Sports

Baseball

Baseball 101

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MUSIC THE HAMMER AND THE BAT BOY

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Baseball 101: Expressing the sport through a wide spectrum of color

Baseball 101: A colorful game

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Baseball 101: Noteworthy debuts

Baseball 101: Debuts

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The Mets returned to Shea Stadium on Sept. 21, 2001, for the first time after the World Trade Center attacks and faced Atlanta, a night capped off by Mike Piazza's dramatic go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning. (Newsday/Paul J. Bereswill)

Mike Piazza's post-9/11 home run

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The late Yankees owner George M. Steinbrenner III. (Newsday/Audrey C. Tiernan)

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Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson played 25 MLB seasons with nine different and is the career leader in stolen bases (1,406), caught stealing (335) and runs scored (2,295). (AP photos)

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Roger Clemens announced his return to the Yankees on May 6, 2007, at Yankee Stadium. (Newsday/Audrey C. Tiernan)

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Billy Martin managed the Yankees on five separate occasions and had a record of 556-385 (.591). He won two AL pennants and one World Series, and was ejected 14 times. (AP photos)

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Baseball 101: Comebacks

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Giants Maglie

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Baseball 101: NY, NY

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Baseball 101: New York, New York (and New York, New York)

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All through the first week of this past December, New York was consumed with baseball. It was the talk of the town, dominating social media, newspaper back pages and talk shows on TV and radio. The Mets had made the kind of major trade that has been baseball’s lifeblood, in season and out, for a century. 
How fitting that the big splash was made by Brodie Van Wagenen, who had just traded his status as agent for that of general manager, in a deal with Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto, a former player who was traded both to and from the Mets. The acquisition of Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz for former first-round picks Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn and other players reflected and continued one of the sport’s great traditions. 
Baseball deal-making has long fueled the Hot Stove and enlivened late July. It captures interest year-round, eclipsing sports that are active during late fall and early winter. It is essential in improving a team and, during this era of tanking, in deliberately making a roster worse. 
Even when the free agent market moves slowly, as it did this offseason, the trades made, anticipated and dissected all keep the sport moving. That rings true in 2019, which is the 100th anniversary of the most influential baseball deal of all time: the Yankees acquiring Babe Ruth from the Red Sox for cash. 
The Ruth sale made baseball history and elevated transactions forever. It gave rise to players being moved here and there in exchange for other players, money or various and sundries (such as an announcer or a hearty dinner). 
With that in mind, school again is in session and “Deals” represents the topic for this year’s <a href="https://newsday.com/baseball101">Baseball 101</a>. That is Newsday’s annual seminar on baseball, looking at the sport through one particular lens and using 101 examples. This spring, we present <a href="http://https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/101-baseball-trades-and-deals-to-remember-1.28947870">101 memorable (or forgettable) transactions over the years</a>. 
Other sports do have trades, of course, but not with the same volume and impact that baseball does. Author Shawn Krest writes in his 2017 book, “Baseball Meat Market: The Stories Behind the Best and Worst Trades in History,” that in the four seasons leading up to publication, the major leagues witnessed an average of 88 trades a year, involving 247 players. 
In baseball trades, it is not just the marginal player who goes. It is not surprising that a prospective Hall of Famer such as Cano would be dealt. Krest pointed out that, as of 2015 there had been 205 trades involving players who wound up in Cooperstown. 
Trading has become increasingly pricey, nuanced and statistically analytical over the decades. But in many ways, it has stayed the same. Executives still try to put spin on a deal, as Red Sox owner Harry Frazee did on Jan. 5, 1920, when he formally announced the Ruth sale. Although history has shown it was thoroughly driven by Frazee’s financial situation, he insisted at the time, “I should have preferred to have taken players in exchange for Ruth, but no club could have given me the equivalent in men without wrecking itself, and so the deal had to be made on a cash basis.” 
And now, just like then, observers assert that some teams take advantage. The New York Times weighed in on the Ruth deal with an editorial on Jan. 7, 1920, saying: “It marks another long step toward the concentration of baseball playing talent in the largest cities, which can afford to pay the highest prices for it. This is a bad thing for the game.” 
Yet the game has survived. The only thing more exciting than a deal is the promise of another one. As Van Wagenen said back in December: “I will state it very clearly. We did not make this move to have this be our last move.”

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Baseball 101: Tricks of the trade

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Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell

The Boston Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees 1919 in a deal that changed the course of both franchises for more than 80 years.

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David Cone won four World Series with the Yankees and one with the Blue Jays.

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After being traded from the Mets, Tom Seaver went 113-81 (.582) in nine seasons. Pat Zachry was 41-46 (.471) in six seasons, Steve Henderson hit .287 with 35 homers in four seasons, Doug Flynn hit .234 and won a Gold Glove in five years and Dan Norman hit .230 in 282 at-bats over four seasons with the Mets.

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Baseball 101: Wheeling and dealing

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It takes two. That is at the heart of everything that happens in baseball. Every pitch begins with some interaction between two players, a pitcher and a catcher, and involves a matchup between a pitcher and a batter. All sorts of twosomes spring from there.
A pitch is a ball or a strike, a play is either safe or out. There are only two options for a ball in play: fair or foul. A play is scored either a hit or an error. In any given game, a pitcher is either a starter or a reliever. There are only two major leagues. Every player in an organization falls into one of two categories: major-leaguer or minor-leaguer.
Each inning has two halves. Every contest falls into one of only two categories, day game or night game. There are two clear-cut sides in every baseball labor negotiation: players and owners. There are two types of retired players, those who are in the Hall of Fame and those who are not.
Of course, we all know that baseball is a team game composed of individuals performing one by one, but the sport’s dramas are reminiscent of the manifest of Noah’s Ark: They come two by two. Even at a time when an ocean of numbers is available to baseball aficionados, “2” still stands out. Other sports have their share of rivalries and combinations, but none has as many pairings as baseball does.
All of this comes to mind at the start of 2018, as the Yankees became the first team since 1962 to open spring training with a roster that includes two reigning 50-plus home run hitters. National League Most Valuable Player Giancarlo Stanton, who hit 59 homers for the Marlins, and American League MVP runner-up and Rookie of the Year Aaron Judge, who hit 52 for the Yankees, are the first such tandem since Yankees teammates Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle returned after a season in which they hit 61 and 54, respectively.
“You see two twin towers, man, getting off the bus, it’s something to look at,” Reggie Jackson said early in Yankees camp last month. “We’ll sell out some batting practices and we’ll run out of balls once in a while.”
The sight of the 6-7 Judge and the 6-6 Stanton in the same lineup inspires a look at many other notable baseball twosomes, past and present. So “Dynamic Duos” is the topic of our annual Baseball 101 feature.
<a href="https://www.newsday.com/baseball101">Baseball 101</a> is our annual spring seminar on the game, looking into the soul of the sport from a particular lens by listing 101 prime examples. Last year, we explored 101 “firsts,” and in previous years, we have looked at 101 great nicknames, 101 noteworthy replacements, 101 memorable numbers and 101 games.
This time it is <a href=" https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/dynamic-duos-baseball-101-1.17630141 ">101 duos</a>. Those include twosomes who did amazing things, such as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig or Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. It also takes in opponents who will go through history together for having been on opposite sides of the same event, i.e. Ralph Branca and Bobby Thomson. There also are classic pairs that are intrinsic to the baseball vocabulary: peanuts and Cracker Jack.
In the case of teammates such as Maris and Mantle, each one’s skills seemed to amplify the other’s. In what might be an omen for Judge and Stanton, neither of the M &amp; M Boys came close to repeating his 1961 feat the following season. Maris hit 33 homers in 1962, Mantle had 30. But their team did win the World Series, and Yankees fans would be just fine with that result this year.
For now, as the season opens, we invoke the spirit of Hall of Famer Ernie Banks, famous for his slogan “Let’s play two!” In this case, <a href=" https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/dynamic-duos-baseball-101-1.17630141 "> let’s celebrate two 101 times</a>.

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Baseball 101: In this game, it’s two for the show

In this game, it’s two for the show

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Baseball 101: Dynamic duos

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Baseball 101: First things first

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Baseball 101: The gems of pitching

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Baseball 101: As the game evolves, replacing past is price of progress

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On a winter afternoon in early March, with another foot of snow on the way, it is baseball season here at 25 Main Street. It always is. 
Defiant toward the looming storm, one family is commenting on Buster Posey's shoes in a San Francisco Giants exhibit. Other people are perusing the Japanese language broadsheet newspaper page with a color photo of Ichiro Suzuki in his Yankees uniform. A couple is taking photos of Jackie Robinson's bronze plaque. 
This is a typical day at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, which has had nothing but days like this since it opened its doors on June 12, 1939. Back then, 15,000 people crowded the street for a look inside after having seen Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Walter Johnson and others in person at the opening ceremony. 
Seventy-five years later, the building in this little upstate town is as relevant as ever. The words "Hall of Fame'' and "Cooperstown'' hit home and go deep, as evidenced by the impassioned national debate about which players from the performance-enhancing-drugs era should or should not be inducted. 
"To sift through the conversation, it is all because people care,'' said Jeff Idelson, the Hall of Fame president. "It's evident that the honor and prestige of becoming a Hall of Famer still matters to people. Very much.'' 
So in its Diamond Anniversary year, the Hall of Fame is the topic of our annual Baseball 101 seminar. It happens every spring: We view the sport as a whole through 101 details, like getting to know the forest by studying the many trees. 
Our lineup this year is entitled The 101 Best Things in the Hall of Fame. In this case, "best'' is not meant as the most famous or dramatic, but the most effective in revealing the sport's essence. Like Baseball 101, the Hall of Fame tells the game's story through details: a ball representing each no-hitter in the major leagues since 1939, a scorecard from 1880, a 1964 "Welcome Yogi Day'' button marking Berra's first game at Yankee Stadium as a manager. 
This will be a standout year for the Hall of Fame. Along with the 75th anniversary, staffers are expecting a lavish celebration during induction weekend in late July. By early March, hotels in a 25-mile radius already were booked. Fans seem eager to toast Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, Joe Torre, Tony La Russa and Bobby Cox. 
It will be vibrantly different from last year, when no modern player was inducted. That reflected the Baseball Writers' Association of America's ambivalence about the PED era. The writers, who do the voting, lately have rejected anyone identified (or even suspected) as a steroid user. 
That has detonated an annual frenzy of criticism. Debate has focused on various players' candidacies and on the process itself (which the Hall has no plans or desire to change). Controversy only confirms how important the institution is. 
"Listen, earning election to the Hall of Fame is the greatest honor for an athlete, in any sport,'' said Idelson, a former public relations director for the Yankees. "The fact that only one percent of baseball players have bronze plaques underscores rigorous standards the writers have always enforced.'' 
But the Hall of Fame is more than plaques. It is a living, growing collection. Whenever a pitcher is through seven innings of a no-hitter, someone from the Hall of Fame is on the phone with the player's ballclub, saying that some memento would be appreciated. 
"Young kids might think of history as when George Washington was running the country, but history happens every day,'' Idelson said. 
Glass display cases here contain many artifacts from players who are either ineligible or unelected to the Hall. "That's the difference between the Hall of Fame and the museum,'' said Erik M. Strohl, vice president of exhibitions and collections. "How can you tell the history of baseball without Pete Rose?'' 
Nor can you tell the story of baseball without the Hall. Staffers here point out that you can't listen to a major league broadcast for long without hearing a mention of Cooperstown. 
Ballplayers pay the highest tribute by the way they talk and think about the Hall. Henry Aaron has donated more than 50 items from his legendary career, Strohl said. This reporter's ears once heard Rickey Henderson give a mock preview of his induction speech in the Mets' clubhouse in 1999 (and it wasn't nearly as good as the one he actually gave in 2010). Duffy Dyer, the third-string catcher on the 1969 Mets who played seven years with other clubs, once deadpanned to this writer: "Don't worry, when I go into the Hall of Fame, I'm going as a Met.'' 
Current and former players occasionally stop in here. Dick Green and Bob Horner have been in this year. Suzuki has visited six times. 
The thing about that is that Cooperstown -- a tiny burg in the hills, more than an hour west of Albany -- is not on the way to anywhere. You have to make a special effort. 
So it's not easy to get to the Hall of Fame, in more ways than one. 
That is one reason it is such a special place. <a href="http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/101-things-to-look-for-at-the-baseball-hall-of-fame-1.7533520">Here are 101 others</a>.

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Every item in the Hall of Fame has a history unique to baseball's story

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This installment of <a href="/sports/baseball/baseball-101-1.4833949">Baseball 101</a> is a seminar in baseball past, present and future, told through a series of numbers that, for 101 reasons, matter more than most. Numbers tell the story of baseball. In fact, they are the story of baseball. 
 Whether they represent statistics, records, dates, years, positions, players or dollars, you can count on numbers to tell you something. 
 Baseball's best number? It's '4' 
 Of all the magic numbers in baseball, "4" ranks as No. 1. It is the ultimate number, the one that represents completeness and achievement. A player needs to touch four bases to score a run. A team needs to win four games to win the World Series, after having had to win four in the league championship series to get there. 
 Four balls gets a runner to first base . . . A manager generally signals for an intentional walk by holding up four fingers. 
 A grand slam counts for four runs, the most that can score on any one play . . . Hitting for the cycle, one of the rarest batting accomplishments, requires four distinct hits: single, double, triple and home run . . . The record for one batter's home runs in a game is four . . . The No. 4 position in any team's batting order is considered an honored and responsible spot, There are four umpires on the field in regular season games. 
 An unusual and notable performance by a pitcher is to strike out four batters in an inning (after one of them reaches first on a dropped third strike). The website baseball-almanac.com says it's only happened 65 times in history, but eight times last season, including once by the Yankees' Phil Hughes . . . And these days, starting pitchers usually rest four days between assignments. 
 No. 4 was the first number ever retired, beginning a popular and wide ranging tradition. It was done in honor of Lou Gehrig, who knew the fate his disease had in store for him and still said, on the field at Yankee Stadium, "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth." It was on July 4, 1939. 
 And the other 100 . . . 
 .400: The Holy grail for a season batting average, which no one has accomplished since Ted Williams' .406 in 1941. 
 511: <a href="/sports/baseball/mlb-s-300-game-winners-1.3664658">Career wins by Cy Young</a> (if anybody matches it, they'll name an award after him, too). 
 56: Games in <a href="/sports/baseball/yankees/70-years-later-joe-d-s-streak-stands-out-1.2876634">Joe DiMaggio's epic hitting streak</a>, which ended July 17, 1941 and was followed by a 16-game streak. 
 4,256: Hits by all-time leader Pete Rose, who, like all-time HR leader Barry Bonds, is not in Hall of Fame. 
 1: <a href="/sports/baseball/mets/johan-santana-throws-first-mets-no-hitter-1.3757284">No-hitters pitched by a Met</a>. Johan Santana needed 134 pitches for his gem last season against the Cardinals. 
 262: Most hits in a season, by Ichiro Suzuki with the Mariners in 2004. 
 369: Home runs in 10 seasons by Ralph Kiner, a Hall of Famer who has been on Mets telecasts since 1962 
 3,304: <a href="http://sports.newsday.com/data/baseball/yankees/derek-jeter-hits">Hits for Derek Jeter</a>, a Yankees record. 
 1/8: Uniform number worn by 3-foot-7 Eddie Gaedel as a stunt pinch-hitter for the 1951 Browns. 
 3: Babe Ruth's uniform number, which some people believe should be retired throughout baseball. 
 3,000: <a href="/sports/baseball/the-3-000-hits-club-1.2710655">Gold standard for hits</a>. Roberto Clemente finished with exactly 3,000, having reached it with a double on Sept. 30, 1972, three months before he died in a plane crash on a humanitarian mission. 
 42: <a href="/sports/baseball/yankees/mariano-rivera">Mariano Rivera</a> is the last major leaguer to ever will wear this number, which was retired throughout baseball "in perpetuity" by Commissioner Bud Selig on the 50th anniversary of the day <a href="/sports/baseball/the-first-black-players-in-mlb-1.3497024">Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color line</a>. 
 12: Record for RBIs in a game, Jim Bottomley (1924) and Mark Whiten (1993), both with the Cardinals. Also, RBIs in the 1960 World Series by Bobby Richardson (the only MVP from the losing team); one-hitters each by Nolan Ryan and Bob Feller; years after Jackie Robinson's debut that Pumpsie Green became the first African-American on the Red Sox. He wore No. 12. 
 1919: Year of the most notorious scandal in baseball history, with eight members of the Chicago White Sox banned for life for intentionally throwing the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. 
 75: Years the Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud has been used to take the glare off new baseballs. Blackburne, a former big leaguer, was coaching third for the Philadelphia A's in 1938 when he first offered use of mud from a swimming hole near Palmyra, in southern New Jersey. 
 7.6: Wins Above Replacement rating in 2012 for Justin Verlander, tops among pitchers. WAR represents wins a player brought to his team above what a replacement would have produced. 
 57: Extra-base hits in 2012 by Bryce Harper, the most ever by a teenager 
 9: Players on the field (not counting DH), innings in a game, strikes in a perfect inning. World Series used to be best of 9. Joe DiMaggio wore 9 as a rookie. 
 40: Years since Cleveland shipbuilding heir <a href="/sports/baseball/yankees/george-steinbrenner/george-steinbrenner-1.208201">George Steinbrenner III</a> said at his first New York news conference: "We plan absentee ownership as far as running the Yankees." 
 2: <a href="http://sports.newsday.com/data/baseball/no-hitters/">No-hitters</a> in a row by the Reds' Johnny Vander Meer in 1938, the second was in the first night game at Ebbets Field. 
 17: Inches, the width of home plate, every speck of which was used precisely by Greg Maddux, <a href="/sports/baseball/previewing-the-2014-hall-of-fame-candidates-1.4426582">a likely 2014 Hall of Famer</a>. 
 60-6: Feet and inches, respectively, from the "pitching plate" to home plate, a distance unchanged since 1893. 
 90: Feet between bases. It is said Mickey Mantle could get from home to first in 2.9 seconds. 
 65: Years the Cubs have been on TV station WGN, but Chicago Tribune reports the club won't renew when the contract expires next year. 
 66: Years ago, Bill Veeck moved Indians training camp to Arizona because he believed it would be more tolerant of the African American players he was about to sign. 
 85: Age of Vin Scully, Bronx native, Dodgers announcer since 1950. 
 2,632: Cal Ripken's record for consecutive games played. 
 68.2: Percent of votes received this year by Craig Biggio, the top vote-getter -- 6.8 percent short of the threshold for the Hall of Fame. 
 6: Retired in 1963 by the Cardinals for Stan Musial, who once noted that he faced opponents who played in the 1930s and in the 1970s. 
 24: Willie Mays' number. Mets have issued it sparingly (Kelvin Torve, Rickey Henderson) since he wore it for them in 1972-73. 
 31: Wins by Tigers pitcher Denny McLain in 1968, an almost inconceivable total now, in an era of innings limits. 
 21: Losses by Tigers pitcher Mike Maroth in 2003, also unlikely to be duplicated. 
 .366: Ty Cobb's career batting average -- best of all-time. He won 11 batting titles and hit .400 three times. 
 1,426: Hits for <a href="/sports/baseball/mets/the-ups-and-downs-of-david-wright-1.3795308">David Wright</a>, Mets all-time leader. 
 106: Miles per hour fastball recorded in 2012 by Aroldis Chapman, who has been moved back to the closer for the Reds after a spring experiment as a starter. 
 1.4217: Season record OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage), by Barry Bonds in 2004. 
 159 1/3: Innings pitched last season by Stephen Strasburg, shut down Sept. 7 by the Nationals to protect his arm after Tommy John surgery. 
 .424: Rogers Hornsby's batting average with the Cardinals in 1924 -- the highest mark since 1900. He hit .403 the next season. 
 .417: Miguel Cabrera's majors-leading weighted On-Base Average in 2012. The wOBA is based on the principle that some hits are more valuable than others. 
 15: Strikeouts by Sandy Koufax at Yankee Stadium in Game 1 of the World Series 50 years ago. 
 73: The single season home run record held by Barry Bonds, set in 2001. 
 232: Record number of walks Barry Bonds received in 2004 . . . 120 of them intentional -- another record. 
 $165: Price for a Green Monster seat, above the famous wall. 
 7: Mickey Mantle's number (after having originally worn 6). Also, Barry Bonds' MVP awards and <a href="http://sports.newsday.com/long-island/data/baseball/no-hitters/?fieldSelect-pitchername=Nolan+Ryan">Nolan Ryan no-hitters</a>. 
 8: Date in Oct. 1956 of Don Larsen's perfect game. Final strike caught by Yogi Berra, No. 8. 
 309: Sam Crawford's record for most career triples, he had four seasons of 20 or more. 
 2,597: Reggie Jackson's record for most strikeouts in a career -- he had a record 18 seasons of 100 or more. 
 50: Games, the suspension for a positive performance-enhancing drug test -- baseball's new tragic number. 
 79: Years it took to tie Babe Ruth's AL record of 32 road homers in 1927 (David Ortiz, 2006). 
 608: <a href="http://sports.newsday.com/data/baseball/yankees/mariano-rivera-saves/">Career saves for Mariano Rivera</a>, who will add to the total in 2013 -- what he says will be his last season with the Yankees. 
 70: Most career wins against one team, Grover Cleveland Alexander vs. Cincinnati (1911-30). 
 11/1/01: Date on which Yankees-Diamondbacks World Series Game 4 ended. Derek Jeter's 10th inning homer earned the nickname "Mr. November." 
 44: Retired by the Braves and Brewers for Hank Aaron, the Giants for Willie McCovey and the Yankees for Reggie Jackson. 
 755: Hank Aaron's home run total, which some still consider the true record, given allegations that Barry Bonds used PEDs to reach 762. 
 2,297: Hank Aaron's undisputed record for career RBIs. 
 11: Major League Baseball cities in 1953, before the Browns moved from St. Louis to Baltimore in 1954. New York had three teams, Philadelphia and Chicago two each. 
 13: The unlucky inning for Pirates' Harvey Haddix who threw 12 perfect innings against Braves in 1959 before losing gem on a throwing error by Don Hoak. 
 13.5: Lead, in games, for the Dodgers over the Giants on Aug. 11, 1951, making the eventual Giants pennant seem incredible. 
 98.84: Percentage of votes (425 of 430) that Tom Seaver received on his first ballot entry into the Hall of Fame in 1992, still the highest mark. 
 1913: The New York Highlanders were renamed the New York Yankees. 
 5: Most home runs in a doubleheader, by Stan Musial of the Cardinals in 1954 and Nate Colbert of the Padres in 1972. 
 53: Years Connie Mack spent as manager, the last 50 with the Philadelphia Athletics. He won a record 3,731 games. 
 22: Years between <a href="/sports/baseball/mets/mets-20-game-winners-1.4000722">Mets 20-game winners</a> (Frank Viola 1990, R.A. Dickey 2012). 
 1,406: Stolen bases for all-time leader Rickey Henderson. There were 18 years (1980-1998) between his first and last AL stolen base titles. 
 155: Stolen bases last season by Reds prospect Billy Hamilton, a minor-league record. 
 .146: Orioles batting average during 1969 World Series vs. the Mets (in its 109-win regular season, Baltimore hit .265) 
 23: Most career grand slams, by Lou Gehrig and Alex Rodriguez. 
 3-4: Career major league record as a White Sox pitcher by Basketball Hall of Famer Dave DeBusschere. 
 .202: Batting average for Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan as White Sox minor-league outfielder. 
 409: Pages in <a href="/sports/baseball/tainted-mlb-players-1.118495">the Mitchell Report</a> on illegal performance-enhancing drugs. 
 0: Al Oliver's number. Also, salary arbitration hearings this year and weeks in 2013 without an interleague series. 
 3-2: The full count on a batter -- three balls, two strikes -- and the payoff pitch brings us to the edge of our seats. 
 41: Most games won by a pitcher in a single season since 1900, by Jack Chesbro of the New York Highlanders (41-12 in 1904). 
 490: Feet from home plate to the centerfield wall when Yankee Stadium opened in 1923. 
 27: Outs to finish a game, championships for the Yankees. 
 34: Retired by Rangers and Astros for Nolan Ryan. 
 30: Retired by the Angels for Ryan (he also wore this for the Mets). 
 18: Mickey Mantle's record for most career home runs in World Series play. 
 105: Years since the Cubs won the World Series. 
 74: Career innings pitched so far by Alex Hinshaw, the only big leaguer whose grandfather lived and worked in the palace of Afghanistan's King Zahir. 
 9-6-2: Official scoring of Derek Jeter's "flip play" in 2001 AL Division Series. 
 26: Most innings played in a single game . . . Brooklyn and Boston played to 1-1 tie on May 1, 1920. 
 61: There never really was an asterisk after <a href="/sports/baseball/yankees/roger-maris-1.2825163">Roger Maris'</a> then-record season home run mark in 1961. 
 108: Double stitches on a major-league baseball. 
 1.12: Bob Gibson's earned run average in 1968, the year before the mound was lowered. 
 5.08: Earned run average in 1938 for Bobo Newsom, the highest ever by a 20-game winner. 
 46: <a href="http://sports.newsday.com/data/baseball/mets/citi-field-home-runs/">Home runs at Citi Field</a> last year that would not have cleared the more distant fences in 2011; 21 of them by the Mets. 
 462: Estimated distance, in feet, of Opening Day home run last year by Athletics rookie Yoenis Cespedes. 
 86: Years between titles for Red Sox, with frustration cresting against the Mets in '86. 
 99: Worn by Turk Wendell, who worked a career-high 80 games for the Mets in '99. 
 191: Hack Wilson's mark for most RBIs in a single season, with the Cubs in 1930. 
 396: Home runs as a catcher by Mike Piazza, a record. He also has most home runs as a designated hitter from a National League team, 10. 
 116: <a href="/sports/baseball/mlb-s-winningest-seasons-1.3077797">Most games won in a single season</a>, by the Cubs in 1906 and the Mariners in 2001. 
 20,000: Games, according to baseball-reference.com, the Cardinals will have played as of Opening Day, dating back to 1882. So far, they have 10,283 wins. 
 19: Home runs by Chipper Jones at Shea Stadium, the most for him at any ballpark outside Atlanta. 
 .215: Career batting average of Mario Mendoza, inspiration for the infamous "Mendoza Line," which refers to players batting at or below .200. 
 120: Losses for the <a href="/sports/baseball/mets/the-1962-mets-1.3634585">1962 Mets</a>. 
 100: Wins for the 1969 Mets, and seven more in the postseason. 
 37: Feet, the height of the Green Monster in Boston's Fenway Park. 
 101: Years since Fenway Park opened.

SPB101WEB31

Baseball 101: The best 101 numbers in baseball history

1955/1965 - Mays - 50HR (Cropped)

This is not a test, it is a course. Welcome to Baseball 101, which this season consists entirely of unanswered questions. They are offered to provoke thought, debate, understanding and amusement -- just as baseball itself does. Socrates taught using questions. 
 In that vein, consider this a takeoff on one of baseball’s philosophers, Yogi Berra, who once reportedly said, “You can observe a lot by watching.” 
 In this case, you can tell a lot by asking. Here are the questions: 
 1. Will Barry Bonds ever get into the Hall of Fame? 
 2. The same for <a href="/sports/baseball/roger-clemens-perjury-trial-1.2998185">Roger Clemens</a>: Will he get in someday? And for both of them, should they get in? 
 3. How about Pete Rose? Does he remain barred from the Hall because he bet on baseball? 
 4. Will the expanded playoff format mean we never again will see <a href="/sports/baseball/timeline-wild-night-decides-al-wild-card-1.3209623">an immensely exciting final day</a>, as we had at the end of the 2011 season, or will it finally restore a true pennant race feeling? 
 5. <a href="http://newsday.com/rivera">Mariano Rivera</a> is generally considered the best relief pitcher of all time. So who is second? 
 6. Considering that players are bigger, stronger and faster than ever, and that equipment has grown much more advanced, why is it that 90 feet is still just the right distance from home to first to ensure lots of close plays? 
 7. Which is harder to do: win 20 games or hit 50 home runs? 
 8. When is it safe to allow a young person to start throwing a curveball? 
 9. What is the precise difference between "command" and "control?" 
 10. Who is the best all-around player (non-pitcher) in the history of the game? 
 11. And the best pitcher ever? 
 12. Is the sacrifice fly really a legitimate statistic? (The batter wasn't intentionally trying to give himself up.) 
 13. How should <a href="/sports/baseball/mets/jose-reyes-timeline-1.2976706">Jose Reyes</a> have handled the final game of the 2011 regular season when he was trying to win the National League batting title? 
 14. How many games will <a href="/sports/baseball/yankees/the-career-of-andy-pettitte-1.2659184">Andy Pettitte</a> start for the Yankees this season? 
 15. Which is better, "Baseball Tonight" on ESPN or "MLB Tonight Live" on the MLB Network? 
 16. Does team chemistry promote success, or does success translate into team chemistry? 
 17. Did <a href="/sports/baseball/yankees/babe-ruth-1.2860787">Babe Ruth</a> really "call his shot" in the 1932 World Series against the Cubs? 
 18. What would baseball look like today if the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York City agreed on either the Dodgers' plan to build a stadium at Atlantic Yards (site of the new Barclays Center) or Robert Moses' plan to build the team a home in Flushing (site of Shea Stadium/Citi Field)? 
 19. What is the best way to break in a new glove? 
 20. Why didn't the Giants ever win when they played at Candlestick Park, and was it smart for them to have moved there from New York? 
 21. Which is the better way to determine home-field advantage in the World Series: by whichever league wins the All-Star Game, or by the previous method of having the National League host in even-numbered years and the American League host in odd-numbered years? 
 22. What is the best baseball town in America? 
 23. Have the Cubs been held back and worn out all these years by playing so many day games at home? 
 24. Will there always be a designated hitter rule and will it ever be universal, throughout both leagues? 
 25. Which is better, Stickball or Wiffle ball? 
 26. As much as <a href="http://newsday.com/citifield">Citi Field</a> is an upgrade, in what ways was Shea Stadium better? 
 27. Same thing with the new Yankee Stadium: As nice and spacious as it is, what do you miss about the old place? 
 28. Babe Ruth shaped modern baseball, so should his No. 3 be retired by all teams? 
 29. What was the most important postseason hit of all time? (Remember, Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World" was technically a regular-season home run.) 
 30. "<a href="/sports/baseball/trailer-moneyball-1.2973661">Moneyball</a>" was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, so is it the best baseball movie ever? And if not, what was? 
 31. Which is the better performance: Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series or Harvey Haddix's 12 innings of perfection in 1959? 
 32. Pete Rose taking out Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star Game, and ruining Fosse's career: Good hustle or unnecessary excess? 
 33. Should a pitcher ever win an Most Valuable Player award or should that be reserved for an everyday player because pitchers have the Cy Young Award? 
 34. Who was the best hitter: Felipe, Matty or Jesus Alou? 
 35. Who is the best catcher: Bengie, Jose or Yadier Molina? 
 36. Should baseball expand the use of instant replay to review close plays on the bases? 
 37. The knuckleball has historically proven to be an effective pitch. So why is <a href="/sports/baseball/mets/get-to-know-r-a-dickey-1.3023290">R.A. Dickey of the Mets</a> the only starter in the major leagues now using it? 
 38. Why does spring training have so much more allure than training camp in the other sports? 
 39. Which was <a href="/sports/baseball/baseball-s-historic-september-collapses-1.3210197">the greatest collapse</a>, the 1964 Phillies, 2007 and/or 2008 Mets, 2011 Braves or 2011 Red Sox? 
 40. Where is the best place for youngsters to get autographs? 
 41. Will baseball ever go the way of the NBA and allow loud music during the actual playing of the game, rather than just during breaks? 
 42. Which is the better fantasy baseball format: Head-to-head or roto? 
 43. With the hundreds of Tommy John surgeries having been performed since the first one in 1974, why has no pitcher, according to ESPN The Magazine, won more games after the operation than Tommy John himself (164)? 
 44. What is the best baseball novel ever written? 
 45. What is the best baseball biography ever written? 
 46. Given that starting pitchers do not go as deep into games as they did 40 years ago, why is it unthinkable that they work on three days of rest, as they did back then? 
 47. Which is the better mascot, Mr. Met or the onetime Mets dog Homer? 
 48. Who was the best-fielding first baseman: Vic Power, Wes Parker, <a href="/sports/baseball/mets/the-home-of-keith-hernandez-1.1442754">Keith Hernandez</a>, <a href="/sports/baseball/yankees/don-mattingly-1.2298722">Don Mattingly</a> or someone else? 
 49. How would it have worked out for each side, and for each player's legacy, if the Yankees and Red Sox really had pulled off that fabled trade of <a href="/sports/baseball/yankees/70-years-later-joe-d-s-streak-stands-out-1.2876634">Joe DiMaggio</a> for Ted Williams? 
 50. Who was the fastest player you've ever seen, going from first to third? 
 51. It's been 43 years since the last 30-game winner (Denny McLain, 31-6 in 1968). Will anyone win 30 again? 
 52. Is Ryan Braun truly "innocent" or simply "not guilty" because of a technicality? 
 53. Why is Opening Day in baseball such a special occasion? (Cincinnati has scheduled a pregame downtown parade for the 93rd year.) 
 54. What will the next wave of new stadiums look like? Specifically, a half-century from now, will there be a retro movement to replicate Shea, Veterans, Three Rivers and Riverfront Stadiums? 
 55. How should baseball honor Roberto Clemente for having opened so many doors for Latin American players? 
 56. Who would you want in Game 7: Bob Gibson or Sandy Koufax? 
 57. What actually makes a curveball curve, and how much of it is an optical illusion? 
 58. Now that Banner Day is back, which, if any, of these baseball artifacts is worth reviving: doubleheaders, Astroturf, organ music, Bat Day? 
 59. How many current big-leaguers know what "playing pepper" means, and how much are they missing by not playing that old hand-eye coordination game? 
 60. If baseball is ever forced to adopt a contraction plan and fold two franchises, which teams should go? 
 61. With <a href="/sports/baseball/mets/the-mets-under-fred-wilpon-1.2903913">the Wilpons</a> having received good news in the Madoff settlement, when can Mets fans look forward to good news about the ballclub? 
 62. How would <a href="/sports/baseball/yankees/george-steinbrenner/george-steinbrenner-1.208201">The Boss</a> have responded to having spent nearly $2 billion on payroll during the past 11 years and winning only half as many titles as the Red Sox and Cardinals? 
 63. Why do players sometimes dive into first base when studies show it is quicker to run? 
 64. Is the total of on-base percentage and slugging percentage the best measure of a hitter's value? 
 65. Can a team possibly get anything close to an equal return if it trades Babe Ruth, Tom Seaver or any other icon at his peak? 
 66. Will <a href="/sports/baseball/yankees/derek-jeter">Derek Jeter</a> eventually move to another position or will he just retire when he can't play shortstop anymore? 
 67. Is it a good idea to expand rosters to 40 on Sept. 1 or is it unfair to have minor-leaguers in big games? 
 68. In the draft, should you go with the most talented player no matter what his age is, or play it safe and take a college guy? 
 69. Why is there caterwauling every year about which players aren't chosen for the All-Star Game, followed by complaining that the game is meaningless? 
 70. Billy Martin or Joe Torre? Gil Hodges or Davey Johnson? 
 71. In 1972, there were nine African-American starters in the All-Star Game. In 2011, there were four. In 1964, the Cardinals had four African-American players in the lineup for Game 7 of the World Series. In Game 7 of 2011, the Cardinals had none. <a href="/sports/baseball/the-first-black-players-in-mlb-1.3497024">Sixty-five years after Jackie Robinson's breakthrough</a>, how can baseball again attract top black athletes? 
 72. Has a player ever presented a more honest question to a sitting President than when Babe Ruth, upon being introduced to Calvin Coolidge on a sultry Washington day, said: "Hot as hell, ain't it, Prez?" 
 73. Where does Citi Field's Shake Shack rate among the best ballpark concessions, and what else is on the short list? 
 74. Should you sell your Honus Wagner baseball card now or hold on to it? 
 75. Who has the best starting rotation in baseball? (Fangraphs.com lists the Angels first). 
 76. What <a href="/sports/baseball/baseball-s-most-amazing-records-1.1817682">record is least likely ever to be broken</a>? 
 77. Given that Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp had the highest WAR rating (a statistic measuring how much more he meant to his team than a hypothetical Triple-A replacement), shouldn't he have been the 2011 National League Most Valuable Player? 
 78. Why is stealing signs from the bases or dugout considered part of the game, while peeking from the batter's box to see the catcher's signal is considered cheating? 
 79. Is it fair game to call for a squeeze play in the ninth inning of an exhibition game? 
 80. What is the bigger obstacle to the Orioles snapping their 14-year streak of losing records: their ownership or their brutal division competition? 
 81. Are six Mets-Yankees games every season three too many? 
 82. How would you rank <a href="/sports/baseball/dodgers-great-duke-snider-dies-at-84-1.2717491">Duke Snider</a>, <a href="/sports/baseball/willie-mays-1.2860818">Willie Mays</a> and <a href="/sports/baseball/yankees/mickey-mantle-1.2860774">Mickey Mantle</a> during their heyday as New York's superstar centerfielders in the 1950s? 
 83. When the Astros move to the American League next season and there is an interleague game every day, will interleague play cease to have whatever special appeal it does have? 
 84. How often will Nationals manager Davey Johnson be asked to compare Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper to Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry? 
 85. Why do they rubmud on every major-league baseball? (Hint: check out <a href="http://baseballrubbingmud.com" target="_blank">baseballrubbingmud.com</a>). 
 86. Should Major League Baseball shut down for a couple weeks at midseason to allow for the World Baseball Classic, as the NHL does for the Olympics? 
 87. Does Marvin Miller belong in the Hall of Fame for the way he revolutionized baseball through collective bargaining? 
 88. With statistical and video analysis having become so sophisticated, what does the future hold for bird-dog scouts? 
 89. Fenway Park is celebrating its centennial season this year, but is it time for a new park in Boston? (A plan in 1999 that proposed a new stadium was scrapped.) 
 90. Who has more influence in baseball than agent Scott Boras? 
 91. Is it fair that teams compete for the same wild-card spots when they play considerably different schedules? 
 92. Why, 51 years after Hal Richman introduced the Strat-O-Matic baseball board game, do middle-aged men still drive to Long Island from as far as Ohio and Ontario to buy the new season's cards? 
 93. Who was the best athlete ever to play professional baseball: Jim Thorpe, Bo Jackson, Michael Jordan or someone else? 
 94. What sort of mentor will the new, outgoing Manny Ramirez be to A's teammate Yoenis Cespedes, the heralded free agent from Cuba? 
 95. If you didn't know Dodger Stadium will turn 50 on April 10, how old would you say the sparkling place looks? 
 96. What makes Vin Scully standout among announcers, even now, in his 63rd season? 
 97. Can any full-time, big-salaried player do worse than Adam Dunn's .159 batting average in 2011? 
 98. Other than your favorite team, who has the best uniforms? 
 99. What chance does Kansas City have of ending a 26-year playoff drought (the longest of any city in the bigs, considering the Expos/Nationals have split their 30-year hiatus between two hometowns)? 
 100. Which team was the greatest in baseball history? 
 101. Who's on first?

SPBQUEST05

101 baseball questions to debate

Mays and Mantle

100 baseball games you should have seen, sorted in groups of 10 using these categories: Opening Day, Mets, Yankees, Subway Series, Memorable, Surprises, Historical, Pitching Gems, Playoffs, World Series.

Baseball 101

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