Last night the Braves lost to the Diamondbacks by a 3-2 score, making it 3 losses out of 4 games on this road trip.
It was a snoozer. I mean that literally; I had difficulty staying awake during portions of the game. I’m not at my best for these night games out west. Apparently the Braves’ hitters have the same issue.
Charlie Morton did his job, holding the Snakes to three runs in seven innings, and Colin McHugh pitched a scoreless inning. But the Braves offense continued their recent doldrums. The only bright spot, indeed the only runs at all, came on a pair of Eddie Rosario solo home runs. The Braves did have two other scoring threats. In the third, Matt Olson walked and Austin Riley rapped a double into the left field corner. But Olson, after first getting the green light from Wash, saw the stop sign too late, and got caught off third. In the ninth, Murphy and Rosario singled, placing the potential tying run at third with one out. But the runner was left stranded at third, and that was the ballgame.
Let’s discuss something more interesting than the game. June 2 is Lou Gehrig day in MLB. The Iron Horse is honored on the day that the disease that came to bear his name took his life. ALS is one of the crueler fates that can befall a person, and MLB places an admirable focus on the ravages of the disease and on treatment and research. And of course there aren’t many in life who faced their own death with more grace and courage than did Gehrig, who richly deserves any recognition.
June 2 also happens to be the day that Babe Ruth announced his retirement. There’s our Braves connection, because as you probably know, the Bambino was playing for the Boston Braves when he hung it up in 1935.
Ruth and Gehrig are forever linked in baseball imagination, and not primarily because of that June 2 coincidence. They were the most prolific teammates in baseball history; they had nine years as teammates in which both were at the top of their game. From 1926 through 1934, they never had a combined WAR of less than 13, and they averaged a combined 17 WAR per season.
The only duo than can compare is the Braves’ own Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews. Their most productive years as teammates lasted a little longer than the Yankees’ pair. For eleven seasons, from 1955 to 1965, they never had a combined WAR of less than 11.4, and they actually accumulated roughly the same combined WAR as Ruth and Gehrig did in their nine years–although they never had peak WAR years in the range of some of the video game numbers those two put up.
For an example, look at Gehrig’s 1927 slash line: .373/.474/.765, for an OPS of 1.240—and he finished second to Ruth in each of those categories!
By the way, I may be forgetting some other long term productive teammates; feel free to suggest others in the comments.
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It’s a little odd that Gehrig died on the same date that Ruth retired. Here’s an even stranger coincidence: Babe Ruth died on August 16, as did Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, and Robert Johnson. August 16 is therefore a day of royal deaths: the King of Rock and Roll, the Queen of Soul, the Sultan of Swat, and the King of the Delta Blues. If I were Charles III, I’d be extra careful that day.
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The Braves still have a 3.5 game lead, as the Mets lost to Toronto. They have a great chance to right the ship tonight, as Spencer Strider faces a rookie pitcher with an ERA over 5.
Greetings from the North Atlantic between Iceland and the Shetlands (no U-Boats spotted so far)…
There is another connection. Only two players in baseball history have the first name Henry and middle name Louis. This would be an even more interesting trivia question if Henry Louis Gehrig weren’t a childhood Anglicization of Heinrich Ludwig.
That’s pretty great. Two guys with as much grace and dignity as anyone who played the game.
This is a June swoon if I’ve ever seen one. Tfloyd, I’m glad you recapped it – I’d much rather read you than watch the offense flail like they have been.
Gehrig’s numbers are pornographic, and Ruth’s are essentially incomprehensible. They were playing the game on a cheat code. In more recent decades, Bagwell and Biggio certainly come to mind. From 1991 to 2005, Bagwell produced 79.9 rWAR and Biggio 61.3, a total of 141.2, an average of 9.4 per year.
And, of course, the Jones boys. From 1996-2007, they had a combined 126.1 rWAR, 10.5 per year. Pretty incredible, really.
Columbia University has a pretty incredible baseball tradition, but you’d have to say they’ve fallen on hard times. They have four Hall of Famers: John Montgomery “Monte” Ward, the founder of the first players union and of the renegade Players League; Eddie Collins, the second-best second baseman ever; Lou Gehrig, probably the best first baseman ever; and Sandy Koufax, who isn’t chopped liver.
Sandy’s literally one of only five Columbia matriculants to play in the Show since World War II. After him, by far the most successful was Gene Larkin, who we remember as a platoon 1B/LF for the Twins in the late ’80s and early ’90s. He went 2-4 against us in the Series. Frank Seminara and Fernando Perez each got about a cup of coffee, respectively, in the ’90s and ’00s. And more recently, Mike Baxter played a couple hundred games, mostly for the Mets, in the early 2010s.
These days at Columbia, seems like they play a lot less baseball, and a lot more Vampire Weekend.
I used to work with one of the original Bonus Babies, Howard Kitt, a highly touted lefty out of Columbia. He blew his shoulder out in the minors and became an economist, which I assume is everyone’s second choice after MLB player. His son,Tom Kitt, is a very successful Broadway composer, which I think is everyone’s third choice after MLB star and economist
The three occupations listed by JonathanF each require a lot more ability than I have. So I settled for something a lot further down the list.
To be fair, Vampire Weekend has produced their fair share of M-WAR, since they formed in 2006.
Matt Olson is so bad in the field that he needs to be an exceptional hitter. It’s a long summer, I’m trying to be patient.
I was remiss in not mentioning the wonderful Sarah Langs on Lou Gehrig Day. BASEBALL IS THE BEST! And so is Sarah Langs. https://www.mlb.com/news/mets-honor-sarah-langs-raise-als-awareness-on-lou-gehrig-day?partnerId=zh-20230603-929123-mlb-1-A&qid=1026&utm_id=zh-20230603-929123-mlb-1-A&bt_ee=St1kiESTsKTZHbPfmyddgZKU6hqBS%2BPhWOZq18ijdS7jooeeg8oHtHSFBhT7BzlE&bt_ts=1685801613554
Such a quality piece as always, Tfloyd. Thanks for the recap and Lou Gehrig slant, too. Hoping I can recap a. Raves win from the desert tonight!
Looking at Ryne Nelson’s Statcast numbers, he appears to not be very good at limiting hard contact. His 40.6% hard hit rate allowed is worse than league average. The Braves have had several barrels/hard hit balls go for outs on this road trip. Maybe the Braves can make solid contact against Nelson tonight and actually be rewarded with balls dropping for hits.
For further info on Lou Gehrig, I recommend Jonathan Eig’s “Luckiest Man,” a solid bio that tells many intriguing stories, like the time NY Giants’ manager John McGraw passed on Gehrig after a short tryout in the Polo Grounds.
Despite his impressive batting practice, a nervous Gehrig let the first ground ball hit to him go thru his legs & McGraw was done with him. “Get this fellow out of here!” he said. “I’ve got enough lousy players without another one showing up.”
But in the end, McGraw & the Giants were kinda like Decca, the record label that passed on The Beatles.