Today In Baseball: 1914 Boston Braves

The 1914 Boston Braves had now, on September 8 1914, had almost completed one of the biggest comebacks in baseball history. After being 11 games out of first place on July 18th, it took only 37 days to go from bad to best. By today, September 8, they were sailing, now in first place for good. Over the 37 days, they were 24-5, and tied the New York Giants at 59-48. Ironically, they finished 10.5 games ahead of the Giants, whom they had trailed before. The Giants, who had 3 future Hall of Famers- Manager John McGraw, and pitchers Christy Mathewson and Rube Marquad. The Braves had Hall of Fame duo Johnny Evers and Rabbit Maranville. The duo lead the league in double plays, killing many offensive threats, leading to their teams success. This success lead to a World Series ring, sweeping the heavily favored Phildelphia A's, who featured 5 Hall of Fame players, and a Hall of Fame manager, Connie Mack. After the defeat, Mack soon traded or released almost all of his star players, and they did not again win a pennant until 1929. The following season, the Braves finished in second, 7 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.

Hall of Fame Spotlight: Roger Bresnahan

Roger Bresnahan, a 1945 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, was a catcher and player-manager for 6 different teams from 1897 to 1915. They were the Washington Senators, Chicago Orphans, Baltimore Orioles, New York Giants, St.Louis Cardinals, and Chicago Cubs. He managed the Cardinals while he played there (1909-1912), and the Cubs in 1915. Over the 18 years he played, he had a career .279 batting average, accumulated 1,252 hits, and had 530 RBI. His statistics are mediocre, and sabermetrician Bill James said that Bresnahan's induction was an honor that he did not deserve. One reason Bresnahan may have been elected was because he revolutionized catching, by becoming one of the first to use catching shinguards that resembled wicket keeper's cricket pads. In 1897, he burst onto the scene as a pitcher, and went 4-0 for the Senators, but was released when there was an argument over how much he should be paid. Personally, I feel that because he revolutionized catching, (and is rated #16 for the catching position in Bill James' Historical Baseball Abstract), he should be in the hall and belongs there.

Best Home Run Hitters of All-Time

The 500 home run club is an exclusive club, the rights of entry given only to the most elite players in major league baseball. There are only 25 members, 6 of them still currently active.If I were to be asked to rank the members of the club without looking at statistics, my list would go as follows: Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Barry Bonds, Mike Schmidt, Frank Robinson, Jimmie Foxx, Mel Ott, Mark McGwire, Eddie Mathews, Reggie Jackson, Eddie Murray, Harmon Killebrew, Willie McCovey, Manny Ramirez, Ken Griffey Jr, Frank Thomas, Ernie Banks, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Jim Thome, and Gary Sheffield. Now, if I took away McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro, and Bonds, because of steroid allegations, the list would be a bit shorter. But I ignored this, listing the members based on how they have performed. Most people should have the same first three, Ruth, Mays, and Aaron. Everyone, and I mean everyone, should have Babe Ruth listed first. No doubt is he the best player in the club, let alone all of baseball. But some may switch Mays and Aaron. Why? Because if you look at Aaron's stats, he hit more homers, had more RBI, and collected more total bases. But Mays was an excellent fielder, contributed much to his team, and had, some say, the best catch EVER! You can switch them if you want to, but I have to disagree. Next on the table is the label of "Mr. October". You could say that Reggie Jackson, who hit 18 postseason homers, 10 of them in the World Series, or you could lean to Manny Ramirez, who has hit 10 more postseason homers, but only 4 of them in the World Series. Most historians would probably say that no one can be named Mr. October because Reggie wil always be Mr. October, and I agree. Looking at this, I put Jackson higher up in the rankings than Ramirez simply because of how he performed and how much he contributed during his career, though Ramirez's career is not yet over. The rest is based solely on opinion, as I did not look at statistics. Time will tell whether or not players will move up or down in the rankings.