Issue #556

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! ⚾

I didn’t see any significant transactions yesterday, but we did have Day 1 of 2026 Spring Training games, with seven matchups including two where major league players faced off with college players near their team’s home cities. I’m not going to report on details of every spring training game each day (like I do during the regular season!). But since this was Day 1, here are a few highlights from the action:

NYY 0, BAL 2

  • BAL 1B Pete Alonso (that feels weird to type!) hit the first HR of Spring Training game action

  • BAL starter Trevor Rogers did well with 3 K over 2 IP

  • NYY only had three hits, all singles, with Jazz Chisholm getting one of them

Northeastern 3, BOS 18

  • The Red Sox scored 18 runs from 14 hits and 6 walks, though had only one HR (catcher Ronald Rosario)

  • BOS didn’t use a lot of major leaguers in this one, though Masataka Yoshida went 1-1 with a double, a walk, and 2 runs, and Kristian Campbell was 1-2 with 2 RBI

KCR 4, TEX 3

  • For the Royals, Salvador Perez went 2-3 with a HR and a double, Michael Massey was 2-3 with a HR, Bobby Witt Jr. hit a triple

  • Both HR were hit off TEX starter Nathan Eovaldi

CHW 8, CHC 1

  • CHC starter Jameson Taillon allowed two HR to Austin Hays and Sam Antonaccci

  • CHW starter Jonathan Cannon allowed a HR to Seiya Suzuki

  • Munetaka Murakami made his debut for the White Sox, played 1B for most of the game, and went 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI

  • CHC 3B Alex Bregman made his debut for the Cubs, batting second but going 0-2

ARI 3, COL 2

  • Nolan Arenado made his debut for the Diamondbacks and connected for a HR off COL starter Antonio Senzatela

SDP 4, SEA 7

  • There were four HR in this one, by SDP Jose Miranda, SDP Romeo Sanabria, SEA Michael Arroyo, and SEA Leo Rivas

  • Padres’ flamethrower Mason Miller struck out two in one IP

Golden Gophers 3, MIN 10

  • MIN starter Zebby Matthews, who is competing for a rotation spot, did well with 3 K in 2 IP

  • MIN prospect OF Walker Jenkins went 1-1 with a double, a walk, and 2 runs


RIP, Bill Mazeroski

As a described in an article by Adam Berry at MLB, Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski has died at the age of 89. He had a 17-year major league career, spanning from 1956-1972, and spent entirely with the Pirates. Considered one of the greatest defensive 2B of all-time, Mazeroski won 8 NL Gold Glove Awards, is fifth all-time in assists as a 2B, and first in double-plays as a 2B. An All-Star in seven seasons, he had a little pop hitting 10+ HR in six seasons. Mazeroski famously hit the winning HR in the bottom of the ninth of game 7 of the 1960 World Series. Overall, he had 138 HR, 853 RBI, and a .260 average. His passing comes about a week after the Pirates lost another of their long-time players from that era, reliever Roy Face, who recently died at the age of 97.


Today’s Trivia Question

As noted above, Bill Mazeroski died yesterday at the age of 89. A Hall of Famer largely because of his defensive abilities at 2B, he won eight Gold Glove Awards, which ties him for third at the position. Can you name the two 2B with more Gold Glove Awards (10 and 9, respectively), and the player who is tied with Mazeroski with eight? (Bonus points if you can name either of the 2B who are next in line with 5 Gold Glove Awards each.)


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 February 21…

  • 1957: The Dodgers and Cubs trade minor league franchises. “Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley trades minor league franchises with Phil Wrigley of the Chicago Cubs. Brooklyn gives up its Fort Worth club in the Texas League in return for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. In a year's time, Brooklyn will be without a team and Los Angeles will be a major league city.”

  • 1985: Tim Raines sets new arbitration high mark. “Tim Raines is awarded a $1.2 million salary for 1985 by arbitrator Thomas Roberts. This is the largest award to date through the salary arbitration process. The 25-year-old Raines hit .309 for the Montreal Expos last season and led all major league players with 75 stolen bases.”

  • 1986: Rollie Fingers rightly elects retirement over shaving. “Rollie Fingers passes up an opportunity to return to the majors. Fingers is invited to spring training by the Cincinnati Reds, who ask him to shave off his trademark handlebar mustache to comply with team rules. Fingers refuses to do so and decides to retire.”

My MLB Network appearance anniversary: February 21 was also a big day for me personally, back in 2019. My first baseball book had just been published, and I was a guest on the MLB Now show on the MLB Network. I was a panelist for the entire program, alongside host Scott Braun and analysts Joe Girardi and Dan O’Dowd. For a first-time baseball book author, this was both great fun… and certainly helped my book sales for a few weeks at Amazon!


🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Alan Trammell, Jack Billingham, Jouett Meekin, John Titus

Alan Trammell (1958)

  • Hall of Famer

  • 20-year major league career, spanning from 1977-1996, all with the Tigers

  • Six-time All-Star, and won four Gold Glove Awards at SS

  • With long-time teammate, 2B Lou Whitaker, together they have the all-time record for the most games played together up the middle, and the most double plays together

  • Had 10+ HR eight times, with a high of 28 HR in 1987, when he came in second in the AL MVP vote and also had a .343 average, 21 SB, 205 hits, 105 RBI, and 109 runs

  • That was one of six seasons he had with 15+ SB, with a career-high of 30 SB in 1983

  • Was a key member of the 1984 World Series Champions, and was World Series MVP after going 9-20 with 2 HR, 6 RBI, and 5 runs

  • Overall had 185 HR, 236 SB, 1,231 runs, a .285/.352/.415 slash line, and a 110 OPS+

Jack Billingham (1943)

  • 13-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1968-1980, mostly with the Astros, Reds, and Tigers

  • Was an All-Star in 1973 when he posted a 19-10 record with a 304 ERA over an NL-leading 40 starts and 293.1 IP

  • Then went 19-11 in 1974, and was a member of the Reds rotation in their World Series championship seasons in 1975 and 1976

  • Generally did well in the postseason, with a 1.93 ERA over 10 appearances (6 starts) and 42 IP

  • Overall had a 145-113 (.562) record and a 3.83 ERA

Jouett Meekin (1867-1944)

  • 10-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1891-1900, mostly with New York, Louisville, and Washington in the National League

  • Won 20+ games three times, including going 33-9 with a 3.70 in the high-offense 1894 season

  • Could handle the bat fairly well for a pitcher, with a .243 average, 15 HR, 24 triples, and 30 doubles in 1,099 AB

  • Overall had a 152-133 (.533) record, a 4.07 ERA, and a 102 ERA+

John Titus (1876-1943)

  • 11-year major league career, spanning from 1903-1913, mostly as a RF with the Phillies

  • Had 10+ triples three times and 15+ SB four times

  • Overall had a .282/.373/.385 slash line, which during the deadball era equated to an impressive 128 OPS+

Currently active players who were born on February 21 include CLE Bo Naylor, CHC Porter Hodge, LAD Dalton Rushing, WAS Harry Ford, and Sam Hilliard (free agent).


Baseball Quote of the Day

As one of today’s Birthday Boys (see above) is Alan Trammell, here are two quotes from him:

"I wasn't going to be the biggest or strongest or fastest, but I wanted to do a little bit of everything and that's what I really strived to do."

"I looked at Sparky as an extension of my parents; that meant tough love, discipline, and attention to detail."

⚾ I hope you enjoyed the newsletter today! ⚾


Today’s Trivia Answer

Here are the players with five or more Gold Glove Awards at 2B:

  • 10 - Roberto Alomar

  • 9 - Ryne Sandberg

  • 8 - Bill Mazeroski

  • 8 - Frank White

  • 5 - Joe Morgan

  • 5 - Bobby Richardson


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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