No one commented on this? It wasn't earth shattering, but it was a fun article.

Daly liked it? Well no wonder the thread got no traction. (gets dragged off stage with big hook).

It's true, I'm the anti-bellwether of the site; the Airoep of Primer. I'm apolitical, I think PEDS are a problem, but I don't get up in arms about it, and I'm a Conservative stathead on the Othodox -> Reform spectrum.

I enjoyed tha article, but it wasn't what I expected. I didn't realise when I clicked the link it was about team splits. I expected something along the lines of, in 1978, player X hit .426 at home but only .147 on the road...

The info on Billy Martin's proclivities in ordering triple steals is interesting, though!

Here are the worst DHs ever:

Team OPS
1981 MIN 546
1988 TEX 560
2001 ANA 562
1974 CWS 588
1976 MIL 603

I was curious to who these were. They were (numbers are overall numbers, not just at DH):

1981 Minnesota - Glenn Adams (62 games at .209/.273/.282), Roy Smalley (15 at .263/.375/.443) and many others
1988 Texas - Larry Parrish (67 games at .190/.253/.319) Geno Petralli (23 at .282/.356/.393), Pete Incaviglia (21 at .249/.321/.467, Mike Stanley (18 at .229/.323/.297), Bob Brower (13 at .224/.316/.274), Cecil Espy (12 at .248/.288/.349) and others.
2001 Anaheim - Orlando Palmeiro (30 games at .243/.319/.322), Shawn Wooten (27 at .312/.322/.466), Glenallen Hill (16 at .136/.136/.182), Scott Spiezio (16 at .271/.326/.438), David Eckstein (14 at .285/.355/.357), Benji Gil (14 at .296/.330/.477), Garret Anderson (12 at .289/.314/.478), Tim Salmon (12 at .227/.365/.383) and others.
1974 Chicago - Pat Kelly (67 games at .281/.354/.361), Ron Santo (47 at .221/.293/.299), Carlos May (13 at .246/.309/.334), Tony Muser (13 at .291/.313/.340) and others.
1976 Milwaukee - Henry Aaron (74 games at .229/.315/.369), Mike Hegan (40 at .248/.324/.362), Bernie Carbo (24 at .235/.352/.322), Bob Hansen (14 at .164/.239/.180) and others.

The info on Billy Martin's proclivities in ordering triple steals is interesting, though!

Yeah, that was a last minute addition. Glad you liked.

If anyone has any requests for something they'd like to see in any (possible) follow up articles, dump 'em down here. I can see if there's anything interesting up that tree.

Are those really steal attempts or just botched suicide squeezes?

And the tally of SB vs CS is misleading. It's 3 SB if it's successful (and 0 SB if unsuccessful) so 12 SB and 2 CS is really 4 successes out of 6 attempts.

Are those really steal attempts or just botched suicide squeezes?

Impossible to say, but you don't make it to the top of the leaderboard without being aggressive as heck on the bases. Bothced suicide squeezes are listed as stolen base attempts.

And the tally of SB vs CS is misleading. It's 3 SB if it's successful (and 0 SB if unsuccessful) so 12 SB and 2 CS is really 4 successes out of 6 attempts.

It's the actual split. The '69 Twins had 12 SB and 2 CS credited to them with the bases loaded, far more than any other team.

I dunno how it breaks down because they weren't divisibe by three and I wasn't going to go through every split and check. A team could have 4 stolen bases and 2 CS and have two fully failed attempts.

Are those really steal attempts or just botched suicide squeezes?

Impossible to say, but you don't make it to the top of the leaderboard without being aggressive as heck on the bases. Bothced suicide squeezes are listed as stolen base attempts.

As an intense follower of Humm-Baby Roger Craig's 1987 Giants, I can attest that those caught-stealing-homes were botched suicide squeezes. Craig was a wonderful manager in many ways, but his affection for the squeeze play bordered on the lustful.

And, of couse, a botched suicide squeeze, just like a botched hit-and-run, is a steal attempt.

It's true, I'm the anti-bellwether of the site; the Airoep of Primer. I'm apolitical, I think PEDS are a problem, but I don't get up in arms about it, and I'm a Conservative stathead on the Othodox

"But with a little sex"

Time for a Rickey story. In 2001, while playing out his string with the Padres, Bruce Bochy inserted Rickey into a game against the Brewers as a pinch runner. Rickey being Rickey, did what he did better than anyone who ever played—e stole second base. This set up a little bru-ha-ha. You see, San Diego had a comfortable lead when this happened, and Milwaukee skipper Davey Lopes was irate. He threatened to bean Henderson the next he had the chance.

Don't leave out the punchline. Within a day, Elias had gone through Unwritten Rules Lopes' career and found that he'd stolen something like 7 different times in his career after his teams had taken the same kinds of leads.

Don't leave out the punchline. Within a day, Elias had gone through Unwritten Rules Lopes' career and found that he'd stolen something like 7 different times in his career after his teams had taken the same kinds of leads.

Uncanny. I actually had the bit in there at first, but the article was going a bit long, and there were all those tables, and it got away from the story a bit . . .

Looking back, I should've kept it in because I edited it down to size by cutting out an entire section of the article that looked at what teams were more likely to steal when they came turned into a blowout (barely two dozen clubs, almost all from the same period, with one manager in particular likely to increase his running when it no longer mattered).

Reading about Billy Martin's larcenous mentality reminded me that my all-time favourite team, the 1972 Tigers, didn't run all that much, with good reason - 17 SB, 21 CS. He ran Northrup a team-leading 11 times, only to see him caught 7.