Issue #529
The goal with The Baseball Buffet series is to provide the best daily dose of relevant baseball info in a smart-brevity format (mostly short bullets, getting to the point, with quick analysis/insights.) Think of it like what baseball fans of a certain age would look forward to in their morning newspaper’s sports section each day!
⚾ Welcome! ⚾
Yesterday was another slow offseason news day, but there was one free agent signing worth noting:
Giants sign OF Harrison Bader. According to an article by Maria Guardado at MLB, the Giants are signing OF Harrison Bader to a 2-year contract for $20.5 million. Bader has played nine years in the majors, starting out with the Cardinals for parts of six seasons, and then playing for five other clubs since. Now 31-years old, he is a good defensive CF, and won a Gold Glove Award in 2021. He has a modest combination of power and speed, with a career-high 17 HR last year with the Twins and Phillies, and four seasons with 15+ SB. He hit .277 last year, which was higher than his career .247 average.
The Giants had two likely OF starters already in Jung Hoo Lee and Heliot Ramos, so adding Bader to play CF makes sense. This leaves 2B as a spot that could see some competition during Spring Training, with leading candidates seeming to be Casey Schmitt, Christian Koss, and Tyler Fitzgerald, unless the Giants make another trade or free agent move.
Today’s Trivia Question
One of today's Birthday Boys (see below) is pitcher Julio Teheran, who was born in the country of Colombia. He is one of only two Colombian-born pitchers to start over 200 games in the majors — can you name the other pitcher? (Hint: He is still active, but is currently a free agent.)
Countdown to Spring Training!
Continuing with this fun series… Spring Training games are now just 24 days away, so here are some top players who had uniform #24 for extended periods of time (and the teams they wore it with):
OF Willie Mays - Giants (1951-72), Mets (1972-73)
OF Barry Bonds - Pirates (1986-92)
OF Rickey Henderson - Yankees (1985-89), Athletics (1989-95, 98), and four other clubs
OF Ken Griffey Jr - Mariners (1989-99, 2009-10)
1B/3B Miguel Cabrera - Marlins (2004-07), Tigers (2008-23)
SP Early Wynn - Indians (1949-57), White Sox (1958-62)
1B/3B Tony Pérez - Reds (1964-76, 84-86), Expos (1977-79), Phillies (1983)
OF Dwight Evans - Red Sox (1973-90), Orioles (1991)
OF/DH Manny Ramirez - Indians (1993-2000), Red Sox (2001-08), Rays (2011)
2B Robinson Canó - Yankees (2006-13), Mets (2019-20, 22), Padres (2022)
OF Jim Wynn - Colt .45s/Astros (1964-73) and two other clubs
OF Brian Giles - Pirates (1999-2003), Padres (2003-09)
OF Jeff Heath - Indians (1937-44)
SS Dick Groat - Pirates (1952, 55-62), Cardinals (1963-65), Phillies (1966-67)
3B Travis Fryman - Tigers (1990-97)
1B Tino Martinez - Yankees (1996-2001, 05), Rays (2004)
OF Grady Sizemore - Indians (2004-11) and two other clubs
OF Ben Oglivie - Brewers (1978-86)
C Rick Dempsey - Orioles (1976-86, 92), Indians (1987)
On this day in baseball history…
Here is what stands out to me for this day in baseball history. All quoted descriptions are from baseball-reference.com.
📅 On January 27…
1937: A massive flood hits Cincinnati, including Crosley Field. “In Cincinnati, OH, the worst flood in the city's history inundates Crosley Field, covering home plate with as much as 21 feet of cold water. The lower grandstand is completely covered. Reds pitchers Gene Schott and Lee Grissom row a boat out from the center field wall and the resulting photo appears across the country. Fortunately, with the season two months away, Opening Day will be unaffected.”
1982: The Cubs trade for Ryne Sandberg. “The Chicago Cubs make one of the best trades in franchise history, acquiring infielders Ryne Sandberg and Larry Bowa from the Philadelphia Phillies for shortstop Ivan DeJesús. Bowa and DeJesús will have a few more productive seasons in the major leagues, but Sandberg, after starting out his career at third base, will become one of the best-hitting second basemen of all time. The winner of nine consecutive Gold Glove Awards from 1983 to 1991, in 1984 Sandberg will lead the Cubs to their first appearance in the postseason since 1945.”
🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉
Row 1: Bibb Falk, Bryan Reynolds, Julio Teheran
Row 2: Gavin Floyd, John Lowenstein
Bibb Falk (1899-1989)
12-year major league career, spanning from 1920-1931, with the White Sox and Indians
A high-average hitter, he batted .352 in 1924, and .345 in 1926 with a career-high 108 RBI
Primarily played LF and was sometimes amongst the league leaders in various LF fielding statistics
Overall had a .314/.372/.449 slash line and a 113 OPS+
Bryan Reynolds (1995)
So far has played 7 years in the majors, all as an OF with the Pirates
Two-time All-Star
Hit 24-27 HR each year from 2021-24, but had a down season in 2025 with only 16 HR and a career-low .245 (though he had a career-high 38 doubles)
Overall so far has 138 HR, a .271/.346/.459 slash line, and a 119 OPS+
Julio Teheran (1991)
13-year major league pitching career, spanning from 2011-2024, mostly with the Braves, and then spending 2020-2024 in limited action with four other clubs
Two-time All-Star
Had 10-14 wins five times, and 150+ K in seven consecutive seasons
Overall had a 81-82 record, a 3.85 ERA, and a 105 ERA+
Gavin Floyd (1983)
First-round draft pick (4th overall) in 2001 by the Phillies
13-year major league pitching career, spanning from 2004-2016, mostly with the Phillies and White Sox
Posted a 17-8 record and 3.84 ERA in 2008, then had 10-12 wins in each of the next four seasons
Overall had a 74-76 record, a 4.37 ERA, and a 101 ERA+
John Lowenstein (1947)
16-year major league career, spanning from 1970-1985, mostly with the Indians and Orioles
Mostly played LF and RF, but was versatile and sometimes saw action at 2B, 3B, 1B, CF, DH, and as a pinch-hitter
Only played 120+ games three times, as he was often a platoon player because, as is common for left-handed batters, he could hit RHP fairly well, but really struggled against LHP
Had a career-high 36 SB in 1974 for the Indians, and a career-high 24 HR in 1982 for the Orioles
Overall had 116 HR, 128 SB, a .253/.337/.403 slash line, and a 108 OPS+
Currently active players who were born on January 27 include LAD Hyeseong Kim, SFG Christian Koss, David Villar (free agent), CLE Ángel Martínez, and KCR Tyler Tolbert.
Baseball Quote of the Day
For today’s quotes I went with the theme of knuckleballs:
"You don't catch a knuckleball, you defend against it." - Joe Torre
"You know, catching the knuckleball, it's like trying to catch a fly with a chopstick." - Jason Varitek
"The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling, then go pick it up." - Bob Uecker
"I throw 90 percent knuckleballs. The other 10 percent are prayers." - Charlie Hough
"For a knuckleballer, a pitch count of 150 is not a problem. Unless it's the first inning." - Dave Clark
"Throwing a knuckleball for a strike is like throwing a butterfly with hiccups across the street into your neighbor's mailbox." - Willie Stargell.
"There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball. Unfortunately, neither of them works." - Charlie Lau
"Hitting Niekro's knuckleball is like eating soup with a fork." - Richie Hebner
"Like some cult religion that barely survives, there has always been at least one but rarely more than five or six devotees throwing the knuckleball in the big leagues... Not only can't pitchers control it, hitters can't hit it, catchers can't catch it, coaches can't coach it, and most pitchers can't learn it. The perfect pitch." - Ron Luciano
"Knuckleballers don't keep secrets. It's as if we have a greater mission beyond our own fortunes. And that mission is to pass it on, to keep the pitch alive. Maybe that's because we are so different, and the pitch is do different, but I think it has more to do with the fact that this is a pitch that almost all of us turn to in desperation. It is what enables us to keep pitching stay in the big leagues, when everything else has failed. So we feel gratitude toward the pitch. It becomes way more than just a means to get and out. It becomes a way of life." - R.A. Dickey
Today’s Trivia Answer
Jose Quintana was born in Arjona, Colombia. He is currently a free agent after posting a 3.96 ERA across 131.2 IP for the Brewers in his age-36 season in 2025.
Good Reads
Here I am providing one or more links to baseball articles I’ve enjoyed recently, whether by writers at MLB.com or elsewhere.
10 players who could be 2026 versions of '25's breakout stars, by David Adler at MLB, 1/26/2026
From the Dodgers to the White Sox, these teams have won the winter, by Mark Feinsand at MLB, 1/26/2026
The 13 All-Stars on the Dodgers’ roster, ranked, by Will Leitch at MLB, 1/26/2026
Ranking the top 10 players at every position, starting with keystone, by Brian Murphy at MLB, 1/26/2026
Here are 10 prospects who JUST missed the Top 100 list, by Ben Weinrib at MLB, 1/26/2026
Some Things Are Worth More Than Money, by Joe Posnanski at JoeBlogs, 1/26/2026
See recent issues of The Baseball Buffet for more recent good reads!
How did you like this edition of Now Taking the Field?
Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newsletter/blog? Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports. It is available at Amazon and most other major booksellers.
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