The Baseball Buffet for 10/26/2025

Issue #436

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 214th day of the season featured game two of the 2025 World Series:

• LAD 5, TOR 1 - Looking to even up the series before heading home to LA, the Dodgers scored in the first inning after Freddie Freeman hit a two-out double and Will Smith singled to drive him in. Toronto evened the score in the third when Alejandro Kirk hit a sacrifice fly to drive in George Springer.
  
  The game was knotted at 1-1 until the Dodgers broke out in the seventh inning with solo homers from Smith and Max Muncy, forcing Kevin Gausman (6.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K) out of the game. Los Angeles scored two more in the eighth off Louis Varland and Jeff Hoffman, while their starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto was outstanding, pitching his second consecutive complete game (9 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K).

Reader Survey

As the 2025 season winds down, I am conducting a reader survey! I am interested in feedback so I can plan for both the offseason and for the 2026 season too. After mentioning this in the past seven days’ newsletters I’ve already gotten over 550 responses, which is outstanding — thanks everyone! If you’ve not participated yet, I’d love to hear from you… it only takes two minutes, so thanks in advance for your feedback!

Today’s Trivia Question

Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s complete game win yesterday was his second consecutive complete game during this postseason, as he also went the distance in his last start on Oct 14th in game two of the NLCS against the Brewers (that game was also won by a score of 5-1).

Who is the only other Dodgers’ hurler to throw consecutive complete games in a postseason?

Trivia answers are at the bottom of each newsletter.

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 26…

• 1934: The Red Sox acquire future Hall of Fame SS Joe Cronin. “The Boston Red Sox acquire shortstop Joe Cronin from the Washington Senators for his counterpart Lyn Lary and an estimated $250,000. Senators owner Clark Griffith needs the money to keep his franchise afloat during the Great Depression and is willing to see his best player leave in order to do so. Cronin will hit .295 with 95 RBI in 1935, the first of his 11 seasons as a Boston player.”

• 1982: Steve Carlton becomes the first pitcher to win a fourth Cy Young Award. “Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies becomes the first pitcher to win four Cy Young Awards, taking National League honors. The 37-year-old lefthander, who led the National League in wins (23), innings pitched (295 2/3), strikeouts (286) and shutouts (6), was a previous winner in 1972, 1977 and 1980.”

• 1997: The Marlins win the World Series in only their fifth season. “Edgar Renteria ends one of the most thrilling Game 7 in World Series history, singling with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Florida Marlins their first World championship with a 3-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians. The five-year-old Marlins become the youngest expansion team to win the Fall Classic. Pitcher Livan Hernandez wins the Series MVP award. Following the 2010 season, a panel of experts at the MLB Network will vote this game the 13th greatest game of the past fifty years.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Kid Gleason (1865)

• 22-year major league career, spanning from 1888-1907, plus brief appearances in 1908 and 1912. Played mostly for the Phillies and Giants, with some time with four other clubs

• From 1888-1894 he was primarily a pitcher, throwing between 380-506 innings in four consecutive seasons, with an impressive 38-17 record and 2.63 ERA in 1890

• In 1894 he was purchased by the Baltimore Orioles from the St. Louis Browns, and both pitched well and hit well with a .349 average the rest of the season

• He had always been an above average hitter for a pitcher, sometimes playing 2B, SS, or in the outfield when not on the mound. Starting in 1895 he switched to playing primarily 2B, and hit between .299-.319 for the next three years

• He had some speed, with 20+ SB six times, including 46 SB in 1896 and 44 SB in 1897. That year he also managed to have 106 RBI even though he only had 1 HR

• Overall had a 138-131 pitching record, 3.79 ERA, and 104 ERA+, with 329 SB, 1,022 runs, and a .261 average as a batter

• He later went on to manage the Chicago White Sox, starting in 1919 the year of the infamous Black Sox Scandal, though by all accounts he was not involved and so continued on as manager through 1923

Steve Rogers (1949)

• First-round draft pick (4th overall) by the Montreal Expos in 1971

• 13-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1973-1985, all with the Expos

• Came in second in the NL Rookie of the Year vote in 1973 after posting a 10-5 record and 1.54 ERA in 17 starts and 134 innings

• Five-time All-Star

• Had a 2.47 ERA in 1978 and then led the NL with a 2.40 ERA in 1982 when he also had a 19-8 record and came in second in the NL Cy Young Award vote

• Pitched well in the 1981 postseason, with a 0.98 ERA over 27.2 innings

• Overall had a 158-152 record, a 3.17 ERA, and a 116 ERA+

Toby Harrah (1948)

• 17-year major league career, spanning from 1969-1986, mostly with the Rangers and Indians

• Played SS early in his career, then switched to primarily 3B, and then ultimately 2B his final two seasons

• Four-time All-Star

• Had both power and speed, with 20+ HR five times, and 15+ SB nine times

• Also had a good eye at the plate, leading the AL with 109 walks in 1977, and then having a career-high 113 walks in his second to last campaign in 1985

• Overall had 195 HR, 238 SB, 1,115 runs, a .264/.365/.395 slash line, and a 114 OPS+

Mike Hargrove (1949)

• 12-year major league career as a 1B, spanning from 1974-1985, mostly with the Rangers and Indians (often sharing the infield with Harrah on both teams)

• AL Rookie of the Year in 1974 after hitting .323 with a .395 OBP in 131 games, and was an All-Star the following season when he hit .303 with 11 HR and 82 runs

• Modest power with a high of 18 HR in 1977

• Drew a lot of walks, including leading the AL with 97 in 1976 and 107 in 1978

• As described at Wikipedia, he was given the nickname "The Human Rain Delay" for his extended routine at the plate before each at-bat and before each pitch, which involved adjusting his helmet, adjusting his batting glove, pulling each sleeve on his uniform, and wiping each hand on his uniform pants.

• Overall had a .290/.396/.391 slash line and a 121 OPS+

• Was later a long-time major league manager, including 1991-1999 with the Indians, 2000-2003 with the Orioles, and 2005-2007 for the Mariners. This included two AL pennants with the Indians, and 1,188 career wins.

Francisco Liriano (1983)

• 14-year major league pitching career, spanning from 2005-2019, mostly with the Twins and Pirates, but with brief stints on four other clubs

• Was an All-Star as a rookie in 2006 and came in third in the AL Rookie of the Year vote after going 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA, and 144 K in 121 IP

• He had Tommy John surgery and missed the 2007 season

• Threw a no-hitter for the Twins on May 3, 2011 against the White Sox

• Had a solid season in his first year with the Pirates in 2013, going 16-8 with a 3.02 ERA, and then posted a career-high 205 strikeouts in 2015

• Overall had a 112-114 record, a 4.15 ERA, and 99 ERA+, with 1,815 K in 1,813.2 IP

Snuffy Stirnweiss

• 10-year major league career, spanning from 1943-1952, mostly with the Yankees

• After several years in the minors, was given a chance to play every day in the majors due to depleted rosters as many stars were serving in the military for World War II

• Did well with the opportunity, leading the AL in 1944 with 125 runs, 205 hits, 16 triples, and 55 SB, while batting .319

• In 1945 he had similar numbers, leading the AL with a .309 average, 33 SB, 22 triples, 195 hits, and 107 runs

• But as players returned from the military, his numbers declined from 1946-1948, and after that his playing time diminished as well

• Overall had 134 SB, a .268/.362/.371 slash line, and a 103 OPS+

• According to Wikipedia, "On September 15, 1958, Stirnweiss was on Train #3314 of the Central Railroad of New Jersey heading into Manhattan when, for reasons that have never been determined, the train drove straight through signals and flew off the open Newark Bay lift bridge and into the bay itself. Stirnweiss was on board one of the passenger cars that fell into Newark Bay, killing him and 47 other passengers. Stirnweiss was 39."

Currently active players who were born on October 26 include CHW Curtis Mead, SDP David Morgan, CLE Parker Messick, COL Tanner Gordon, COL Chase Dollander, and TEX Danny Coulombe.

Today’s Matchup

No game today, as it is a travel and rest day for the Dodgers and Blue Jays, who are tied 1-1, and will face each for game 3 of the World Series on Monday.

⚾ I hope you enjoyed reading The Baseball Buffet⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

Yoshinobu Yamamoto yesterday joined Orel Hershiser who threw consecutive complete games in the 1988 postseason. He actually had three in a row, starting with a 6-0 shutout in game 7 of the NLCS against the Mets. He then also won game 2 of the World Series with a 6-0 shutout, and then had a third complete game victory (5-2) in the decisive game 5 of the World Series. He was named MVP of both series, as he also had started games one and three of the NLCS, and earned a save in game four. There was a reason that Hershiser was nicknamed “Bulldog”.

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.

• 8 facts and figures from another Yamamoto masterclass, by Sarah Langs at MLB, 10/26/2025

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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