The Baseball Buffet for 11/11/2025

Issue #453

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 main news yesterday was the announcement of the the Rookie of the Year Awards, and neither winner was a surprise really:

• AL Rookie of the Year: ATH 1B Nick Kurtz

• NL Rookie of the Year: ATL C Drake Baldwin

The vote totals have been posted. Kurtz was the unanimous choice in the AL, with his teammate SS Jacob Wilson coming in a solid second place, and BOS OF Roman Anthony coming in third, followed by KCR SP Noah Cameron, CHW SS Colson Montgomery, and BOS C Carlos Narváez.

In the NL, Baldwin won 21 of the 30 first-place votes, with the other nine going to CHC SP Cade Horton. In third place was MIL 3B Caleb Durbin, followed by his teammate OF Isaac Collins.

Today’s Trivia Question

With the 2025 Rookie of the Year Awards announced, can you name the four teams that have won the most ROY awards over the years? (As a reminder, the award began in 1947.)

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 November 11…

• 1880: Pitcher Jim Whitney is signed for big bucks. “In the National League, the Boston Red Caps sign Jim Whitney, considered one of the best pitchers in California, at a salary of $150 per month.”

• 1903: Boston star 3B Jimmy Collins signs a manager contract. “Jimmy Collins signs a contract to manage the Boston Americans for three years. They will win the first modern World Series to be played and acquire the name Red Sox during his tenure.”

• 1926: Chicago star 2B Eddie Collins is out as White Sox manager. “The Chicago White Sox fire one future Hall of Famer and replace him with another. Second baseman-manager Eddie Collins is released by the White Sox, despite his record of 81-72 and .344 batting average. He will rejoin the Philadelphia Athletics as a player-coach. In his place, Chicago hires catcher Ray Schalk, who will guide the White Sox to a record of 70-83 next season.”

• 1981: Fernando Valenzuela becomes the first rookie to win a Cy Young Award. “Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela becomes the first rookie ever to win a Cy Young Award, edging Tom Seaver of the Cincinnati Reds by a 70-67 margin for National League honors. Valenzuela was the first rookie since Herb Score in 1955 to lead his league in strikeouts with 180.”

• 1997: Pedro Martinez wins his first Cy Young Award. “Pedro Martinez of the Montreal Expos breaks the stranglehold the veteran Greg Maddux and the Atlanta Braves have on the National League Cy Young Award. Since 1991, either Maddux or a Braves pitcher has captured the award every year. Martinez posted a 17-8 record with 305 strikeouts, a 1.90 ERA, and 13 complete games, giving Canada a clean sweep of the Cy Young this year. Roger Clemens of the Toronto Blue Jays won the American League award a day earlier. It's a bittersweet moment for Montreal, as Martinez will be traded away a week later.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Pie Traynor (1898)

• Hall of Famer

• 17-year major league career, spanning from 1920-1937, all as a 3B for the Pirates

• High-average hitter, with highs of .356 in 1929 and .366 in 1930

• Didn't have much HR power, but hit a lot of triples including an NL-best 19 triples in 1923. Nonetheless, he was a significant run producer, with 100+ RBI in seven seasons.

• Had some speed on the bases early in his career, with 28 SB in 1923 and 24 SB in 1924

• Was strong defensively at 3B, and earned down-ballot MVP votes in nine consecutive seasons

• Overall had 164 triples, 1,183 runs, 1,273 RBI, 158 SB, a .320/.362/.435 slash line, and a 107 OPS+

• Served as a player/manager and then solely manager for the Pirates for the second half of the 1930s

• According to Wikipedia, Harold Joseph "Pie" Traynor got his nickname "as a child in Somerville, Massachusetts, because he frequented a grocery store and often asked for pie. The store owner called him 'Pie Face', which was later shortened to Pie by his friends."

Rabbit Maranville (1891)

• Hall of Famer

• 23-year major league career, spanning from 1912-1935, mostly with the Boston Braves, with four seasons for the Pirates, and four spread across three other clubs

• Was a very strong defensive SS, with some time spent at 2B too

• Had some speed on the bases, with 20+ SB six times

• Hit 10+ triples nine times, including a high of 20 triples in 1924.

• Had almost no HR power, with only 28 HR in 11,260 plate appearances

• Overall had 2,605 hits, 1,256 runs, 177 triples, 291 SB, and a .258 average

Hal Trosky (1912)

• 11-year major league career, spanning from 1933-1946, mostly with the Cleveland Indians

• After climbing up through the minors for a couple of seasons, Trosky had a strong rookie campaign in 1934 in his age-21 season, hitting 35 HR with 45 doubles, 142 RBI, 117 runs, and a .330 average.

• In 1936 he hit .343 with 42 HR, 124 runs, and an AL-leading 162 RBI

• Had 25+ HR six times, 100+ RBI six times, and 100+ runs four times

• Overall had 228 HR, 1,012 RBI, a .302/.371/.522 slash line, and a 130 OPS+

Roberto Hernández (1964)

• First-round draft pick (16th overall) in 1986 by the Angels

• 17-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1991-2007, with seven seasons for the White Sox and the remainder spread across nine other clubs

• As a closer posted 25+ saves nine times, with highs of 38 saves in 1993 and 1996, and then 43 saves in 1999

• Two-time All-Star

• Overall had 326 saves, a 3.45 ERA, and a 131 ERA+

George Case (1915)

• 11-year major league career, spanning from 1937-1947, mostly as an OF for the Senators

• An elite base-stealer and run-scorer of his era, he led the AL in SB six times, with a high of 61 SB in 1943, and scored 100+ runs four times

• Three-time All-Star

• Not a power hitter, he had 21 HR in 5,516 career plate appearances

• Overall had 349 SB with a .282 average and a .341 OBP

Currently active players who were born on November 11 include LAA Kyren Paris, TBR Nick Fortes, and CIN Carson Spiers.

Baseball Quote of the Day

One of the new features I’m starting up during the offseason is a baseball-related quote of the day. These will include quotes by players or managers that are insightful or funny, and interesting quotes from others about the game itself. I’ll try to mix it up over time.

"It's unbelievable how much you don't know about the game you've been playing your whole life." - Mickey Mantle

⚾ I hope you enjoyed the newsletter today! ⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

The Dodgers have by far the most Rookie of the Year awards at 18. The win by Drake Baldwin this year puts the Braves into a tie with the Yankees for second with 10 each. And Nick Kurtz’ win this year puts the Athletics in fourth place with nine, just ahead of the Orioles/Browns and Reds who have eight apiece.

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.

• '26 Rookie of the Year candidates -- one from each team, by Jonathan Mayo, Jim Callis, and Sam Dykstra at MLB, 11/10/2025

• Negro Leagues Pioneers Who Should Be Considered on the 2027 Classic Era Hall of Fame Ballot, by W.H. Johnson at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 11/10/2025

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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