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Baseball Passings 2022

G-Fafif

By G-Fafif
in New York Mets Talk

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stevejrogers College Ball

stevejrogers

Old-Timey Member
Posted
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Staten Island born ex-MLBer (2010-2015 Mariners, Braves, Red Sox) Anthony Vavaro became a Port Authority cop after his career.



Died this morning in a car accident, https://www.silive.com/news/2022/09/anthony-varvaro-staten-island-baseball-star-port-authority-cop-and-father-of-4-dies-at-age-37.html?outputType=amp hit by a wrong way driver, on his way to 9-11 memorial services.


  • 2 weeks later...
Edgy MD FCL Mets

Edgy MD

Site Manager
Posted
Posted


A seven-time All-Star.



I wonder how far back we'd have to go to find a non-pitcher with a better ratio of career All-Star selections (7) to career homers (20).



Considering the first official All-Star Game (1933) came after the end of the Dead Ball Era, the answer may be that there is nobody.


Edgy MD FCL Mets

Edgy MD

Site Manager
Posted
Posted


Good call. Just short by the slightest fraction (.35 to .343..), but it beats my next guess, which was Luke Appling.



Let's check Larry Bowa. Five selections and 15 homers .333... . Not quite.


Edgy MD FCL Mets

Edgy MD

Site Manager
Posted
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Benjamin Grimm wrote:

dinosaur jesus wrote:

Ozzie Smith: 15 All-Star selections, 28 home runs, .536.


Missed it by that much!


He also got the math right. Your calculator must be set for Martian math.


MFS62 First Round Pick

MFS62

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted


Can you please split this out to a different thread?

I think turning the death of a Hall of Famer into a trivia question is a lack of respect for the dead.

Let's keep this thread for remembering the players.

Thank you.

Later


metsmarathon College Ball

metsmarathon

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted


larry brown, 7 all star games, 13 home runs.



wait... archie ware. 4 all star games, 3 home runs.



oh. lyman bostock. 1 all star game. zero home runs.



sigh... including negro league stats makes this tricky. i only got through the first basemen on bbref. i quit.



i should have quit. i kept going. artie wilson. 9 all star games, zero home runs. i think we have a winner.


metsmarathon College Ball

metsmarathon

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted


i remember maury wills mostly for the 1987 topps turn back the clock card extolling his base-stealing abilities.



it's crazy that he went from 35 to 104 and back to 40 stolen bases over three years, with virtually the same on base percentage.



the 94 stolen bases in '65 is also damned impressive.



i'd loe to see more basestealing in today's game. stolen bases and triples (and bunt hits) are among the most exciting plays in the game. homers are cool and all, but those are exciting!


G-Fafif College Ball

G-Fafif

Old-Timey Member
Posted
  • Author
Posted


Maury Wills coached Met baserunners in the Spring of '93.


The Mets, perhaps the slowest club in the majors in 1992, have turned to a 60-year-old man to become faster.



"I know I can make a difference in games," said Maury Wills. "Maybe 10 more wins a season."



Wills, of course, won't be stealing second or going from first to third on a dare, but he will be instructing the Mets on how to do so. Wills, the man with 586 career stolen bases and a resume as a teacher that includes 12 clubs, has been signed to serve as a spring training base-running instructor for the Mets.



"He's the best at the teaching as I've ever seen," Manager Jeff Torborg said of Wills.



There were seasons a generation ago when Wills was arguably the best on the base paths that anyone had ever seen. With the Dodgers, Wills led the National League in stolen bases for six straight seasons, from 1960 to 1965. His total of 104 in 1962 was unprecedented and helped him earn the league's most valuable player award.



"I've worked with all the great base stealers of late -- Willie Wilson, Davey Lopes, Lou Brock," said Wills. "Brock was calling me even when he was breaking all my records. I told him to ice his legs and quit. He, of course, didn't."



The Mets, of course, were dreadful on the bases last season. Vince Coleman wasn't a factor, so the Mets weren't much of a threat. Triples, indeed, were almost as rare as triumphs.



"Actually our greatest problem was that we didn't have base runners to begin with," said Torborg.



The Mets believe they took the first step toward addressing their lack of speed and instincts on the base paths when they committed to a younger lineup (Jeff Kent, Ryan Thompson). Wills, who could return during the season for what the organization is terming "refresher courses" and who will also tutor the club on bunting, will work for three weeks with the Mets in Port St. Lucie, Fla.


https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/26/sports/baseball-mets-hire-wills-as-instructor-to-get-them-off-and-running.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/26/sports/baseball-mets-hire-wills-as-instructor-to-get-them-off-and-running.html


Frayed Knot FCL Mets

Frayed Knot

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted


I didn't know Maury was also a drug smuggler.







Sudden thought, Maury Wills was from the DC area.

Do you suppose that long time DC sportswriting legend Shirley Povich named his obnoxious kid after Wills?

On second thought, the dates don't match up.


  • 2 weeks later...
MFS62 First Round Pick

MFS62

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted



Hector Lopez, infielder uncomfortable with defense, 93.


After the MFYs unsuccessfully tried to play him in the outfield, sportswriter Dick Young called him "Hector, what a pair of hands, Lopez".

But everything I've read about him said he was a good guy.

RIP.



Later


  • 1 month later...
G-Fafif College Ball

G-Fafif

Old-Timey Member
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Posted (edited)


Comic and Friars Club macher Freddie Roman, 85, posted here in deference to his stellar job MC'ing a Hot Stove dinner I attended following the 1999 season, where he praised the Mets and their postseason run to the high heavens. I kept waiting for the punch line, but he was quite sincere in his Met-Lovin' Big Shottery.



https://apnews.com/article/freddie-roman-dies-friars-club-borscht-belt-catskills-5cef8baba9c4f10ddea7ad0c9f49ad00https://apnews.com/article/freddie-roman-dies-friars-club-borscht-belt-catskills-5cef8baba9c4f10ddea7ad0c9f49ad00



I'm amazed to learn he was only 62 then. All Catskills comedians have always seemed 85 to me even in their prime.




Edited by Guest
G-Fafif College Ball

G-Fafif

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Posted


Benjamin Grimm wrote:

If my math is correct, he would have been 62 in 1999.


No wonder I'm surprised!


  • 2 weeks later...
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