Issue #462

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! ⚾

Weekends at this time of the year can be especially slow for trades, free agent signings, and other offseason news. So for today’s edition I’ll start us off by highlighting a new book that recently came out that features essays by many of the online baseball writers that I often feature in my “Good Reads” section at the end of each Baseball Buffet. This volume is the second annual Here’s the Pitch, edited by Dan Schlossberg, one of the editors of the daily newsletter of the same name from the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (of which I am a member).

The book is published by ACTA Sports, which previously was the publisher of the annual Bill James Handbook around this time each year. And ACTA was also the publisher of my first baseball book, which is of course always mentioned at the end of each edition of this newsletter.

This year, Here’s the Pitch 2026 has a foreword by Jayson Stark, an introduction by edited Dan Schlossberg, and then 26 articles by a range of IBWAA authors. Topics vary greatly, from walk-up music and fungoes; women in baseball; Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Pete Rose, and Babe Ruth; some looks ahead to 2026; and much more… check it out!

Today’s Trivia Question

Jonathan Papelbon is one of today’s Birthday Boys (see below). Although he only pitched for the Boston Red Sox for seven seasons, he is their all-time leader in saves with 211 (second is Bob Stanley with 132). Papelbon’s 41 saves in 2008 are the fourth most in a single season for the Red Sox—can you name any of the three Red Sox pitchers who had more saves in a season?

2026 Team Wall Calendars!

Its that time of year… I know wall or desk calendars aren’t for everyone, but as a kid in the 1980s it was a tradition in my house to get a new calendar for the new year. And most years, my theme was baseball.

Turner Sports produces attractive 12×12” Team Wall Calendars. I think they produce them for all 30 MLB teams, but I could only find some teams available at Amazon. Looks like Calendars.com has a broader selection, but here are the ones I found at Amazon:

Again, those are the teams I could find at Amazon so far. Other teams seem to be available at Calendars.com.

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 23…

  • 1962: Maury Wills tops teammate Tommy Davis for the NL MVP Award. “Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills, whose 104 stolen bases broke a major league season-record set by Ty Cobb, wins the NL Most Valuable Player Award. In a controversial vote, Wills beats out teammate Tommy Davis, who led the NL with a .346 batting average and 153 RBI.”

  • 1966: Tommie Agee wins AL Rookie of the Year honors. “Chicago White Sox outfielder Tommie Agee is voted American League Rookie of the Year, gathering 16 of the 18 votes. Kansas City Athletics pitcher Jim Nash gets the other two votes. Agee had been brought up briefly the past four seasons before finding a permanent spot in 1966.”

  • 1977: Goose Gossage signs with the Yankees. “The New York Yankees sign free agent relief pitcher Rich Gossage to a six-year $2.75 million contract. Gossage had 26 saves and a 1.26 ERA for the Pirates last season. He will join Cy Young Award winner Sparky Lyle in the Yankees bullpen.”

  • 2009: Joe Mauer is the near-unanimous AL MVP. “Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins is named American League MVP, obtaining 27 of 28 first-place votes. Mauer hit .365 to win his third batting title while belting a career-high 28 homers.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Luis Tiant (1940)

  • 19-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1964-1982, mostly with the Indians and Red Sox, but with some time spent with four other clubs

  • Led the AL with a 1.60 ERA for the Indians in 1968, and then again with a 1.91 ERA for the Red Sox in 1972

  • Three-time All-Star

  • Had 20+ wins four times, but also led the AL in losses with a 9-20 record in 1969

  • Had 200+ strikeouts three times, and 2,416 career strikeouts

  • Overall had a 229-172 (.571) record, a 3.30 ERA, and a 114 ERA+

Jonathan Papelbon (1980)

  • 12-year major league pitching career, spanning from 2005-2016, with the Red Sox, Phillies, and Nationals

  • Six-time All-Star, including in 2006 when he came in second in the AL Rookie of the Year vote after posting 35 saves and an impressive 0.92 ERA

  • Had 30+ saves eight times

  • Overall had 368 saves, 808 K in 725.2 IP, a 2.44 ERA, and a 177 ERA+

Jimmy Sheckard (1878)

  • 17-year major league career, spanning from 1897-1913, mostly as a LF with Brooklyn and Chicago of the National League

  • Led the NL with 19 triples in 1901, a modest 9 HR in 1903, and 121 runs in 1911

  • Ran well on the bases, with 30+ SB in seven seasons, including leading the NL with 77 SB in 1899 and 67 SB in 1903

  • Started taking more walks late in his career, and led the NL with 147 walks in 1911 and 122 walks in 1912

  • Overall had 1,296 runs, 465 SB, a .274/.275/.378 slash line, and a 121 OPS+

Hal Schumacher (1910)

  • 13-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1931-1946 (missing 1943-1945 due to military service), all with the New York Giants

  • Had a three-year peak from 1933-1935 when he was an All-Star twice and posted a 19-12 record and 2.16 ERA, then a 23-10 record and 3.18 ERA, then a 19-9 record and 2.89 ERA in 1935

  • Was a consistent performer with 11-13 wins in each of the next seven seasons

  • Was an above average hitter as a pitcher, with a .202 average, 15 HR, and 23 doubles in 896 AB

  • Overall had a 158-121 (.566) record, a 3.36 ERA, and a 111 ERA+

Roy Parnell (1903)

  • 13-year major league career in the Negro Leagues, spanning from 1927-1943, playing for several different clubs before joining the Philadelphia Stars from 1936-1943

  • According the data available at baseball-reference.com, led the Negro National League with a .422 average and 141 hits in 1927.

  • Had other impressive batting averages of .350 in 1932 and .367 in 1936

  • Two-time All-Star

  • Was also on rare occasions a pitcher, with a career 1.61 ERA over 72.2 innings

  • Overall had a .329/.390/.486 slash line and a 137 OPS+ in 2,459 known plate appearances

Justin Turner (1984)

  • So far has had a 17-year major league career, playing mostly 3B with some time at 2B, 1B, and DH

  • Struggled early on to establish himself as a big-league hitter with the Orioles and then Mets, but his career took off with the Dodgers when he batted .340 in 288 AB in 2014

  • Has had 20+ HR in five seasons, including hitting a career-high 27 HR three times

  • Two-time All-Star

  • So far has 201 HR, 832 RBI, a .283/.360/.454 slash line, and a 122 OPS+

Socks Seybold (1870)

  • 9-year major league career, spanning from 1899-1908, mostly as a RF for the Philadelphia Athletics

  • Hit .334 with 14 triples, 15 SB, and 90 RBI in 1901, then led the AL with 16 HR in 1902, and 45 doubles in 1903

  • Born Ralph Orlando Seybold, according to his bio at the SABR Bio Project, the origin of his nickname Socks remains a mystery.

  • Overall had a .294/.353/.424 slash line and a 130 OPS+

In addition to Justin Turner, other currently active players who were born on November 23 include CIN Gavin Lux, SDP Kyle Hart, Tyler Wade (free agent), and Austin Gomber (free agent).

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.

Here are a four fun quotes from one of today’s Birthday Boys, Luis Tiant:

"Family is everything. It is even more important than baseball."

"I didn't do it (pitch like he did) for show. I did it to get batters out. Players would tell me, 'We can't tell where the ball is coming from.'"

"If we lose today, it will be over my dead body. They'll have to leave me face down on the mound."

"The fastball is the best pitch in baseball. It's like having five pitches, if you move it around."

And then here are another four about Luis Tiant:

"It looks like Tiant has added another pitch. Now he has about fifty!" - Thurman Munson

"It was fun playing behind him (Luis Tiant). He'd get on the rubber and throw in a hurry. Everybody was on their toes because he was always around the plate. He had bulldog competitiveness." - Max Alvis

"I've never heard anything like that ("Loo-Eee, Loo-Eee, Loo-Eee" chanting in Fenway Park) in my life. But I'll tell you one thing: Tiant deserved every bit of it." - Carl Yastrzemski

"Tiant is the Fred Astaire of baseball."- Reggie Jackson

⚾ I hope you enjoyed the newsletter today! ⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

The top three single-season saves totals for the Boston Red Sox are:

  • 46 - Tom Gordon (1998)

  • 42 - Craig Kimbrel (2018)

  • 42 - Derek Lowe (2000)

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.

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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