30).  His total of 48 triples though Monday are the third most in any three year span since 1935 behind those of Garry Templeton (50 from ’77-79) and Stan “the Man” Musial (51 from ’46-48).  He trails Jose Reyes (17) for the major league lead.

…Moises Alou, who on Friday hit two home runs to give him 317 in his career and move him into the top 100 on the all-time list.  With another on Saturday, he is now tied with Roy Sievers for 97^th on the all-time list, one behind Prince Fielder.  Then on Sunday, Alou collected the 2,000^th hit of his big league career. 

…The Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins, who both clinched playoff berths and in doing so eliminated the defending World Champion White Sox from post-season contention.  The Tigers clinched a spot on Sunday with an 11-4 win over the Royals while the Twins sealed their reservation with their 8-1 win over K.C. on Monday combined with the Sox 14-1 drubbing at the hands of the record tying Indians who tied the 2000 Oakland A’s with their 14^th grand slam on the year in the win.  Still to be decided is the Central division title with just a single game separating the two teams with six left to play.  The Royals – who have now lost 7 in a row and need to win 5 of their final 6 games to avoid losing 100 – could play a large role in deciding the outcome.  The Twins play three more against K.C. before finishing up with three against the defending champs, while Detroit will take on the Blue Jays for three before rounding out the regular season of play against the Royals.  Both clubs will play all of their remaining games at home.

The (Playoff) Chase is Wild

While the chase for the Wild Card may be over in the American League (and the fight for the Central division crown underway), three National League teams are still vehemently battling for two playoff spots.  More intriguing than the battles going on in the NL Wild Card and NL Western division races, however, is the potential collapse being witnessed in the NL Central.  The Cardinals lead over the Astros has shrunk from 8.5 games to just 2.5 in a span of six days.  Houston’s four game sweep of the Cards over the weekend – inspired perhaps by the ever motivational Rocket who took the ball on three days rest in the finale – thrust the Astros right back into the playoff chase with just six games left to play.  What makes this possible disintegration all the more intriguing is that both the Cards’ 6-game losing streak and the Astros concurrent 6-game winning streak began 1 day shy of being 42 years to the day (did I say 32 years last Friday?) since the 1964 Phillies lost the first of their final ten straight games of the season on September 21 of that year in an historic collapse that cost them a 6.5 game lead and the NL pennant.    

The Cardinals lost on Monday 6-5 to San Diego despite getting a game tying 3-run pinch-hit home run in the fourth from Jim Edmonds in his first at bat since August 26.  The win upped the Padres’ lead in the NL West to 2 full games over the idle Dodgers.  Los Angeles, however, pulled even with Philadelphia in the chase for the Wild Card after Houston beat the Phillies 5-4 in a come-from-behind win. The game was a make up of a September 5 rainout. 

Back in the American League, the A’s had a chance on Monday to wrap up the division title for the third straight day but the Angels’ 8-3 win over Texas combined with the Mariners improbable come-from-behind win over Oakland to keep the Athletics’ magic number at two and the champagne on ice for another day.  The A’s had beaten the Mariners 15 straight times before Seattle got three runs in the bottom of the ninth off Oakland closer Huston Street (his 10^th blown save of the season) to tie it and another in the tenth off of Kiko Colero to win it 10-9.  Richie Sexson (4), Raul Ibanez (4) and Ichiro (5) combined for 13 of the M’s 21 hits in the win and Suzuki now has 217 for the season, the third highest total of his 6-year major league career.

AL Central

Detroit – 94-62 –

Minnesota        – 93-63 1.0

AL West

Oakland           – 90-66 –

Los Angeles     – 85-71 5.0

NL Central

St. Louis           – 80-75 –

Houston           – 78-78 2.5

Cincinnati         – 77-79 3.5

NL West

San Diego        – 84-72 –

Los Angeles     – 82-74 2.0

Wild Card

Los Angeles     – 82-74 –

Philadelphia      – 82-74 –

Free Swinger Update Pt I – After drawing 6 walks in the first couple of weeks of September, Jeff Francoeur failed to draw a walk in 25 plate appearances last week to put him back ahead of Larry Bowa and on pace to record the third greatest free swinging season of all-time.  His rate of 31.52 BB/PA would rank just below Alfonso Soriano’s 2002 mark of 32.22 as the third highest such mark of any hitter in history with at least 700 plate appearances.  Only one problem; despite not missing a game all season, Francoeur, with only six games remaining, now appears unlikely to get the 38 plate appearances he still needs to make the list.  Among all hitters with at least 600 plate appearances, Francoeur’s mark wouldn’t even crack the top 10 all-time (he’d be 11^th).  Nevertheless, we’re “impressed” by the season he’s had.  By reaching at least 675 plate appearances, our favorite free swinger could record the sixth lowest rate in history and in addition, his current .290 on-base percentage would tie him for the 12^th lowest mark in the history of this great game with at least that many trips to the plate.

Free Swinger Update Pt II – The League Leaders (Qualified hitters)

They won’t get the kind of PA they’ll need to reach the status that Francoeur is ascending to but Juan Uribe, Ronny Cedeno and Yuniesky Betancourt all have drawn walks more infrequently than our boy Francoeur.  Here’s an update on the top 5 in each league among all hitters who qualify for the league lead.  Note newcomer Jay Payton on the AL list.

AL – Fewest BB/PA                                                            NL – Fewest BB/PA

1. Juan Uribe – 37.69 (13 BB/490 PA)                                1. Ronny Cedeno – 34.19 (16 BB/547 PA)

2. Yuniesky Betancourt – 33.24 (17/565)                          2. Jeff Francoeur – 31.52 (21/662)

3. Jay Payton – 28.10 (20/562)                                            3. Shea Hillenbrand – 26.38 (21/554)

4. Kenji Johjima – 26.20 (20/524)                                        4. Paul LoDuca – 25.19 (21/529)

5. A.J. Pierzynski – 25.57 (21/537)                                      5. Clint Barmes – 24.76 (21/520)

Free Swinger Update Pt III – The League Leaders (Minimum 150 PA)

Perhaps the most notable name on this list is the name that’s not on it.  Among all hitters with at least 150 PA, Robb Quinlan has been on this list all season long but he more than doubled his season walk total to 7 by drawing one in his last four consecutive games.  His rate is down to a pedestrian one walk every 33.29 plate appearances.  On the other hand, you have to be “impressed” by Miguel Olivo’s rate of 1 walk every 55.50 PA with nearly 450 times to the dish.

AL – Fewest BB/PA                                                            NL Fewest BB/PA

1. Vance Wilson – 82.50 (2 BB/165 PA)                            1. Miguel Olivo – 55.50 (8 BB/444 PA)

2. Tomas Perez – 49.20 (5/246)                                           2. Luis Gonzalez (Col) – 39.50 (4/158)

3. Shane Costa – 48.40 (5/242)                                           3. Ronny Cedeno – 34.19 (16/547)

4. Mike Redmond – 44.25 (4/177)                                       4. Johnny Estrada – 33.62 (13/437)

5. Neifi Perez – 38.88 (8/311)                                               5. Eliezer Alfonzo – 32.11 (9/289)

Free Swinger Update Pt IV – The Intentionally Walked

And of course adjusting for intentional base on balls Eliezer Alfonzo, when you subtract all 7 of his IBB, is now drawing a non-intentional walk once every 144.50 PA out of a total of nearly 300 times to the plate to far surpass anyone else on this list.  He has become so difficult to walk in fact that his strike zone is now thought to encompass parts of the East Bay where the Oakland A’s play and the South Bay where the San Jose Sharks hockey team resides.

AL – Adjusted BB/PA                                                        NL – Adjusted BB/PA

1. Vance Wilson – 82.50 (2 BB/0 IBB/ 165 PA)                1. Eliezer Alfonzo – 144.50 (9 BB/7 IBB/289 PA)

2. Shane Costa – 60.50 (5/1/242)                                        2. Miguel Olivo – 88.80 (8/3/444)

3. Neifi Perez – 51.83 (8/2/311)                                            3. Johnny Estrada – 72.83 (13/7/437)

4. Tomas Perez – 49.20 (5/0/246)                                        4. Toby Hall – 48.17 (10/4/289)

5. Mike Redmond – 44.25 (4/0/177)                   5. Jeff Francoeur – 44.13 (21/6/662)

Free Swinger Update Pt V – The Champ?

Laynce Nix was placed on the disabled list this past week by Milwaukee, ending his season with 67 plate appearances without a walk.  Meanwhile, Anderson Hernandez finally drew a walk in his 54^th PA of the season last Tuesday.  Will Nix win the title for the most PA without a walk?  Well, look out for Kevin Witt who is coming on quick.  He now has 53 PA without a walk after failing to draw one in four times at bat on Monday.  Can he overtake Nix for the title?  We’ll have to wait and see.

Among all non-pitchers with at least 25 plate appearances and no walks:

1. Laynce Nix – 67

2. Kevin Witt – 53

3. Chris Roberson – 41

4. Dewayne Wise – 34

5. Erick Aybar – 31

6. Ed Rogers - 26

7. Greg Dobbs – 26