Baseball: Pie Traynor, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, South Central, Ubaldo Jimenez

From Northborough's Mark Fidrych to Natick's Doug Flutie, professional athletes from the region have earned a certain level of affection from their hometown fans. But while local ball fields, street signs and other markers bear the names of less accomplished players, Framingham's Harold "Pie" Traynor, a Hall-of-Famer widely considered one of the best third baseman in baseball history, gets nary a thought in his hometown. The oversight is about to end, though. Town historian Fred Wallace, after securing the approval of several town boards, hopes to erect a plaque in Traynor's honor by next spring. Read more: link  

Ron described the infamous trade of Babe Ruth to the Yankees that "ruined" baseball here for almost a century, and he pointed out the single seat in the right field bleachers painted red amidst the sea of green to mark the exact spot where the longest measurable home run inside Fenway landed. Ted Williams clobbered it on June 9, 1946, off Detroit's Fred Hutchinson. Taped at 502 feet and authenticated by a newspaper story, the ball crashed through the straw hat of the man dozing in the storied seat -- Section 42, Row 37, Seat 21. That's Red Sox lore that I can remember! - http://www.torontosun.com/2011/09/13/on-the-trail-of-baseballs-holy-grail  

This is the only position under serious attack right now, although the 2011-12 offseason will go a long way to showing us just how perilous Gehrig’s position is. At the moment, the Iron Horse is ahead of Albert Pujols, both in performance and length of career. However, Pujols is fewer than 500 games behind Gehrig, and figures to play for at least another decade. Should Pujols sign a long-term deal with the Cardinals and finish his career in St. Louis, he has a reasonable shot at taking over this position. - http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/this-annotated-week-in-baseball-history-sept.-11-17-1941  

We contacted Strawberry for the story and he told me it was tough to make it out of South Central back in those days, but still easier than it is today. Back then, Strawberry was playing alongside other future major leaguers like Crenshaw High teammate Chris Brown. The area also had other up-and-comers back then like Eric Davis, Chili Davis, and Ozzie Smith. They all emerged together and plenty of MLB attention was drawn towards the Los Angeles inner city. There was a much bigger support network back then as well, geared towards funneling talented young players on to the correct elite path they'd need to take. - http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/marinersblog/2016227323_trayvon_robinson_a_journey_to.html  

Despite a K/9 identical to last year and a K% higher than 2009, but not too far below last season, his SwStk% has taken a dive. Given the apparent quality of his stuff, his SwStk% has actually never been as high as one would expect. But this year, it is below league average for the first time in his career. I am guessing that his decreased velocity is the main culprit and thinking all this ties into his career worst BABIP and worst HR/FB ratio since 2007. In addition, his F-Strike% is at a career worst, even though his BB% dropped from last season and is just a hint worse than his career best mark in 2009. So, according to the underlying metrics we typically analyze, (Ubaldo) Jimenez has pitched at the same level as he always has, but the luck dragons have taken a bit out of his season. But given his huge unexplained velocity dip and some other weird numbers in his advanced metrics, he has been quite the enigma this season. If his velocity does not improve next spring training, he may not be as undervalued as we might expect and a full rebound is less of a guarantee. - http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/ubaldo-jimenez-head-scratcher-of-the-year  

Eric Campbell, Zack Wheeler, Jason Bay, Lou Gehrig, Gregg Jeffries

Eric Campbell:


7-26-11: - http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/7/26/2287253/mets-mid-term-farm-system-review-2011-binghamton#storyjump  - OF/3B Eric Campbell - STOCK DOWN - Campbell has been a flat out disaster this season, looking like a completely different player from the guy who was beating up the EL in 2010 until the hand injury. And that may have a lot to do with his offensive woes as he's slugging at sub-.300 levels, yet his typical high walks and low strikeout totals are still there. In fact, after consecutive ISO's in the .160's the last two years, he's now in the .060's. Not good. However, thus far in July he's batting .382 with no homers but five doubles, so perhaps the hand is finally back to strength. Let's hope we see a return to 2010 levels with the bat as the glove is still nothing but a liability.


Zack Wheeler:


8-1-11: - http://projectprospect.com/article/2011/07/31/top-10-trade-deadline-prospects  - Zack Wheeler SP: New York Mets straight up for Carlos Beltran - We saw other teams trade big leaguers for quantity over quality -- like Houston trading Michael Bourne for a gaggle of replacement level players -- but in the Carlos Beltran deal Mets' GM Sandy Alderson swung for the fences. Wheeler is one of the very few prospects traded who could end up being a difference maker and represents excellent value for a few month rental, even a player as good as Beltran. An elite high schooler, in a draft replete with prep talent, Wheeler has lived up to expectations as the former sixth overall pick. He has struck out over 25% of batters he's faced in each of his professional stops, working off a fastball with plus movement and velocity as well as a potentially plus curveball. The changeup and command need to improve. His motion is a bit unusual and potentially a cause for concern, but Wheeler slightly augments the length in his arm action with excellent leg drive, stride length and hip rotation. Wheeler's still a few years off and carries significant risk, but is an excellent gamble for the Mets.


Jason Bay:


Here's a look at one person's opinion of the most successful prospect acquisitions at the deadline: - Jason Bay, of - Padres Mets 2002 - The Padres traded Bay to the Pirates the following year after he took just eight major league at-bats for them. They got Brian Giles in that deal, making out much, much better than the Mets, who got only relievers Steve Reed and Jason Middlebrooks when they traded Bay. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-bulletin/2011/2612178.html  


Lew Gehrig:



This one features Lou Gehrig, a young woman three years his junior he called “Red,” a domineering mother and a surprise ending 80 years later. The woman was Ruth Martin, a vivacious redhead from Elizabeth, N.J., whom Gehrig apparently dated sometime around 1930. It was a different time and Gehrig, whose mastery on the field was equaled by his discomfort, particularly with women, off it, was a different kind of athlete. He lived with his parents until he was 30 and was the ultimate outsider from baseball’s raucous atmosphere in the ’20s and ’30s - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/sports/baseball/a-treasure-trove-of-lou-gehrig-memorabilia.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss  


Gregg Jeffries:


Gregg Jefferies came through the minors during the baseball card boom and with much ado, twice winning Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year and was twice named league MVP. Jefferies turns 44 today. He is, in my mind, a hall-of-fame prospect, having come up through the minors with a loud resume as a pure hitter with speed and promising power. He was considered to be the "Next Great Met" and manager Davey Johnson suggested he could hit .300 standing on his head. His only weakness was his fielding and having started as a SS in the minors, he never played a game at that position in the majors. - http://www.thebaseballcube.com/