By David Horne, Sports by the Numbers co-author

I am currently making a three week trip through Georgia and Florida promoting our MLB, NYY, and NASCAR titles just released by the Sports by the Numbers team - and as part of that trip I made a stop in Atlanta where I was able to take in the Braves vs. Mariners at Turner Field on Friday night.

I'll also be at the Rays vs. Red Sox series in a few days, and I'll be at the Daytona Speedway for the running of the Coke Zero 400 to wrap up my trip the weekend of July 4.

There were several highlights at Turner Field tonight - including the chance at a short conversation with Braves' pitching coach Roger McDowell, a presentation to Chipper Jones celebrating his 400th career homerun, and . . . the Braves unveiling a massive Chick-Fil-A cow that now leads the crowd in doing the Tomahawk Chop.

Okay, so maybe that last one wasn't exactly a highlight - but, it was mildly entertaining in a southern, cheesy sort of way.

There were two actual events from tonight's game that are worth describing here (the game was a 10-2 Mariners blowout, and so it misses the cut) - and they both involve young fans I met at the game.

I was among the first fans in the stadium, and immediately went to the Braves bullpen to see if anyone was throwing - and sure enough, Buddy Carlyle was working with pitching coach Roger McDowell.

There were only three or four other people standing above the bullpen (it was two-and-a-half hours prior to game time), and when McDowell acknowledged the fans I told him that he gave me a ball once back when I was a kid watching him in a bullpen session when he was pitching for the Mets - which is true by the way - and he laughed, then tossed a ball to the one kid standing there with his dad, and I thought that was way cool.

Just a moment later, Pete Moylan came walking into the bullpen and started talking with McDowell - and the kid who got the ball was standing there with his dad, and so his dad says to Moylan, "Hey, can you sign my kid's glove?"

Moylan said sure thing, and came over to the wall and reached up for it - so the kid, who I guess was maybe six or seven at the most, got really excited, and said to Moylan, "Are you Chipper?"

I guess Moylan misunderstood, because he replied, "Yeah, I'm a pitcher."

The kid went hysterical . . . let me tell you. He began to scream, "Chipper signed my glove! Chipper signed my glove!"

Then Moylan laughed, and said, "No, I'm a pitcher - my name's Pete."

The kid just kept screaming, "Chipper signed my glove!"

The dad apologized to Moylan, who I have to say was a good sport about it - and then he tried to explain to his son that Chipper was out on the field and was not the player who signed his glove, but I don't think the kid believed him.

Anyway, the other cool thing was sitting in the stands during the game, two brothers in front of me, who were also quite young, probably eight and ten, were actually keeping score in a scorebook - which I thought was just freaking awesome.

You don't see that much anymore - but man when my brothers and I were kids, we kept scorebooks for our whiffle ball games in the backyard, for the Braves games we listened to on the AM signal we got from Atlanta, and for every game we were lucky enough to see in person.

I swear that if math word problems in grade school had used baseball scenarios instead of those trains leaving cities at such and such time going such and such speed, we'd all have been at the top of the class.

We knew how to do math because we knew how to keep score, and we sure as heck knew how to do fractions, because that's what we used to figure our batting averages.

Anyway, I asked the kid where he learned to keep score - and he said his dad taught him. That's also way cool, and exactly as it should be.

Last of all, there was one very disturbing sight at the game tonight - I posted a video of it here.

6 The Detroit Tigers gave up four runs in the ninth on Sunday to the Dodgers, but held on for a 5-4 victory and a (6) game winning streak - their longest to date this season. Detroit began play on June 10 trailing the White Six by 11 games, but after winning six straight since then - including a three game sweep of the White Sox - they will begin Monday's interleague match-up against the Giants trailing Chicago by only six games. Tigers' fans should not celebrate just yet, but maybe the club is starting to come around. Manager Jim Leyland said on Sunday, "People buried us [after their horrendous start to the season] - and they should have. Now we've got a chance to get them excited again."

387 The Chicago Cubs are 45-25 after 70 games for the best record in baseball - thanks to an offense that leads the N.L. with (387) runs and a pitching staff that leads the N.L. with a 3.61 ERA. That makes for a pretty healthy combination - but whether their offense can continue to produce with slugger Alfonso Soriano out for up to six weeks with a broken bone in his left hand remains to be seen.

486 The Atlanta Braves are 34-36 after 70 games for a (.486) winning percentage - and they enter week 13 trailing the Phillies by 6.5 games in the N.L. East. Chipper Jones still leads baseball with a .402 average and the Atlanta pitching staff is second in the N.L. with a 3.72 ERA, but the Braves have the worst numbers in the league in three critical categories for any team that wants to be a playoff contender: 1-7 record (.125 winning percentage) in extra-inning games, 3-18 record (.143 winning percentage) in one run games, and a 9-25 record (.265 winning percentage) on the road.

554 Willie Randolph has now been at the helm of the New York Mets for (554) games - including the 68 games the Mets have played this season, during which time the club has posted a 33-35 record. The odds on Willie being at the helm through the All-Star break, much less the end of the season - his fourth with the club - seems to be increasingly stacked against him. New York has lost seven of ten, and with six of their next nine games being against bad ball clubs (Colorado and Seattle), these next two weeks could go a long way towards deciding Randolph's fate.

577 J.D. Drew is up to a (.577) slugging percentage for the Boston Red Sox. He hit only four homeruns during the first two months of the season - but he has hit seven homeruns in June, including five homeruns and ten RBI in his last eight games. His increased output on offense could not have come at a better time for Boston, as David Ortiz is already out of action for at least a month, and Manny Ramirez missed two games this weekend nursing an ailing hamstring.

585 Josh Hamilton only has one homerun and five RBI in his last ten games - but his (.585) slugging percentage is still the second best in the A.L. behind his teammate Milton Bradley. Hamilton, who hit 19 homeruns in 90 games for Cincinnati last year, leads the league with 18 homeruns and 73 RBI during his first 69 games this year. Bradley, by the way, has 15 homeruns, after posting totals of 13, 14, and 13 the past three seasons.

 

 

 

 

 

259 Coco Crisp is batting (.259) with two homeruns this season - and depending on your perspective, you could say his seven-game suspension for charging the mound against Rays' pitcher James Shields probably helps Boston. Crisp was wrong and he knows it - and good for Shields for hitting him, too bad five Rays' players got suspended while only three Red Sox players will have to sit out a bit. Tampa's Carl Crawford got suspended four games, and his response was to say, "Our guys got caught on tape." His manager, Joe Maddon, said, "I defend everything our guys did." Good for you, Joe - keep those "Devil" free Rays battling all year if you can.

4 The San Diego Padres became the first team in baseball history to win (4) consecutive games by a score of 2-1. Scott Hairston hit a walk-off homerun in the tenth inning on Saturday night to beat the New York Mets, leading catcher Michael Barrett to say, "We are on an unbelievable roll." Well, sort of, they have won four in a row and seven out of ten - and now they are only eight games out of first place with only the third worst record in the league.

5 Joe Crede hit (5) homeruns in three games this past week. The White Sox third baseman hit one on Wednesday, two on Friday, and two on Saturday - which is pretty impressive, but when I went online first thing this morning to check the box scores on mlb.com the first thing I saw was a headline that said, "Joltin' Joe hammers Twins." Now, come on - as impressive as his offensive numbers were this past week, referring to him as "Joltin' Joe" is truly offensive. He isn't wearing pinstripes, he isn't playing in the Bronx, and - no offense Joe - he isn't DiMaggio.

6 First the good news for Yankees fans - Johnny Damon did in fact get (6) hits on Saturday, including the game-winner against his old club as the Yankees rallied past the Royals for a 12-11 victory. Damon tied a club and league record by getting six hits in a nine-inning game. Now the bad news - Andy Pettitte gave up ten earned runs in six plus innings of work. Pettitte has won only twice in his last nine starts, while his ERA has soared from 2.45 to 4.99 during that stretch.

346 The Chicago Cubs scored (346) runs during their first 61 games - the highest total in the majors - but that rather large number apparently meant nothing on Friday to Dodgers' starter Hiroki Kuroda, who posted these rather tidy numbers in a 3-0 victory over Chicago: 9 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 Ks.

400 Chipper Jones hit career homerun number (400) on Thursday against the Florida Marlins. He became just the third switch-hitter in history to reach that plateau, and when asked about belonging to a group that includes Hall of Fame legends Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray as the only other members, Chipper said, "To be lumped in with those guys is what I'm shooting for. This is a step closer but still a long, long way from those guys - they set the bar really high."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manny Ramirez Career Retrospective

By David Horne, Sports by the Numbers co-author
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Manny finally got the milestone, and he wasted no time getting 501 - as he hit another bomb on Sunday, the day after he became only the twenty-fourth member of the 500-homerun club.

In his last 34 games prior to Saturday's historic big fly he had hit only three homeruns, so the milestone took some time in coming - but it was worth the wait. Manny said, "Every time you get to the hotel, people say, hey, when you gonna hit it? I'm just happy everything's done for now - I can go be myself and have fun."

Manny has been doing exactly that - being true to who he is as a person and a ballplayer - for a very long time, and having fun doing it. Now his numbers have fully cemented his place in Cooperstown - take a look at his career using Sports by the Numbers.

2 It only takes one - but Manny has (2) World Series titles. He lost his first Fall Classic in 1995, lost his second in 1997, but won with Boston in historic fashion in 2004, and then again in 2007.

3 There have been (3) players to reach the 500-homerun plateau in a Red Sox uniform: Jimmie Foxx (1940), Ted Williams (1960), and now Ramirez.

4 He has played in (4) World Series - and hit (4) World Series homeruns. Manny also holds the post-season record for career homeruns with 24.

5 There are (5) active players who belong to the 500-homerun club: Ken Griffey, Jr. (599), Alex Rodriguez (525), Frank Thomas (520), Jim Thome (517), and Manny (501).

7 Only (7) members of the 500-homerun club can boast 1,500 RBI, 1,000 walks, 475 doubles, and a .300 average: Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Frank Thomas, Mel Ott, and Manny.

9 He has (9) career homeruns against Mike Mussina - his highest total against a right-handed pitcher.

10 He has (10) career homeruns against Jamie Moyer - his highest total against any pitcher, right or left-handed.

11 Manny is an (11)-time All-Star who has hit 30 or more homeruns in (11) different seasons.

24 Manny is now a member of an exclusive club - only (24) members. Next on the list are Eddie Murray (504), Mel Ott (511), and Eddie Mathews and Ernie Banks (512) - which means Manny should be among the top 20 homerun hitters in baseball history by season's end.

36 Manny just turned 36 years old - and of the 24 members of the 500-homerun club, he reached it the eighth fastest. It took him only 7,263 at bats.

43 He hit (43) homeruns in 2004 and beat out teammate David Ortiz by two for the only homerun title of his career.

45 Twice he hit a career high (45) homeruns - in 1998 for Cleveland, and in 2005 for Boston.

81 His historic homerun came on the first pitch of his at bat - something he has now done (81) times in his career. He has more first pitch homeruns than he does on any other count.

236 Manny hit (236) long balls as a member of the Cleveland Indians - the third highest total in franchise history behind Jim Thome (334) and Albert Belle (242).

265 Manny hit number 501 on Sunday - giving him (265) big flies as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Only Ted Williams (521), Carl Yastrzemski (452), Jim Rice (382), and Dwight Evans (379) have more.

312 He currently boasts a (.312) career batting average - only Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, and Jimmie Foxx, among members of the 500-homerun club, closed out their careers with a higher average.

349 Manny won the 2002 batting title when he hit (.349) - and he has posted ten seasons of .300 or better.

351 He hit a career high (.351) in 2000 - but placed third in the batting title race behind teammate Nomar Garciaparra and Angels outfielder Darin Erstad.

412 Manny hit (.412) during the 2004 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals - hit one big fly - and got his first ring, along with the hardware for World Series MVP.

697 His career high slugging percentage is (.697) - a mark he set in 2000, his last season with the Indians. His career slugging percentage is .590, one of the top ten in baseball history.

Oh, Manny - what a career. See you in Cooperstown.

 

 

 

 

 

607 The best winning percentage (.607) in the A.L. belongs to the team leading the East - no surprise there - but at 34-22, the Rays need one more win to get half their 2004 total when they won a franchise best 70 games. Yes, Yankee fans - the calendar now says June, and your club is 5.5 games back of a team that has never won more than 70 games in a season.

3 Joe Girardi has finally decided to give Joba Chamberlain the ball to start a game, thanks to some vocal prodding from Hank Steinbrenner. Joba has tossed five-plus innings of scoreless relief in his last (3) appearances as he prepares for his first start of the season this Tuesday. In his last three stints, Joba has given up only three hits, while striking out eight batters - and when asked about his first start, he said, "You're still going to see the same person - I feel great."

 

8 Mike Mussina leads the team with (8) victories on the mound - having won seven of his last eight starts. He has also given up two earned runs or fewer in five of those seven wins.

249 The NYY offense has scored (249) runs - only the sixth highest total out of 14 teams in the league - but the pitching staff has given up 252 runs, the ninth highest total in the league. Not good, Joe - not good, at all.

411 Andy Pettitte now leads the team with a (4.11) ERA - about all we can say is, that's not good either, Joe, not if your team leader is statistically no different than the league average.
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486 Bobby Abreu is hitting .298 with seven homeruns - good for a (.486) slugging percentage - and he is the team leader with 36 RBI through two full months of the season. Abreu got the game-winning hit for the Yankees on Saturday as the club won in extra-innings at Minnesota. It was the third straight win for New York, and the eighth win in ten games - so maybe things are looking up for the Bronx Bombers.

 

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