Friday, January 25, 2013

My All-KC Dream Lineup

My previous post on my dream lineup to watch caught the eyes of the guys on The Ballgame radio show. They picked apart my lineup a bit at the end of their last show, which you can listen to here. They're planning on discussing what an all-Kansas City dream lineup might look like on a future show, and Chris Kamler asked me if I'd like to revise my lineup to only include players who have played professionally in KC. So here it is. While I do have a bunch of all-time greats in the lineup, my criteria was guys I would  most like to see play, not necessarily who I consider the best.

SP: Satchel Paige, Bullet Rogan, Hilton Smith, Kid Nichols, Kevin Appier

RP: Dan Quisenberry, Jeff Montgomery

C: Darrell Porter

1B: Buck O'Neil

2B: Frank White

3B: George Brett

SS: Jackie Robinson (his position with the '45 Monarchs)

OF: Bo Jackson, Amos Otis, Roger Maris

Bench: Ernie Banks (IF), Bert Campaneris (IF), Frank Duncan (C), Willard Brown (OF)

Monday, January 21, 2013

My Dream Lineup

This post is directly ripped off from/inspired by a Michael Clair post on Old Time Family Baseball, a site which I heartily recommend. (Clair recently concluded his annual blogathon fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders, but if you're seeing this before January 25ish, there may still be time to donate.) One of the 43 posts Clair made in his 24 hour bloggin' orgy was the naming of his dream lineup. Not the best team he could put together, but one filled with his favorite players (which somehow include Bob Hamelin and Brian Bannister). I've dreamed up my team, but unlike Clair's, mine is mostly guys I never got to see but wish I could have. And of course it is KC heavy.

Starting Pitcher: Satchel Paige

Easy.

Catcher: Josh Gibson

Duh.

First Base: Buck O'Neil

Can you tell I'd like to go back and see some Negro leaguers? Besides having one of the great personalities in baseball, Buck's game would have been a joy to watch. Lots of line drives and smooth defense. Buck would also manage the squad.

Second Base: Frank White

I did get to enjoy the latter part of Frank's playing days as a kid, but there's still no one else I'd rather see playing second.

Third Base: George Brett

Ditto. And if I could specify that George hit like he did in 1980, that would be great.

Shortstop: Jackie Robinson

This is where Jackie played for the Monarchs in 1945. No other season intrigues me as much as Jackie playing for the Monarchs, miserable, being secretly scouted by the Dodgers.

Left Field: Bo Jackson

I did experience Bo pandemonium first-hand, but yeah, wouldn't mind watching that guy a little more. And as president/owner/GM/overlord of this dream team, he's barred from playing that stupid pig ball game, he stays healthy, and turns into an actually great baseball player in addition to being a freak of nature.

Center Field: Amos Otis

AO is one of the Royals greats who is completely before my time.

Right Field: Babe Ruth

Because Babe Ruth.

Rotation: Bullet Rogan, Hilton Smith, Zack Greinke, Kevin Appier

I was a fan but didn't follow the Royals all that closely in the '90s. I wish I could go back and better appreciate just how special Kevin Appier was that decade. Zack I did see and thoroughly appreciate during his ridonkulous 2009 campaign. But it was so much fun I'd like to relive it. Bullet and Hilton are a couple of all-time greats from the Monarchs that pique my imagination.

Relievers: Dan Quisenberry, Jeff Montgomery, Joakim Soria, Mariano Rivera

The big three relievers in KC history, and I suppose Rivera might be pretty enjoyable if he's pitching for you instead of against you.

Bench:

Darrell Porter (C)
Ernie Banks (IF)
Oscar Charleston (OF)
Willie Mays (OF)
Roberto Clemente (OF)
Ozzie Smith (IF)

Yes, Charleston, Mays and Clemente are sitting on the bench behind Bo Jackson and Amos Otis. Porter's hitting numbers during his four years in KC ('77-'80) are pretty incredible; I'd love to be able to see his overall game as a catcher during those years. Buck O'Neil claimed Charleston was the greatest player he ever saw. And the other guys I just imagine to be beautiful to watch. Man my team would kill Clair's.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Royals Ding Dongs Home And Away

Chili Davis
The fantastic new batting splits function of the Baseball Reference Play Index continues to amuse. Here now is a look at how Royals players have fared when it comes to homering home and away from Royals/Kauffman Stadium. Ignoring the years spent at Municipal Stadium ('69-'72), I found the 40 players to hit at least 20 homers either at home or on the road during their time spent with the Royals. Those 40 players hit 45% of their dingers at home, 55% on the road. Here are the players with the biggest raw difference between home and away dongs (all of whom hit more on the road):

Away Home diff
George Brett 181 136 -45
Steve Balboni 73 46 -27
Hal McRae 95 74 -21
Darrell Porter 41 20 -21
Wally Joyner 31 13 -18

Perhaps more interesting is a look at the extremes of percentage of homers home and away. Here are those that were much more likely to homer on the road on a rate basis:

Away Home Home%
UL Washington 20 6 0.23
Wally Joyner 31 13 0.30
Darrell Porter 41 20 0.33
Eric Hosmer 22 11 0.33
Matt Stairs 25 14 0.36

Hosmer has twice as many road dongs compared to home in his young career. That is not a trend that carries over into his overall hitting however. He has a career wOBA of .321 at Kauffman compared to .313 on the road. Hos could be due for quite a few round-trippers at home this year.

Now here are the real freaks, the guys who somehow have hit more dongs at huge Kauffman Stadium than on the road. First on a counting basis:

Away Home diff
Chili Davis 9 21 12
Dean Palmer 18 25 7
Mark Quinn 19 26 7
Billy Butler 49 54 5
Jermaine Dye 41 44 3
Alex Gordon 40 42 2

Second, on a rate basis, which actually follows the above list exactly:

Away Home Home%
Chili Davis 9 21 0.70
Dean Palmer 18 25 0.58
Mark Quinn 19 26 0.58
Billy Butler 49 54 0.52
Jermaine Dye 41 44 0.52
Alex Gordon 40 42 0.51

I extended both of those lists to six players to include Alex. Interesting that both Billy and Alex have hit more at home than on the road, though I have no idea what it means, if anything.

Chili Davis played only one year in Kansas City as the 37 year old DH in 1997. In a career that featured 350 long balls, 1997 was the only single season he hit 30. Perhaps even stranger, an incredible 21 of those came at Kauffman, which is a tie for the most home dingers in a season by a Royals player:

Rk Player Year HR
1 Chili Davis 1997 21
1 Dean Palmer 1998 21
3 Carlos Beltran 2002 19
4 Steve Balboni 1985 17
4 Mike Sweeney 2000 17
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/4/2013.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Royals Killers

The Baseball Reference Play Index, one of the seven wonders of the modern world, has a new batting splits function (currently in beta) that I've of course fallen into a wormhole playing with. Below are a bunch of lists of the hitters who have faced the Royals the most or done the most damage against them. First up are the top 20 players by plate appearances against the Royals and their stats in those PAs:

Rk Player From To G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
1 Paul Konerko 1999 2012 225 949 117 222 40 0 42 142 107 137 .271 .360 .473 .834
2 Paul Molitor 1978 1998 205 920 125 242 46 5 17 81 76 89 .293 .352 .423 .775
3 Cal Ripken 1981 2001 206 885 125 237 50 6 37 130 86 83 .303 .371 .524 .895
4 Reggie Jackson 1969 1987 223 873 105 196 32 1 37 126 97 172 .256 .340 .445 .785
5 Rod Carew 1969 1985 205 862 107 263 38 14 10 90 83 61 .345 .408 .471 .880
6 Rickey Henderson 1979 2002 189 853 143 199 35 2 17 62 133 98 .283 .401 .411 .812
7 Robin Yount 1974 1993 198 836 113 232 50 7 18 94 50 91 .303 .347 .458 .805
8 Harold Baines 1980 2000 203 824 91 220 42 2 27 101 71 114 .294 .353 .464 .817
9 Magglio Ordonez 1997 2011 190 823 112 234 45 0 31 131 52 85 .310 .355 .492 .847
10 Wade Boggs 1982 1999 183 808 100 230 34 5 7 62 106 43 .332 .418 .426 .844
11 Frank Thomas 1990 2007 182 802 120 199 45 0 37 121 122 86 .303 .411 .540 .952
12 Lou Whitaker 1978 1995 184 801 98 197 45 5 18 79 84 87 .283 .360 .440 .800
13 Omar Vizquel 1989 2012 199 790 101 190 23 3 7 57 76 61 .278 .347 .351 .698
14 Jim Thome 1992 2011 193 787 133 194 34 1 49 139 127 182 .299 .414 .582 .996
15 Brian Downing 1973 1992 201 777 88 176 27 4 25 95 94 92 .265 .361 .431 .792
16 Toby Harrah 1971 1986 195 771 85 167 33 5 15 68 84 77 .251 .342 .383 .726
17 Bert Campaneris 1969 1983 182 754 89 161 17 6 0 49 55 87 .238 .294 .281 .575
18 Rafael Palmeiro 1989 2005 172 747 110 191 53 2 41 126 92 83 .296 .383 .574 .958
19 Ivan Rodriguez 1991 2010 179 735 94 231 52 4 21 103 44 88 .337 .376 .516 .892
20 Carlton Fisk 1972 1993 182 734 98 178 40 7 26 100 59 100 .272 .338 .473 .811
Generated 1/3/2013.

I compared the career OPS of those 20 players to their OPS against KC. Here are the five who improved the most against the Royals:

Player OPS v KC OPS diff
Cal Ripken 0.895 0.788 0.107
Ivan Rodriguez 0.892 0.798 0.094
Rafael Palmeiro 0.958 0.885 0.073
Rod Carew 0.880 0.822 0.058
Jim Thome 0.996 0.956 0.040

And the five who performed the worst against the Royals compared to their career norm:

Player OPS v KC OPS diff
Bert Campaneris 0.575 0.653 -0.078
Reggie Jackson 0.785 0.846 -0.061
Paul Molitor 0.775 0.817 -0.042
Toby Harrah 0.726 0.760 -0.034
Paul Konerko 0.834 0.858 -0.024

After the jump are many more lists of the top Royals nemeses.