Baseballminutia

Congratulations to Davey Concepcion, a player that I always admired, from an era that is forever etched in my mind, one that seems further away each passing year, as the game changes and the memory of Davey’s flashing plays on the washed out green carpet of the Coliseum. He was the one that never left, nor was fully appreciated for that feat, he and Barry Larkin combined to play short for the Reds for most of my life, an amazing task that is befuddling to me even as I type this. So with life and work pulling me in other directions I’ll leave you with this:
Five things and some other junk about Davey Concepcion.

1. Davey was neither the first Red to wear number 13 (Eddie Miller 1946) nor the last (Alex Gonzales) Shortstop Eddie Pellagrini wore it in 1952 and 1953 and coach Ray Shore wore it in 1966 and 1967. All the players who wore the number for the Reds were shortstops, and only Davey wore the number for longer then two seasons.
2. Among players at least 6 ‘2” only Cal Ripkin (6’4”) has played more games at short then the 6’2” Concepcion.

HEIGHT >= 74

AT BATS                         AB       HT        G
1    Cal Ripken                 9217   6'4"       2381
2    Dave Concepcion            8247   6'2"       2300
3    Derek Jeter                6790   6'3"       1679
4    Tony Fernandez             6042   6'2"       1578
5    Marty Marion               5499   6'2"       1569
6    Alex Rodriguez             4989   6'2"       1275
7    Tony Kubek                 4167   6'3"       1092
8    Ron Hansen                 3894   6'3"       1198
9    Buddy Kerr                 3631   6'2"       1067
10   Harvey Kuenn               3250   6'2"        771

3. When looking at the players who have appeared in the most games at shortstop it’s hard not to notice that Venezuela is well represented with 3 of the top 7 including Davey (7), Omar Visquel (2) and Luis Aparicio (1)

BIRTHPLACE: VENEZUELA

AT BATS                         AB
1    Luis Aparicio             10230
2    Omar Vizquel               8966
3    Dave Concepcion            8247
4    Ozzie Guillen              6686
5    Chico Carrasquel           4484
6    Alex Gonzalez              3609
7    Carlos Guillen             2737
8    Enzo Hernandez             2327
9    Cesar Izturis              2184
10   Alvaro Espinoza            1550

Enzo Hernadez has the distinction of having the most at bats in a season with the fewest RBI’s

RBI <= 15

AT BATS                       YEAR     AB       RBI
1    Enzo Hernandez           1971      549       12
2    Bobby Byrne              1908      439       14
3    Eddie Yost               1947      428       14
4    Charlie Jamieson         1918      416       11
5    Goat Anderson            1907      413       12
6    Jack Smith               1919      408       15
7    Ivan DeJesus             1981      403       13
8    Bud Harrelson            1968      402       14
9    Clyde Milan              1909      400       15
10   Bill Werber              1942      370       13

4. Next to Pete Rose, Davey is the Red with the most games and at bats, and seasons in uniform as a player.

AT BATS                         AB        G
1    Pete Rose                 10934     2722
2    Dave Concepcion            8723     2488
3    Barry Larkin               7937     2180
4    Johnny Bench               7658     2158
5    Tony Perez                 6846     1948
6    Vada Pinson                6335     1565
7    Frank Robinson             5527     1502
8    Edd Roush                  5384     1399
9    Ted Kluszewski             4961     1339
10   Frank McCormick            4787     1228

5. Between 1972 and 1985 only 3 NL shortstops averaged over 4 runs created per every 27 outs… Concepcion was one of them.

RUNS CREATED/GAME              RC/G      OBA      SLG     RC/G
1    Dickie Thon                4.88     .329     .417     4.88
2    Garry Templeton            4.16     .317     .389     4.16
3    Dave Concepcion            4.04     .325     .366     4.04
4    Chris Speier               3.86     .328     .348     3.86
5    Ivan DeJesus               3.77     .325     .328     3.77
6    Don Kessinger              3.59     .329     .317     3.59
7    Ozzie Smith                3.51     .317     .306     3.51
8    Bill Russell               3.51     .312     .338     3.51
9    Larry Bowa                 3.46     .302     .324     3.46
10   Rafael Ramirez             3.46     .302     .347     3.46

Five things I’ve noticed about the Reds so far.

1.    Alex Gonzalez has more Doubles (23) then Edwin Encarnacion has Extra Base Hits (21) On the other hand, who thought that Edwin would have less errors (11) then Gonzalez (15)

2.    Aaron Harang is damn good. Harang is currently clipping along with a 3.50 ERA, vs. the leagues average of 4.34. One of the major parts of Aaron’s arsenal is the strikeout pitch. Below is a list of the pitchers the Reds have had who struck out more then 8 batters a game in a season (since divisional play) and their ERA and the era vs. the league, plus the runs saved above average. It’s a short list, one that only has 3 pitchers on it, and Harang will be the third guy to do it twice.

ERA                           YEAR     ERA    SO/9 IP     ERA     RSAA
1    Jose Rijo                1988     2.39     8.89     1.07       22
2    Mario Soto               1982     2.79     9.57     0.81       26
3    Mario Soto               1980     3.07     8.61     0.54       13
4    Jose Rijo                1994     3.08     8.93     1.14       22
5    Aaron Harang             2006     3.76     8.30     0.73       28

3.    Jeff Keppinger is still interesting to me… In just looking at the Reds since the 1995 season Jeff Keppinger (.951 OPS) is pushing the envelope for the best OPS by a Red with at least 100 PA’s, but this doesn’t come without a caveat, that being the top 25 of is littered with one year wonders and stars.

CINCINNATI REDS
SEASON
1995-2006

OPS                           YEAR     OPS      AB
1    Kevin Mitchell           1996    1.026      114
2    Jose Guillen             2003    1.013      315
3    Jon Nunnally             1997    1.002      201
4    Barry Larkin             1996     .977      517
5    Reggie Sanders           1995     .975      484
6    Alex Ochoa               2000     .964      244
7    Adam Dunn                2004     .956      568
8    Adam Dunn                2001     .948      244
9    Ken Griffey Jr.          2005     .946      491
10   Ken Griffey Jr.          2000     .942      520
11   Ron Gant                 1995     .940      410
12   Sean Casey               1999     .938      594
13   Ken Griffey Jr.          2003     .936      166
14   David Ross               2006     .932      247
15   Adam Dunn                2005     .927      543
16   Eric Davis               1996     .917      415
17   Sean Casey               2004     .915      571
18   Barry Larkin             1997     .913      224
19   Austin Kearns            2002     .907      372
20   Sean Casey               2000     .902      480
21   Barry Larkin             1998     .901      538
22   Ken Griffey Jr.          2001     .898      364
23   Jerome Walton            1995     .892      162
24   Michael Tucker           2000     .892      270
25   Mark Lewis               1995     .887      171

4.    Brandon Phillips has more extra base hits then Edwin and David Ross combined. That said let’s also note that Brandon has a .322 on base percentage and has 58 walks to 39 GIDP as a Red. His current on base percentage would rank him as 5th worst amongst Reds second sackers in the post strike era. He is however on pace to tie Brett Boone’s 1998 EBH total of 63, which is actually tied for number one in franchise history, with Joe Morgan’s 1973 output. So despite the poor on base percentage we are seeing Phillips pursue something that we has Reds fans don’t see very often, a second basemen with over 50 extra base hits.

EXTRA BASE HITS               YEAR     EBH      EBH
T1   Joe Morgan               1973       63       63
T1   Bret Boone               1998       63       63
3    Joe Morgan               1976       62       62
4    Pete Rose                1966       59       59
5    Pete Rose                1965       57       57
T6   Todd Walker              2002       56       56
T6   Joe Morgan               1974       56       56
T8   Tony Cuccinello          1931       52       52
T8   Pokey Reese              1999       52       52
10   Bret Boone               1995       51       51
11   Joe Morgan               1975       50       50

Worst 2nd sacker OB% since 1995 (Reds) (300 PA’s)

OBA                           YEAR     OBA      EBH     RCAP
1    Bret Boone               1996     .275      -11      -13
2    Juan Castro              2003     .290       -7      -12
3    Bret Boone               1997     .298       -9      -24
4    Pokey Reese              2000     .319      -12      -20
5    Bret Boone               1998     .324       10       -6
6    Brandon Phillips         2006     .324       -6       -8
7    Bret Boone               1995     .326        7        2
8    Pokey Reese              1999     .330       -2        0
9    Rich Aurilia             2005     .338        1        3
10   Todd Walker              2002     .353        4       10
11   D'Angelo Jimenez         2004     .364      -10        4
12   D'Angelo Jimenez         2003     .365       -4        8
13   Ryan Freel               2005     .371       -8        0

5.    Hit by Pitches – Currently the Reds lead all of MLB in batters hit by pitches (56) the next batter the Reds hit will place this years team at slot #5 for batters hit by pitches in Reds team history, which in retrospect doesn’t seem to be a feat that has occurred as much as legend (The 1960’s and the brush back style we always hear about) nor is it a feat that the Reds often led the league in. Below is a list of the Reds teams with the most HBP and the placement they held in that stat at the years end.

But first here’s the 1960’s

HIT BY PITCHES                YEAR     HBP
1    Reds                     1969       56
2    Reds                     1962       48
3    Reds                     1965       46
T4   Reds                     1968       45
T4   Reds                     1966       45
T6   Reds                     1967       42
T6   Reds                     1960       42
8    Reds                     1963       39
9    Reds                     1961       32
10   Reds                     1964       31

HIT BY PITCHES                YEAR     HBP
1    Reds                     2005       80           2nd
2    Reds                     1997       77           1st
3    Reds                     2006       60           12
T4   Reds                     2002       56           8th
T4   Reds                     1969       56           1st
6    Reds                     2004       54           9th
7    Reds                     1998       52         9th

I’m still here.

Life like baseball throws many curve your way, sometimes you don’t recognize the spin and you eat a little dirt. Due to life I found myself in Cincinnati for the Brewers series, I was able to catch the Frank Robinson Bobblehead game as well as the Matt Wise pitch that floored the young SS Lopez, that in itself was brutal, the most blood I’ve ever seen at a baseball game live. As an avid hockey fan I did however fail to get too squeamish about the blood, it was definitely Hockeysque.

The new manager has a quicker hook then Narron, and the Reds bullpen and Wayne Krivsky continue to be less then consistent in performance and in obtaining the fans faith or their confidence.

With a new ownership group that sometimes seems hungrier then they should be considering the last 20 years of the Reds history. Simply put this franchise was a 4 cylinder car in a world of 8 cylinder hot rods. Sure if tuned right and with the right environment an occasional victory was attained, but the fact is the infrastructure has no strength to successfully hold up a string of successes. To get there will probably be slower then the world so many of us have been accustomed to over the last 20 years, a world that has instant information available from numerous outlets, at our fingertips 24/7 year in and year out.

So here we sit, the Reds season is in the swamp and with most sticky situations it becomes one that the local press find themselves looking at daily in hope of finding something of worth, something that can be written about, and like ten years ago we have a story in the muck.

Love the Brand – Like the Player

A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to the product and serves to create associations and expectations around it.

Hustle rules in Cincinnati, I won’t get into the aesthetics of that statement and try to quantify it historically or sociologically. It’s just something that anyone who ever has spent anytime looking at baseball in the Queen City accepts as a truth, most just move on and realize that there is all sorts of hustle and all sorts f performers. But deep in their heart and the hearts of the press in Cincinnati lives a love of the scrappy underdog, a love that comes every decade, just like the Cicadas. Ion fact ten years ago once famous underdog Ray Knight was canned as the Reds manager and a July 31st trade brought in a man that was essentially that years version of Jeff Keppinger. This of course was Chris Stynes, and his 1997 season as Red was a hustling, bustling. Multi positional romp a lot like Jeff Keppingers has been this season.

Here is Stynes line that year. .348/.394/.485, in 198 Reds at-bats.

Playing 2nd, 3rd and the outfield. Unlike Keppinger Stynes was only 24, and that season there were those who felt he had arrived, yet many noted his weakness as they do Keppingers. Stynes’ problem with the Reds is that the positions he plays – second base, third base and left field – are not exactly open. If Bret Boone weren’t around to play second base, the most likely candidate is Pokey Reese. Willie Greene has third base, with Aaron Boone in the wings. And the Reds would like more power in left field than Stynes can provide.

This is from a Post article in 1997

”But he could get into the lineup regularly,” said Reds assistant general manager Darrell (Doc) Rodgers. ”Take for example, Tony Phillips. There’s not a position where you would want to put him regularly, but he plays every day. Same with Bip Roberts. A lot of times, even players think of versatility as a negative. But in baseball, especially for managers, it is a positive. It makes a player more valuable if he can move around.”

Stynes, who has bounced from the majors to Class AAA for three straight years, does not demand a steady role with the club. He just wants to stay in the major leagues, whatever that means.

”I have no problem with any roles,” said Stynes. ”Playing every day at one position is fine. So is coming off the bench at several positions. Being in the big leagues is where you want to be.

‘To try to hit the ball out would only be a hindrance to myself and the team,” said Stynes. ”If I were to consistently hit the ball in the air, it might be the difference between hitting eight home runs per year and hitting 12 or 15. It’s not going to keep me in the big leagues, anyway.”

This is from a Post article yesterday

Instead of his versatility being a positive, it’s been one of the things that hampered Keppinger’s march to the majors. The tag given to him in the minors was that he didn’t have a position. The Pirates drafted Keppinger, an All-American shortstop at Georgia, in the fourth round of the 2001 first-year player draft. Although he’d played a solid, if unspectacular shortstop in college, the Pirates put him at second base.

“Who decided a guy can’t do certain things? I know when I first came to the Pirates, they decided I couldn’t play shortstop, and I think I’ve done OK,” Keppinger said. “You get labels in this game and sometimes it sticks.”

Since then, Keppinger has been traded three times – to the Mets in the Kris Benson trade in 2004, to the Royals for Ruben Gotay last season and to the Reds in January.

Throughout that time, he has played all over the infield in the minor leagues and done what he does best – hit. Since hitting .276 for Class A Hickory in 2002, Keppinger has never hit lower than .300 in the minors and hit .278 in 55 major league games.

“He’s old-school. Hitters are born, not made,” Perno said. “He was born to hit, he can do it at every level, he’s done it at every level.”

“Anybody can see he doesn’t get himself out. That’s the main thing. He makes the pitcher get him out,” Mackanin said. “He doesn’t swing at bad pitches. He’s bunted on his own early in the game. Why? Because he feels the best thing may be a productive out. I’ve talked to him. He doesn’t feel comfortable against a certain pitcher, he’ll bunt it.”

Keppinger currently sits at .333/387/.522 after only 69 at bats.

In short I’m endorsing the Brand, and not the player. Nothing against Jeff Keppinger, but as the saying goes “Small Sample Size So Far” however I like what I’ve seen as well as I like that brand of baseball peppered into the game now and then. After years of sluggers and no pitchers the Reds need some of the other type of baseball to balance out the Ying of the power on the team, not replace it, just balance it out and attain baseball harmony.

Which by my best summation is attained by having a plus .500 winning percentage.