Grid 197

On Cobb, Stanky, and a managerial rabbit hole

ERIK: All original 16 teams! How fun is that? And yes, I should’ve done better. I blame Ruth and Cobb.

First, how wrong is it that Adrian Beltre, at the corner of Boston and LA, is a way lower percentage than either Ty Cobb at the corner of Detroit and Philly or the Babe at the corner of Boston and Boston? What’s up with that, recency bias? And sure, they’re two of the most famous ever. But A’s? Braves? I had no idea that was common knowledge.

On the plus side, my gabbing the other day about the other Bill James winning 20+ for the 1914 Boston Braves, and finishing third in the nascent MVP voting behind teammates Johnny Evers and Rabbit Maranville, paid off today. I was like, “Braves? Cubs? Hey, trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds!”

I still find it odd, or insanely interesting, how with some cornerstones I’ll have to dig deep into my baseball lore, and suss out an answer logically, as with Ruth and Cobb; and with others I’ll just kind of commune with the two uniforms until an answer pops into my brain. “Cubs and A’s? Oh, that’s Billy Williams.” I don’t get how that works.

Finally, a few words about Eddie Stanky. I came across him the other day when I was re-researching the early days of Jackie Robinson and revisited my review of the 2013 movie “42.” The Ben Chapman scene, specifically. Chapman, the former leather-lung with the NY Yankees from Hoover, Alabama, was at the time managing the Philadelphia Phillies, and arrived with his team in Brooklyn for an early three-game series. Here’s David Falkner in his book “Great Time Coming”:

From the moment Robinson set foot on the field, Chapman, joined by a number of players, directed an almost unprintable barrage of verbal abuse at him that continued for the rest of the series…

It was in the third game that one of the Dodgers finally returned volley: Eddie Stanky of Mobile, Alabama. He called the Phillies cowards. He yelled: “Why don’t you pick on somebody who can answer back!!!!”

Here’s Jackie on the moment:

It was then that I began to feel better. … I remembered Mr. Rickey’s prediction. If I won the respect of the team and got them solidly behind me, there would be no question about the success of the experiment.

Why this isn’t remembered like the Pee Wee Reese moment, I don’t know. I like this one better. Hell, if I had a book on the 50 greatest moments in baseball history, I might include it. This or maybe the handshake.

Stanky was my kinda guy: short, scrappy, with a helluva batting eye. Despite having no pop (29 career home runs), he led the league in walks three times, and walked thrice as often as he struck out: 996 to 374. Tim, have you ever seen a line like this before: .268/.410/.348? That’s Stanky’s career line. His OBP—officially .4098—is good enough for a tie for 39th all-time. Guess who he’s tied with? Jackie Robinson.

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TIM: That’s a really good group you’ve got on your grid today. And I’m with you on Cobb—I didn’t know he played for the A’s. Ruth, I think, is more common knowledge. At least more than Cobb and the A’s.

Great stuff about Eddie Stanky. One of the most memorable things about “42” to me was Alan Tudyk suffering through his performance as Chapman, having to say those lines and be convincing.

Initially, my Grid wasn’t that interesting today, then I went down a rabbit hole. First, we have this:

Not bad, a score of 25, with only Eck and Ruth (yeah, maybe Rickey too) skewing it that high. But my Whitey Herzog fandom informed my pick for that Tigers/A’s box, knowing Whitey played in Kansas City, Balmer, and ultimately Detroit in a last gasp at a playing career. And having used Whitey, I wondered: Could this grid be filled entirely with managers? Not by memory, no. But I was curious enough to research and find out, and whaddayaknow, yes, it can indeed.

Great score, which of course does not count since I looked up where these guys played first. I didn’t know Frank Howard had been a manger, but there he is at the helm of the Padres in the strike split-season, at least according to BBRef.

Quick, what do Dick Williams and Chuck Cottier have in common? Yeah, they both managed the Mariners in 1986, but they also both replaced someone else in mid-season, had one full year with Seattle (losing 84 and 88 games, respectively), then got fired mid-season the next year. Ah, the good old days.

It’s not a theme I could really handle legitimately, I just don’t know where managers from the before time played unless they were player-managers like Frank Chance. But it was a fun diversion.

With an all-original teams grouping, I suppose we had a shot at an all black-and-white theme. Once I finally get the All-M’s Grid I’ll be thinking up other themes….other teams, sure, but goofier stuff too. The All-Willie Grid or the All-Dominican Grid or something.

I didn’t even bother with Rangers/Astros today. I did watch last night’s, and found it impossible to root for anybody except that Carter kid. Phillies/Snakes was actually a close game compared to how it felt; with the home run on the first pitch of the home 1st setting the tone it felt like a mismatch, yet it was a two-run difference. I don’t know, I guess I’m kinda rooting for Arizona, but also feel like they don’t deserve it? The Phils didn’t deserve it last year, so it’d be kind of poetic in that sense.

I listened to the Poscast today and I take issue with Pos’ conclusion that divisions don’t matter and should be done away with. I agree, though, that playoffs are better when you have to actually win something to get into them. Fucking Manfred.