Regarding the Slog Comment thread argument about Junior: his retirement shows how complex the game is. I’m not sure I’d predict that the M’s hitting will improve drastically with the removal of Griffey, given how relatively infrequently he’s played lately, but if a younger player gets a shot, perhaps that energy will help the team. I cannot find word online about who the Mariners are calling up or activating to take Griffey’s roster spot.

Most great players do indeed go out at the bottom of their games, often mid-season. I think Griffey is to be applauded for not just drawing his paycheck through the end of the year, or making the M’s do the public-relations-disaster of cutting him. He saw his skills in decline, wasn’t having fun, hung up the spikes.

Meanwhile, on This Date in Baseball History, some historic parallels:

In 1932:

Tony Lazzeri blasts a grand slam to complete his natural cycle, with his four hits being accomplished in sequential order; single, double, triple, home run. This rare and amazing feat is overshadowed by Yankee teammate Lou Gehrig hitting four home runs in the same game, and the announcement of long-time Giants manager John McGraw’s retirement on the same day.

Just as Jr’s retirement has been overshadowed by some Irish writer disguised as an umpire blowing a call and a perfect game, so Lazzeri’s feat is forgotten next to Gehrig’s. And that’s not fair, since there have been only 14 natural cycles in MLB history, while there have been 20 perfect games, and 15 four-homer games, and 15 unassisted triple plays. Arguably, a natural cycle is the rarest feat in the game.

In 1995

In a scoreless tie, Expo hurler Pedro Martinez hurls nine perfect innings against Padres. After Montreal takes the lead in the top of the tenth inning, the 23-year old Dominican right-hander gives up a lead-off double to Bip Roberts in the bottom of the frame but gets the 1-0 victory when Mel Rojas secures the final three outs for a save.

Well, if you’re gonna lose a perfect game, at least lose it to Bip Roberts. . . and boy, did Mel Rojas suck when be became a Cub. Speaking of sucking Cubs, in 2003:

Slugger Sammy Sosa is ejected from the game during the first inning after he shatters his bat and the broken remains exposes cork. The Cub outfielder will be suspended by major league baseball for 8 games (will be reduced to 7) his offense.

I was at that game, and even from my seats in the upper deck, it was clear that the bat had been tampered with (the color of the wood was distinct, and when a catcher grabs fragments of a shattered bat and hands them to the home plate umpire, you know something is up). Sosa was called out, the runner who’d scored from second (Mark Grudzilanek) was sent back, and in the top of the next inning, the immortal Troy O’Leary came out to play right field. The Cubs never made any public address announcement explaining what had happened, but anyone who knew the rules of baseball knew instantly what it must have been.

But perhaps most important from a literary perspective, in 1888:

The first publication of Ernest L Thayer’s poem Casey at the Bat appears in the San Francisco Examiner. The work is originally published under the pen name ‘Phin’, because the poet feels embarrassed by what he considers to be bad verse and decides to keep his identity a secret, until others come forward to claim the work to be their own.

This poem is the origin of baseball literature in American culture, which I will provide Slog updates on throughout the summer. This connects to last night’s blown perfect game too, with its immortal line

“Kill him! Kill the umpire!” shouted someone on the stand”

Everyone’s always wanting to kill umpires . . .

18 replies on “Baseball bottoms and tops. . .”

  1. When I was a kid, and an enthusiastic new baseball fan, I was unfortunate enough to have only seen Willie Mays play in the extreme twilight of his career. I was like, “Is this the same guy who made that amazing catch back in the 50’s?”

  3. If you are going to mention Pedro Martinez losing a perfect game in the 10th, you have to mention Harvey Haddix losing one in the 13th.

    “Haddix will always be remembered for taking a perfect game into the 13th inning of a game against the Milwaukee Braves on May 26, 1959. Haddix retired 36 consecutive batters in 12 innings essentially relying on two pitches: fastball and slider.However, his Pittsburgh teammates didn’t score, as Braves pitcher Lew Burdette was also pitching a shutout.

    A fielding error by Don Hoak ended the perfect game in the bottom of the 13th, with Felix Mantilla being safe at first base. Mantilla later advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, which was followed by an intentional walk to Hank Aaron. Joe Adcock then hit an apparent home run, ending the no-hitter and the game. However, in the confusion, Aaron left the basepaths and was passed by Adcock for the second out and the Braves won 2-0. Eventually the hit was changed from a home run to a double by a ruling from National League president Warren Giles; only the first Braves run counted, for a score of 1-0, but the Pirates and Haddix still lost.”

  5. The goddamn M’s are bringing up an effing RELIEVER to replace Griffey on the roster. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. They already plain released one of the only effective relievers on the team, while AA junk like Sean White still has a job.

    The stupidest thing about cork is that it doesn’t work. You maybe pick up a tiny bit of bat speed, but that’s it. And no proven hitting advantage at all (maybe a decrease). But getting caught is funny.

  6. @5, maybe they just want to try out another reliever before dumping White (or dare I hope, League)…?

    It’s not like we have a lot of bats in the farm system at the moment…

  11. @9, the FIFA World Cup is actually a soccer (or “football”, as the rest of the world calls the sport) championship tournament, that will be played in South Africa beginning next week.

  13. No one is discussing it on SLOG yet (that I know of – I haven’t checked the Junior Retired posting since last night), but rumor has it that the M’s are going to trade Cliff Lee at some point. If they’re smart they’ll trade him for a good bat or two.

  14. @13 of COURSE they are going to trade Lee at some point. That’s been obvious for weeks. What is there to say about that, other than how depressing it is (granted I sort of feel bad for Lee, wasting most of a season, stuck in Seattle)…?

  15. @ 14, excuuuse me, but it wasn’t the least bit obvious to me. You trade for one of the best pitchers in the game and decide to lose him less than halfway into the season? I would figure on a longer term commitment.

    I know you’re all sore over the M’s season, but try not to unload on me every time I talk about it to, okay?

  17. @15, okay, okay. The whole situation is just a bummer.

    Lee was available, the Ms jumped on the opportunity, gambling on a pitching-heavy strategy this year that didn’t work. Lee, who is awesome, never had any chance of being re-signed, but the early implosion of this season has made the need to cash him in painfully obvious.

  18. @ 16 & 17, fair enough. I’ve forgotten that this is a contract year for Lee. Still, the reporting I’d read made it sound like the M’s were going for Lee for the long term. Obviously they’d be in the running more if they were winning, but it sounds like Seattle’s gone small-market in recent years. Well, let’s hope they find some contender that’s willing to part with some decent prospects, because that sounds like the only way they’ll make a quick turnaround.

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