Jump to content

Should the Orioles draft one of the Vanderbilt pitchers


Greenpastures23

Recommended Posts

6 hours ago, Frobby said:

I wonder what was the best two-headed catcher tandem in history?   And I don’t mean Johnny Bench and whoever his backup was.  

The varying combinations of Berra, Elston Howard and Johnny Blanchard used by the NYYs in the late 50s and early 60s were pretty good.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Frobby said:

I wonder what was the best two-headed catcher tandem in history?   And I don’t mean Johnny Bench and whoever his backup was.  

Great question. Just going off pure memory here so I'm sure I'm way off, but you probably have to go back to when there were a lot more pure platoons. 

The best one I can remember offhand was the 1983 duo of Ernie Whitt and Buck Martinez. I went back and looked and they combined for 5 WAR hitting 27 homers between them while being a great defensive duo as well.

 

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Great question. Just going off pure memory here so I'm sure I'm way off, but you probably have to go back to when there were a lot more pure platoons. 

The best one I can remember offhand was the 1983 duo of Ernie Whitt and Buck Martinez. I went back and looked and they combined for 5 WAR hitting 27 homers between them while being a great defensive duo as well.

 

I think Yogi Berra and Elston Howard may be a good answer.   In 1958, Yogi caught 87 games and started 22 other games in the OF/1B, batting  .266/.319/.471 and earning 3.2 rWAR.   Howard caught 64 games and started 23 games in the OF, batting .314/348/.479 and earning 3.2 rWAR as well.    So that's 6.4 rWAR for the pair, and they both made the all-star team.   They were both on the Yankees from 1955-1963, with Yogi starting 704 games at C and Howard starting 731.   In that time, Yogi was worth 26.4 rWAR, Howard 20.2.    Although their playing time at C was almost equal during that 9 year period, Yogi was really the primary catcher from 1955-59 (catching 100+ games four times), while Howard was the primary catcher from 1960-63 (catching 100+ games three times).  

  • Upvote 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

I think Yogi Berra and Elston Howard may be a good answer.   In 1958, Yogi caught 87 games and started 22 other games in the OF/1B, batting  .266/.319/.471 and earning 3.2 rWAR.   Howard caught 64 games and started 23 games in the OF, batting .314/348/.479 and earning 3.2 rWAR as well.    So that's 6.4 rWAR for the pair, and they both made the all-star team.   They were both on the Yankees from 1955-1963, with Yogi starting 704 games at C and Howard starting 731.   In that time, Yogi was worth 26.4 rWAR, Howard 20.2.    Although their playing time at C was almost equal during that 9 year period, Yogi was really the primary catcher from 1955-59 (catching 100+ games four times), while Howard was the primary catcher from 1960-63 (catching 100+ games three times).  

I haven't looked anything up, but it's hard to imaging a better set of candidates than Howard and Berra.  In 1958 Howard received MVP votes, finishing 17th, when his primary position was Yogi's backup.  It's plausible that Howard would be in the Hall of Fame if he'd gotten a starting gig  before he turned 30.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Posts

    • When he first came up, his slider was very mediocre and only really used as a get me over change of pace. Now it seems like a weapon. I wonder if he went to school with Professor Bradish for that.
    • Yeah, kinda why I asked the question. That seems real lofty for a comparison.
    • After a really disappointing April that saw his ERA balloon to 7.78, Alex Pham has found his bearings in May, allowing 3 ER in 14.1 IP, allowing 8 hits and 4 walks while striking out 17.   Yesterday Pham allowed a run on 2 hits and a walk in 4.2 innings, striking out 7.   53 of 72 pitches were strikes.  The sole run charged to Pham scored when reliever Kyle Virbitsky allowed a 2-out double to the first batter he faced after relieving Pham in the fifth.    Due to the poor start, Pham’s ERA still rests at an unimpressive 5.29, but he’s definitely been headed in the right direction.  Also, he’s struck out 40 batters in 34 innings.     
    • I can’t emphasize enough how stupid that rain delay was.  No rain at all for 45 minutes, then two hours of light mist, the kind that teams play through all the time.  I was standing near the kids play area during most of the delay and believe me, that rain didn’t deter any kids from using the playground equipment for two hours. Then, 15 minutes before the game is going to start, the grounds crew is watering the infield.  What? The game itself was not worth the wait, needless to say.   But what annoys me most is the complete lack of communication during these delays.  How about letting the fans who are there know what the thinking is about how long the delay will be?  How about an update every 30 minutes or so.   Nope, nothing.   Just a generic message on the scoreboard saying that the start of the game will be delayed to to the “threat” of inclement weather.   My phone was showing .05” of rain expected in the next six hours.  Some threat! On the bright side, the team did announce that ticket holders would be given vouchers that could be used for a Monday - Thursday game.  That was the least they could do.       
    • 19,286 for that rain-delayed mess of a game.  I’d say about 2/3 of those stuck through the 3 hour delay and were in their seats at game time.  
    • And paid Scherzer, and Zimmerman, and Corbin, and Werth.   They didn’t all work out, but nobody could say the Nats didn’t spend to put a winning team on the field during their run.  The run basically ended because Stras II and Corbin blew up in their face.   But there’s always 2019.   
    • I can’t believe that 8 hours after Grayson stepped off the mound, I’m the first person to update his thread.   After a 19-day IL stint and without a rehab stint, Grayson threw 6 innings of one-hit shutout ball last night.  The one hit was an infield squibber hit 59.5 mph off the bat.  His command was a tad shaky at times, as he walked three and hit a batter, but he still breezed through 6 innings on 82 pitches, 50 for strikes.  If it hadn’t been his first outing in three weeks, he certainly could have pitched the 7th inning.  Unfortunately, the bullpen blew it for him. Fastball topped out at 98.4 and he was still hitting 97 in his final inning.  
  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...