Prince Fielder blasted a pair of homers tonight as the Tigers opened a nine-game home stand with a 5-3 win over the Orioles. The hefty first baseman launched a two-run bomb to center field tying the game at three in the sixth inning. It was officially measured by ESPN at 462 feet and might have been just as high. Two innings later, he pulled a towering blast down the line and deep into the seats in right giving the Tigers a five to three lead in the eighth. The only other run came on a solo shot by third baseman Miguel Cabrera in the first.
Fielder came into the game with a strong 144 OPS+ which was very similar to his 143 career OPS+, but he had been a different type of hitter this year. He was batting .309 versus a career mark of .285, but was not showing his usual power. His Isolated Power of .197 was well below his career mark of .251 and was on a pace for just 27 homers after averaging 40 over the previous five years. Tonight, we saw the Fielder which Brewers fans enjoyed in Milwaukee the past several years.
Prince's big night helped the Tigers overcome an uncharacteristically wild performance by ace Justin Verlander. Verlander allowed three runs in six innings thanks, in part, to a season-high four walks. He clearly did not have his usual good command and reached 100 pitches by the fourth inning.
The Tigers are now two games behind the first place White Sox pending the outcome of their game with the Royals tonight. Chicago currently trails Kansas City 4-2 in the eighth inning.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Miguel Cabrera's Home Run Record Surprises Fans
When third baseman Miguel Cabrera belted his 30th home run in today's 5-1 victor over the Twins, he became the first Tiger ever to reach thirty in five consecutive seasons. While this is an impressive feat, some fans expressed surprise that no other Tiger has ever done it. Lots of great hitters have worn the olde english D since Detroit became a charter member of the American League in 1901, but for various reasons none has ever done what Cabrera has accomplished in his first five seasons in terms of home runs.
A few Tigers have come very close to hitting thirty homers in five straight seasons. Hall-of-Fame first baseman Hank Greenberg almost surely would have done it had it not been for his service in World War II from 1941-1945. Prior to the war, Greenberg hit 30 or more round trippers from 1937-1940 including a Tigers record 58 in 1938. He then walloped 44 four-baggers in 1946, his first full season after the war.
1990s Slugger Cecil Fielder also likely would have made it if it were not for the 1994 season ending prematurely due to the player's strike. He launched 51 bombs in his memorable 1990 season and followed up with 44, 35 and 30 in the next three seasons. He was on his way to a fifth consecutive thirty homer season when he hit 28 in 109 games in 1994. Surely, he would have hit two in the last two months if the games had been played. He then hit 31 in his final full-season with the Tigers in 1995. Fiinally, he hit 26 in 1996 before being traded to the Yankees and ended up with 39 for the season.
Nobody else has come as close to Cabrera's record as Greenberg and Fielder, but the Tigers have had some other notable power hitters. Slugging right fielder Rocky Colavito actually did hit thirty home runs five years in a row from 1958-1962, but the first two years were with Cleveland. Playing in the shadow of Fielder, catcher - outfielder Mickey Tettleton had three straight seasons of thirty or more long balls from 1991-1993. Big first baseman Tony Clark also had three straight thirty or more homer campaigns from 1997-1999.
First sacker Norm Cash hit 373 homers as a Tiger including five seasons of thirty or more between 1961-1971. Greenberg's teammate Rudy York had four thirty homer seasons in Detroit in the 1930s and 40s, but, like Cash, did not do it consecutively.
Some of the greatest Tigers hitters ever were not really home run hitters. Hall-of-Fame right fielder Al Kaline had more home runs than any Tiger recording 399 between 1953-1974, but that was a record of longevity more than homers. The most he ever hit was 29 in 1962 and 1966 and would be characterized as a line drive hitter more than a slugger. Second baseman Charlie Gehringer collected 904 extra base hits between 1924-1942, but never had more than twenty homers. Finally, Hall-of-Fame hitters Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford and Harry Heilmann played most of their careers in early decades before home runs became so prolific.
So, it takes a lot to reach thirty homers five consecutive seasons with the same team. Not only do you have to hit a lot of home runs, but you have to have some other things happen including health, timing and staying with the same team.
None of that takes anything away from Cabrera's accomplishment though. It's been a great run and odds are the streak will not end this year.
A few Tigers have come very close to hitting thirty homers in five straight seasons. Hall-of-Fame first baseman Hank Greenberg almost surely would have done it had it not been for his service in World War II from 1941-1945. Prior to the war, Greenberg hit 30 or more round trippers from 1937-1940 including a Tigers record 58 in 1938. He then walloped 44 four-baggers in 1946, his first full season after the war.
1990s Slugger Cecil Fielder also likely would have made it if it were not for the 1994 season ending prematurely due to the player's strike. He launched 51 bombs in his memorable 1990 season and followed up with 44, 35 and 30 in the next three seasons. He was on his way to a fifth consecutive thirty homer season when he hit 28 in 109 games in 1994. Surely, he would have hit two in the last two months if the games had been played. He then hit 31 in his final full-season with the Tigers in 1995. Fiinally, he hit 26 in 1996 before being traded to the Yankees and ended up with 39 for the season.
Nobody else has come as close to Cabrera's record as Greenberg and Fielder, but the Tigers have had some other notable power hitters. Slugging right fielder Rocky Colavito actually did hit thirty home runs five years in a row from 1958-1962, but the first two years were with Cleveland. Playing in the shadow of Fielder, catcher - outfielder Mickey Tettleton had three straight seasons of thirty or more long balls from 1991-1993. Big first baseman Tony Clark also had three straight thirty or more homer campaigns from 1997-1999.
First sacker Norm Cash hit 373 homers as a Tiger including five seasons of thirty or more between 1961-1971. Greenberg's teammate Rudy York had four thirty homer seasons in Detroit in the 1930s and 40s, but, like Cash, did not do it consecutively.
Some of the greatest Tigers hitters ever were not really home run hitters. Hall-of-Fame right fielder Al Kaline had more home runs than any Tiger recording 399 between 1953-1974, but that was a record of longevity more than homers. The most he ever hit was 29 in 1962 and 1966 and would be characterized as a line drive hitter more than a slugger. Second baseman Charlie Gehringer collected 904 extra base hits between 1924-1942, but never had more than twenty homers. Finally, Hall-of-Fame hitters Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford and Harry Heilmann played most of their careers in early decades before home runs became so prolific.
So, it takes a lot to reach thirty homers five consecutive seasons with the same team. Not only do you have to hit a lot of home runs, but you have to have some other things happen including health, timing and staying with the same team.
None of that takes anything away from Cabrera's accomplishment though. It's been a great run and odds are the streak will not end this year.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Game-Ending Hits
Chris Jaffe has an interesting article at The Hardball Times about game-ending hits. Using the retrosheet.org database, Jaffe has collected data on all game-ending hits since 1948. That usually means walk-off hits, but not necessarily. I encourage you to read the entire article, but here are some highlights concerning the Tigers:
- Lou Whitaker had 19 game-ending hits which puts him in the top ten of all hitters since 1948. I remember some of them, but I'm surprised he got so many. He must have done it quietly like everything else he did in his career.
- Norm Cash has more hits (1,820) without a game ender than any player.
- Al Kaline had two walk-off triples.
- The Tigers have fewer walk-off hits (365) than any non-expansion team.
Where Austin Jackson's Season Ranks Among Tigers Center Fielders
As illustrated in an earlier post, Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson has upgraded his offensive game dramatically over 2011. Not only is he one of the most improved hitters ever though, he is also one of the top hitters in the American League this year. He is third in the AL batting average (.319) and on-base percentage (.402) and seventh in On-Base plus slugging (.925). Among center fielders, the the right-handed hitting Jackson is third in the league in OPS behind Angels rookie sensation Mike Trout and Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton.
So, before we even attempt to get into any defensive evaluation, Jackson stacks up quite well to almost any player. His defense might be a bit overrated by some - he his superb at going back on fly balls and covering ground in Comerica Park's vast center field, but is not that great coming in on the ball and does not have an outstanding arm. Still, he is a very good fielder at a premium position and that adds to his value.
In terms of Wins Above Replacement, AJax has been a tremendous overall performer regardless of which method one chooses. He is fourth in the circuit in Baseball-Reference WAR (4.4) and third in Fan Graphs WAR (4.9). The only players ahead of him on both measures are Trout and Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano. Teammate Miguel Cabrera is also ahead of Jackson on the Baseball-Reference measure. Jackson is looking like an MVP candidate to me and probably would be more in the discussion had he not missed time with an abdominal strain earlier in the season.
I always like to see how current players rank among historic Tigers and I'll use the OPS+ statistic to do that here. The OPS+ metric is a player's OPS relative to league average and adjusting for ballpark. An OPS+ of 100 is average, over 100 is above average and below 100 is below average. Jackson has a 148 OPS+ which places him sixth in the league this year and in the top five percent of players historically - all players not just center fielders.
Table 1 below shows that Jackson currently has the 19th highest single-season OPS+ among Tigers center fielders. That doesn't sound so great until you consider that the top 13 positions belong to the legendary Ty Cobb. In fact, only Cobb, and fellow Hall-of-Famers Sam Crawford, Al Kaline and Heinie Manush had better offensive seasons as center fielders.
Table 1: Single-season OPS+ Leaders Among Tigers Center Fielders
Source: Baseball-Reference
If we limit the list to seasons since World War II, Jackson ranks even better.. His 148 mark ranks second only to Kaline (151) in 1959 and is even better than the 135 OPS of Curtis Granderson's quadruple twenty season (20 homers, 20 triples, 20 doubles, 20 steals) of 2007. Granderson's 2008 season also made the cut. Other recent Tigers appearing on the list multiple times are Chet Lemon (three seasons) and Ron Leflore (two).
Table 1: Single-season OPS+ Leaders Among Tigers Center Fielders Since 1946
Source: Baseball-Reference
So, Jackson's season looks impressive historically as well as currently. How much of his gain from 2011 to 2012 can be maintained going forwards remain to be be seen, but 2012 has been a remarkable season for the Tigers lead-off hitter.
So, before we even attempt to get into any defensive evaluation, Jackson stacks up quite well to almost any player. His defense might be a bit overrated by some - he his superb at going back on fly balls and covering ground in Comerica Park's vast center field, but is not that great coming in on the ball and does not have an outstanding arm. Still, he is a very good fielder at a premium position and that adds to his value.
In terms of Wins Above Replacement, AJax has been a tremendous overall performer regardless of which method one chooses. He is fourth in the circuit in Baseball-Reference WAR (4.4) and third in Fan Graphs WAR (4.9). The only players ahead of him on both measures are Trout and Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano. Teammate Miguel Cabrera is also ahead of Jackson on the Baseball-Reference measure. Jackson is looking like an MVP candidate to me and probably would be more in the discussion had he not missed time with an abdominal strain earlier in the season.
I always like to see how current players rank among historic Tigers and I'll use the OPS+ statistic to do that here. The OPS+ metric is a player's OPS relative to league average and adjusting for ballpark. An OPS+ of 100 is average, over 100 is above average and below 100 is below average. Jackson has a 148 OPS+ which places him sixth in the league this year and in the top five percent of players historically - all players not just center fielders.
Table 1 below shows that Jackson currently has the 19th highest single-season OPS+ among Tigers center fielders. That doesn't sound so great until you consider that the top 13 positions belong to the legendary Ty Cobb. In fact, only Cobb, and fellow Hall-of-Famers Sam Crawford, Al Kaline and Heinie Manush had better offensive seasons as center fielders.
Table 1: Single-season OPS+ Leaders Among Tigers Center Fielders
Player | Year | PA | OPS+ |
Ty Cobb | 1917 | 669 | 210 |
Ty Cobb | 1910 | 590 | 206 |
Ty Cobb | 1912 | 609 | 200 |
Ty Cobb | 1911 | 654 | 196 |
Ty Cobb | 1918 | 474 | 194 |
Ty Cobb | 1913 | 501 | 194 |
Ty Cobb | 1914 | 414 | 190 |
Ty Cobb | 1915 | 700 | 185 |
Ty Cobb | 1916 | 636 | 180 |
Ty Cobb | 1925 | 492 | 171 |
Ty Cobb | 1922 | 613 | 169 |
Ty Cobb | 1921 | 582 | 166 |
Ty Cobb | 1919 | 548 | 166 |
Sam Crawford | 1907 | 632 | 160 |
Sam Crawford | 1908 | 654 | 159 |
Heinie Manush | 1926 | 563 | 154 |
Sam Crawford | 1909 | 662 | 152 |
Al Kaline | 1959 | 594 | 151 |
Austin Jackson | 2012 | 415 | 148 |
Jimmy Barrett | 1903 | 615 | 144 |
If we limit the list to seasons since World War II, Jackson ranks even better.. His 148 mark ranks second only to Kaline (151) in 1959 and is even better than the 135 OPS of Curtis Granderson's quadruple twenty season (20 homers, 20 triples, 20 doubles, 20 steals) of 2007. Granderson's 2008 season also made the cut. Other recent Tigers appearing on the list multiple times are Chet Lemon (three seasons) and Ron Leflore (two).
Table 1: Single-season OPS+ Leaders Among Tigers Center Fielders Since 1946
Player | Year | PA | OPS+ |
Al Kaline | 1959 | 594 | 151 |
Austin Jackson | 2012 | 415 | 148 |
Curtis Granderson | 2007 | 676 | 135 |
Chet Lemon | 1984 | 574 | 135 |
Chet Lemon | 1987 | 553 | 130 |
Ron LeFlore | 1976 | 603 | 128 |
Chet Lemon | 1983 | 573 | 126 |
Curtis Granderson | 2008 | 629 | 124 |
Ron LeFlore | 1977 | 698 | 123 |
Jim Delsing | 1953 | 552 | 122 |
So, Jackson's season looks impressive historically as well as currently. How much of his gain from 2011 to 2012 can be maintained going forwards remain to be be seen, but 2012 has been a remarkable season for the Tigers lead-off hitter.
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