The Baseball Buffet for 10/15/2025

Issue #424

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! ⚾

The 202nd day of the season featured game two of the NLCS:

• LAD 5, MIL 1 - Jackson Chourio led off the bottom of the first with a HR, but then Yoshinobu Yamamoto went on to pitch a 3-hit complete game. The Dodgers meanwhile took the lead early, with Teoscar Hernández hitting a solo HR in the second inning, and Andy Pages hitting a double that drove in Kiké Hernández. Max Muncy hit a solo HR in the sixth, and LA added another run in both the seventh and eighth. The Dodgers now have a 2-0 lead in the series, which will shift to Los Angeles for game three on Thursday.

Active Leaders

Here are the active career leaders in saves, the six guys with 200 or more:

• 476 - Kenley Jansen

• 440 - Craig Kimbrel

• 367 - Aroldis Chapman

• 253 - Edwin Díaz

• 253 - Raisel Iglesias

• 227 - Josh Hader

Jansen ranks fourth overall all-time, behind only Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, and Lee Smith—and he is only two behind Smith at 478. There are 55 all-time guys with 200+ saves, including the six above.

Today’s Trivia Question

Sticking with the relief pitcher theme for today, earning 40 saves in a season as a closer today is solid, but we expect a few guys to do it each year. This year Carlos Estévez led with 42 and Robert Suarez having 40. In 2011 there were eight relievers with 40+ saves, and in both 2004 and 2002 there were ten guys with 40+ saves. But who was the first pitcher to record 40 or more saves in a season, besting the previous record of 38?

On this day in baseball history…

Here is what stands out to me for this day in baseball history. Unless otherwise noted, the descriptions are from baseball-reference.com.

📅 On October 15…

• 1917: A defensive lapse is a tough way to lose a World Series. “The Chicago White Sox capture the World Series when the New York Giants leave home plate uncovered, allowing Eddie Collins to score the winning run in a play that will become known as the "Zimmerman Chase", after hapless Giants 3B Heinie Zimmerman who is unable to tag Collins before he touches the plate.”

• 1923: The New York Yankees win their first World Series championship. “The New York Yankees score five runs in the 8th inning to post a comeback victory in the sixth and final game of the World Series. Babe Ruth hits a 1st-inning home run in the Yankees' 6-4 victory over the rival New York Giants.”

• 1946: Enos Slaughter runs the bases to win the World Series for St. Louis. “In Game 7 of the World Series, Enos Slaughter scores all the way from first base on Harry Walker's double in the 8th inning, to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-3 victory and the World Championship over the Boston Red Sox. The play surprises everyone, including cut-off man shortstop Johnny Pesky who, as legend has it, hesitates throwing the ball home.”

• 1970: Brooks Robinson wins World Series MVP with his all-around play. “For the third time, the Baltimore Orioles overcome a 3-0 deficit to bury the Cincinnati Reds, 9-3, and win the World Series in five games. Brooks Robinson easily wins the World Series MVP Award for his hitting and unbelievable fielding.”

• 1975: Luis Tiant throws a lot of pitches for the win. “Boston Red Sox Luis Tiant throws 163 pitches in winning his second game of the World Series against Cincinnati, 5 - 4, to even the Series after four games.”

• 1988: A gimpy Kirk Gibson hits a famous HR off Dennis Eckersley. “With two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning, Kirk Gibson hits a two-run, pinch-home run off Dennis Eckersley to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics in Game 1 of the World Series. In his only plate appearance in the Series, Gibson, who did not start because of a strained left knee, limps around the bases as the Dodgers win one of the most dramatic games in Series history. Following the 2010 season, a panel of experts at the MLB Network will vote this game the tenth greatest game of the past fifty years.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Jim Palmer (1945)

• Hall of Famer

• 19-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1965-1984, all with the Baltimore Orioles

• Won three AL Cy Young Awards, in 1973, 1975 and 1976

• Six-time All-Star, though interestingly was not selected as an All-Star in two of his three CYA years

• Won 20+ games in eight seasons, and led the AL in wins three years in a row from 1975-1977

• Led the AL with a 2.40 ERA in 1973 and a 2.09 ERA in 1975

• A good fielding pitcher, he won four Gold Glove Awards

• Generally did well in the postseason, with an 8-3 record, and a 2.61 ERA across 124.1 innings. This included a shutout win in the 1966 World Series about a week before his 21st birthday.

• Overall in the regular season had a 268-152 (.638) record, a 2.86 ERA, and a 125 ERA+

Mel Harder (1909)

• 20-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1928-1947, entirely with the Cleveland Indians

• Four-time All-Star

• Eight seasons with 15+ wins, including 20+ wins twice

• Led the AL with a 2.95 ERA in 1933

• Overall had a 223-186 (.545) record, a 3.80 ERA, and a 113 ERA+

Teoscar Hernández (1992)

• So far has had a 10-year major league career, including parts of six years with the Blue Jays, and the past two seasons with the Dodgers

• Has hit 20+ HR seven times, with highs in his two All-Star seasons with 32 HR and 116 RBI in 2021 and 33 HR and 99 RBI in 2024

• Strikes out a lot, with 150+ strikeouts five times, including a high of 211 in 2023

• Primarily a RF/LF, overall so far has had 217 HR, a .261/.316/.484 slash line, and a 119 OPS+

In addition to Teoscar Hernández, other currently active players who were born on October 15 include DET Jack Flaherty, AZ Brandon Pfaadt, NYM Huascar Brazobán, and CHW Yoendrys Gómez.

Today’s Matchups

Today we have game three of the ALCS (pitching stats are from the regular season):

• TOR vs. SEA at 8:08pm ET - With Seattle leading this series 2-0, they will go with George Kirby (4.21 ERA, 137 K in 126 IP) for game three. The Blue Jays will counter with veteran Shane Bieber (3.57 ERA, 37 K in 40.1 IP).

⚾ Enjoy the games today! ⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

Dan Quisenberry of the Royals in 1983 set a new record with 45 saves, topping John Hiller of the Tigers’ previous record of 38 saves set in 1973.

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.

• 9 wild facts about Yamamoto's unbelievable outing, by Sarah Langs at MLB, 10/15/2025

• Something You've Never Seen Before, by Joe Posnanski at JoeBlogs, 10/14/2025

• What’s Next for the Phlattened Phillies?, by Russ Walsh at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 10/15/2025

• Only once have three catchers hit 30 home runs in same season, by Mark Kolier at Almost Cooperstown, 10/15/2025

See recent issues of The Baseball Buffet for more recent good reads!

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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