Final summer season, an article titled Mark Gubicza Tackles a Difficult Profession Quiz ran right here at FanGraphs. In it, the Los Angeles Angels broadcaster did his finest to reply matchup-specific questions from his enjoying days —- he pitched within the huge leagues from 1984-1996 — equivalent to which batter he allowed probably the most hits to, and who took him deep probably the most occasions. Together with taking a stab on the solutions, Gubicza shared entertaining anecdotes about among the hitters that had been talked about.
He isn’t the one pitcher-turned-broadcaster I challenged with (a model of) the quiz. Later within the season, I sat down with David Cone who, very like his Eighties-Nineteen Nineties modern, had enjoyable tales to share.
I first requested the New York Yankees broadcast analyst which batter he confronted probably the most occasions. Cone didn’t give you the proper reply, first guessing Will Clark (76 plate appearances), after which Juan Gonzalez (57), to who he recalled surrendering a number of gophers.
The reply is Roberto Alomar, towards whom he matched up 93 occasions. What does he bear in mind about going through the Corridor of Fame second baseman?
“The factor that stands out — and he was a teammate of mine, too — is that Robbie was among the best at selecting up tipped pitches,” Cone instructed me. “Possibly a pitcher was doing one thing together with his glove, and also you type of knew that Robbie would see that. However a variety of occasions he was utilizing it as a bluff. Alex Cora does it to at the present time. You need the pitcher to suppose you have got one thing on him, which will get into his head. It’s psychological warfare, and Robbie was the perfect at that.”
The batter with probably the most hits towards him?
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“Milt Thompson was actually powerful on me,” recalled Cone. “He was inside-out hitter, so I had a tough time getting him out with my off-speed pitches. His type was a foul matchup for me, so that may be my guess.”
Shut, however no cigar. Thompson had 18 hits (in simply 50 at-bats), one fewer than Dave Martinez.
Cone nailed Gonzalez because the batter who took him deep probably the most occasions (six) with little hesitation.
“He took lots of people deep, rather a lot,” mentioned Cone. “He was simply extremely sturdy. Should you made a mistake, he didn’t miss it. I believe I struck him out a good quantity of occasions, as nicely (11 Ks in 57 plate appearances), but when I hung a slider or missed up within the zone, he made me pay.”
Requested whom he fanned probably the most occasions, Cone whiffed badly by guessing Chris Sabo. The previous Pink went simply 3-for-19 towards him, however struck out solely eight occasions. Cone then introduced up Scott Brosius (3-for-25 with 11 strikeouts) as a risk, albeit with a caveat that he most likely didn’t face him sufficient.
The reply is Jose Canseco, Carlos Delgado, Travis Fryman, and Juan Samuel, all of whom he punched out 18 occasions.
“I used to throw a variety of sliders to Canseco,” Cone recalled. “One time I threw a two-seam fastball and drilled him within the ribs. I used to be questioning if he was going to come back out to the mound. He didn’t — I used to be grateful — after which we ended up turning into teammates with the Yankees. I bear in mind him within the clubhouse considering, ‘He remembers. He’s nonetheless pissed. Are we going to have a problem right here?’ When you’re teammates that stuff is previous historical past, however I nonetheless stayed away from him.”
Cone couldn’t give you the batter he issued probably the most free passes to, however he did have reminiscences of the participant in query.
“That’s a variety of walks,” he mentioned upon studying that he issued 15 of them to Rafael Palmeiro. “I confronted him when he was a rookie with the Cubs and I used to be with the Mets. We went to Japan collectively on an All-Star tour. Proper after that, he was traded to Texas. I bear in mind calling him and telling him good luck. I additionally instructed him that the Cubs had made a mistake. I believed actually extremely of his means.”
One of many teammates Palmeiro had in Chicago is the participant to whom Cone issued probably the most intentional walks (3).
“Wow,” Cone replied upon listening to that it was Andre Dawson. “Breaking into the league with the Mets, Andre was probably the most intimidating individual I noticed. If I seemed over from the mound when he was on deck, I might see him gazing me. Each time. He had this tough, concentrating stare. He by no means took his eyes off the pitcher when he was on the on-deck circle. You could possibly really feel him gazing you. He was intense.”
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Eddie Stanky went 4 for 8 towards Invoice Macdonald.
Ted Kubiak went 5 for 7 towards Jim Barr.
Elrod Hendricks went 5 for 11 towards Lindy McDaniel.
Solly Drake went 5 for 11 towards Johnny Antonelli.
Lee Maye went 5 for 11 towards Barney Schultz.
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Thomas White was born and raised in Massachusetts, so a Tremendous Bowl query was so as once I spoke to him on Thursday afternoon: Will his temper be affected by what occurs on Sunday night time?
“I don’t suppose so,” replied the highly-regarded pitching prospect, who’s touring right down to the Miami Marlins’ spring coaching facility tomorrow. “My dad and I had been speaking the opposite day about how we’d been hoping the group might get 9 wins this 12 months [and] we’d be proud of that. So, the truth that we’re within the Tremendous Bowl… I believe we’re all simply going to benefit from the experience. The offense must play an entire lot higher if we’re going to win, however we’ll simply get pleasure from watching it.”
I knowledgeable the southpaw that my editor grew up within the Pacific Northwest and is a diehard Seahawks fan; Meg Rowley would doubtless reply the identical query fairly in a different way.
“Oh yeah,” responded White. “You’ve obtained to have some expectations. I imply, now that we’re right here, we’re going to win. I’m going to go loopy. But when it doesn’t work out…”
We’ll hear way more from White — on pitching, not soccer — throughout our forthcoming Prospect Week.
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A quiz:
A complete of 53 pitchers have been credited with 200 or extra wins within the growth period (since 1961). Solely considered one of them didn’t end his profession with a profitable report. Who was it? (A touch: He performed 26 seasons, 13 within the American League, and 13 within the Nationwide League).
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NEWS NOTES
Josh Beckett and Dontrelle Willis have been chosen as the most recent members of the Marlins Legends Corridor of Fame. Final 12 months’s inaugural class comprised Luis Castillo, Jeff Conine, Jim Leyland, and Jack McKeon.
Buck Martinez introduced on Friday that he’s retiring after a multi-faceted profession that spanned practically 5 a long time. An enormous-league catcher for 17 seasons (the final six of them in Toronto), Martinez went on to handle the Blue Jays in 2001 and 2002, then to name greater than 4,000 of the group’s video games as a play-by-play announcer and coloration analyst.
Rick Renick, an infielder/outfielder who performed in 276 video games for the Minnesota Twins throughout the 1968-1972 seasons, died on January 31 at age 81. The London, Ohio native logged 122 hits, considered one of them a house run off of Mickey Lolich in his first big-league plate look.
Ron Teasley died on February 3 at age 99, leaving 101-year-old Invoice Greason because the lone residing Negro Leagues participant. A Detroit native who attended Wayne State College, Teasley performed for the New York Cubans in 1948 after first serving within the U.S. Navy. He went on to show and coach within the Detroit Public Colleges system.
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The reply to the quiz is Charlie Hough, who went 216-216 from 1970-1994. Frank Tanana got here shut, ending simply north of .500 at 240-236.
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As was the case with Wilbur Wooden a couple of weeks in the past, Mickey Lolich’s recently-reported demise deserves greater than a paragraph in Information Notes. A left-hander who toed the slab for the Detroit Tigers from 1963-1974 (he later pitched for the New York Mets and San Diego Padres), Lolich was a veritable workhorse, averaging 41 begins and 312 innings over one six-year stretch. Most notable was his 1971 marketing campaign, when he went 25-14 with a 2.92 ERA over 376 (!) innings. Struggling no in poor health results from that eye-opening workload, he proceeded to go 22-14 with a 2.50 ERA over 327-and-a-third innings the next season.
His most spectacular efforts arguably came visiting an eight-day stretch in October 1968. Pitching towards the St. Louis Cardinals within the World Sequence, Lolich logged three complete-game wins, the final of them in Recreation 7 when, — on two-day’s relaxation, no much less — he out-pitched Bob Gibson in a 4-1 Tigers victory.
Lolich, who was 85 on the time of his passing, ranks third in Tigers franchise historical past with 207 wins, and first in video games began (459), shutouts (39), and strikeouts (2,697). Furthermore, his Okay whole is fifth-most amongst left-handers in MLB historical past.
Once I interviewed him some years in the past, he mentioned the next about his prodigious innings hundreds within the Seventies: “The dinosaurs are lifeless, and I’m a dinosaur.”
R.I.P. Mickey Lolich.
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Once I talked to him on the GM Conferences, Tampa Bay’s Erik Neander acknowledged that a few of his group’s extra promising prospects had disappointing seasons in 2025. One in every of them, Brayden Taylor, was featured right here at FanGraphs only a few days in the past. That’s to not counsel there weren’t sturdy performances as nicely. I requested the president of baseball operations for examples of fellows who stood out down on the farm.
“I would definitely spotlight Theo Gillen for what he did as a [2024] first-rounder out of highschool,” Neander mentioned of the 20-year-old outfielder who put up a 149 wRC+ and swiped 36 bases in 39 makes an attempt with Low-A Charleston. “Nathan Flewelling is one other man who doesn’t get a variety of consideration. He’s a younger catcher who we drafted [also in 2024] out of Canada and despatched to A-ball this 12 months. He completed the season in Excessive-A, so the development he made was very encouraging. He’s a reasonably particular man. He has potential on each side of the ball, and make-up that sits on prime of all of it.”
A local of Pink Deer, Alberta who turned 19 in November, Flewelling had a 127 wRC+ between the 2 ranges in his first skilled season. He and Gillen will each be ranked extremely when our Rays record is launched this spring.
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Kutter Crawford began 33 video games for the Pink Sox in 2024, then missed all of final season as a result of knee and wrist accidents. I just lately requested the right-hander if watching video games from his sofa gave him a distinct perspective on his craft.
“Positively,” Crawford replied. “From the dugout, you may’t actually inform the place the ball is over the plate. Once you’re watching on TV, you may see how pitchers are sequencing and making an attempt to set guys up, going inside, then tunneling an off-speed [pitch] off the fastball inside. So, sure, watching the sport from that perspective, I’ve realized much more about pitching — the advantage of tunneling and sequencing. The significance of all of that stuff.”
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A random obscure former participant snapshot:
Mike Kinnunen pitched in 48 MLB video games — 21 for the Minnesota Twins and 27 for the Baltimore Orioles — and didn’t get a call in any of them. That’s a report. No different hurler has made as many big-league appearances with out having a win, a loss, or a save on his profession ledger.
A Seattle-born southpaw who performed collegiately at Washington State College, Kinnunen put up a 5.23 ERA over 51-and-two-thirds innings throughout his time in Minnesota (1980) and Baltimore (1985-1986). He additionally put up with a variety of dropping, albeit with different hurlers getting the L subsequent to their names within the field rating. In video games the place Kinnunen toed the rubber, his groups registered a report of 5-43.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
A season-ending error modified Orion Kerkering, who’s now embracing the challenges forward. Matt Gelb wrote about it at The Athletic.
MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis, Sam Dykstra, and Jonathan Mayo teamed as much as give us one intriguing prospect from every group who could make a run at an Opening Day spot.
Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper gave us, in spectacular element, 5 issues we realized from public 2026 Corridor of Fame votes.
Mark S. Sternman profiled erstwhile Minnesota Twins lefty reliever “On a regular basis Eddie” Guardado for the SABR BioProject.
Tiffany Babb visited the positioning of Jackie Robinson’s childhood house, and wrote about her expertise at The Fan Recordsdata.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Previous to reaching the key leagues, Corridor of Famer Lefty Grove logged a report of 108-36 over a five-year span with the Worldwide League’s Baltimore Orioles. Over that very same 1920-1924 stretch, his teammate Jack Ogden posted a report of 118-42. All instructed, Ogden spent eight seasons in Baltimore, profitable 20 or extra video games six occasions (as soon as going 31-8). He was then 25-34 over 5 MLB seasons.
Luis Arraez has 2,567 at-bats and 123 doubles over the previous 4 seasons. Manny Machado has 2,566 at-bats and 121 doubles over the previous 4 seasons.
Ed Reulbach jumped to the Federal League’s Newark Pepper on at present’s date in 1915. A top-shelf pitcher for the Chicago Cubs from 1906-1909 — he went 79-25 with a 1.81 ERA throughout these 4 seasons, as soon as throwing a shutout in each video games of a doubleheader — “Huge Ed” went 21-10 with a 2.23 ERA in his lone 12 months as a Pepper.
On at present’s date in 2008, the Baltimore Orioles traded Erik Bedard to the Seattle Mariners in alternate for 5 gamers, together with Adam Jones and Chris Tillman. Bedard went 15-14 throughout his time as a Mariner. Tillman went 74-60 as an Oriole, whereas Jones made 5 All-Star groups and gained 4 Gold Gloves.
Gamers born on at present’s date embody Keith McDonald, who holds the MLB report for many profession hits that had been all house runs. The native of Yokosuka, Japan (he spent his highschool days in Anaheim) went 3-for-9 whereas showing in eight video games for the St. Louis Cardinals throughout the 2000-2001 seasons. McDonald additionally holds the excellence of getting homered in his first two plate appearances, a feat equalled by simply Bob Nieman, who did so with the St. Louis Browns in 1951.
Additionally born on at present’s date was Costen Shockley, a primary baseman who performed in 11 video games for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1964, and in 40 video games for the California Angels in 1965. A member of the the Delaware Sports activities Corridor of Fame, the Georgetown native went 28-for-42 (.197), with three house runs, together with a grand slam. Shockley started his skilled profession with the Pioneer League’s Magic Valley Cowboys, batting.360 with 23 bombs. His teammates on the low-level farm membership included fellow 19-year-old Dick Allen.
Les Mallon, an infielder who performed two seasons every with the Nationwide League’s Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Braves within the Nineteen Thirties, started his skilled profession with the Texas Valley League’s Mission Grapefruits. Additionally competing within the four-team Class-D circuit had been the Edinburg Bobcats, Laredo Oilers, and Corpus Christi Seahawks.
The 1905 Ohio-Pennsylvania League comprised 21 groups, together with the Barberton Magic Cities, Canton Protectives, Lima Lees, Steubenville Manufacturing facility Males, and Washington Patriots.