KANSAS CITY 10, MINNESOTA 3 IN KANSAS CITY
Date: Thursday, July 2.
Batting stars: Dan Gladden was 2-for-4 with two doubles and a run. Tim Laudner was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his ninth. Roy Smalley was 2-for-4 with a double and a run.
Pitching star: Dan Schatzeder struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit and no walks.
Opposition stars: Bret Saberhagen pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on nine hits and no walks with five strikeouts. Jim Eisenreich was 2-for-4 with a home run and a double, scoring twice and driving in four. Angel Salazar was 2-for-4 with a stolen base (his third), scoring once and driving in two.
The game: The Royals got one in the third, four in the fourth, and Eisenreich hit a three-run homer in the fifth to make it 8-0. The Twins finally got on the board on an RBI double by Randy Bush in the sixth and Laudner hit a two-run homer in the seventh, but the game was gone by then.
Of note: Puckett raised his average to .352...Smalley raised his average to .330...Joe Niekro started and pitched 3.2 innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on seven hits and no walks with one strikeout.
Record: The Twins were 43-36, in first place, a half-game ahead of Kansas City.
Notes: Randy Bush batted second and was the DH. Smalley played third base with Gary Gaetti out of the lineup.
Player profile: Some of you may remember that much was made of Saberhagen pitching well in odd numbered years and poorly in even numbered years. There's truth in it, but not as much as was made of it at the time. The odd numbered years were better, but the difference was much more profound in his won-lost record than in the other stats. 1985, his second season in the majors, was excellent, and 1986 was not as good (although it looks like he had some bad luck as well), but after that he was a consistently good pitcher through 1995. In 1989 he was incredible, leading the league in wins, winning percentage, ERA, complete games, innings, ERA+, FIP, WHIP, and K/W ratio. Unsurprisingly, he won his second Cy Young award that season. He started having injury problems in 1990, and had only one more season where he made thirty starts (1998). He missed all of 1996, but came back and was pretty good with Boston in 1998-99, although not the dominant pitcher he had been. For his career he was 167-117, 3.34, 1.14 WHIP in just over 2500 innings.
I think Saberhagen's career rWAR total might surprise some people (not necessary here, but in general). My hope is that Saberhagen's case, and those of some of his contemporaries, are reexamined when a certain southpaw reaches the HoF ballot in 2018.
SMALL HALL!
I would vote for odd-numbered-year Saberhagen.
Now that Bud Selig (¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) is going into the Hall, I've lost the little interest I had in the place.
Chuck Finley probably falls in that category too (Finley's counting stats are better than Saberhagen's due to his staying healthy most of his career).
As noted Saberhagen had a monster 1989 season, but the strike shortened 1994 season was pretty darned good too. 13 walks in 177 innings pitched. 11.0 k/bb ratio. He finished third in the Cy Young because Greg Maddux had a ridiculous season and voters rewarded the Expos excellent year making Ken Hill 2nd.
Jim Eisenreich was the One Who Got Away.
he was soooo close to being a superstar. I'm glad he found a way to manage his Tourette's well enough to have a productive career.
And win a ring – at 38 years old, no less.