A couple other interesting tidbits from the newspapers a century ago.

Hughie Jennings tells a story about the time he talked a rookie umpire out of an ejection. Toledo News-Bee, November 21, 1911:

"Do you realize what you're doing?" I asked him, in as severe a tone as I could muster. "I want you to understand I'm part owner of this club, that I own this park and I am manager of this team. The idea of putting me off the ground! It is preposterous. If you don't run this game without getting into trouble, it is my intention to call a policeman and have you ejected."

Thereupon the young man begged Jennings' pardon, and the game continued without interruption. It is needless to say it was the last game he umpired in the Eastern league.

...and a female umpire prepares to work a winter ball game in California. Oxnard Courier, November 21, 1911:

But one of the biggest features of Sunday's game will be the presence of a woman umpire. Miss Grace Jones, who has umpired some games in Los Angeles, many in the Three I League and others in different parts of Southern California, will be the umpire. Now that California is a suffrage State, she has turned her attention to the Golden West...

Players who hear that a woman is going to umpire the game on Sunday may have the mistaken impression that if they are handsome they will get the better of the decisions. There is nothing doing on that score with Miss Jones, however.

Today's birthday team has considerable overlap with the Donora, Pennsylvania town team:

C: Charlie Bennett
1B: Hank Blalock
2B: Andy High
3B: Freddie Lindstrom
SS: Dick Schofield the Younger
LF: Stan Musial
CF: Ken Griffey Jr.
RF: Tommy McCraw

SP: Bobby Mathews
SP: Warren Hacker
SP: Brian Meadows
SP: Mike Mason
SP: Scott Terry
RP: Mark Eichhorn

Manager: Paul Richards
Supersub: Bill Almon

Guys with fun names: Tripp Cromer, Parke Swartzel, Simmy Murch, Pinky Jorgensen, Ziggy Hasbrook, Augie Swentor

I posted this list on SoSH and I'd like some feedback here. Top 10 position players in baseball. Tear it apart if you like:

1. Jose Bautista - 4th highest wRC+ over the last three years and highest over the last two years. Average in the field and on the bases, but plays defensive positions in the middle of the spectrum. Defensive positioning in combination with offensive prolificness puts him number 1.

2. Evan Longoria - Best offensive third baseman in baseball and arguably the best defensive third baseman. Not as offensively dominant as Bautista to overtake him, but there's no shame in 2nd place.

3. Joey Votto - 2nd in baseball in OBP over last three years behind Miguel Cabrera. He seems to be peaking over the last two years while Pujols rates have been steadily falling. Steady defense at first puts him over Miguel Cabrera.

4. Miguel Cabrera - Best offensive first baseman in baseball over last three years. Poor fielding puts him a level below Votto as mentioned above.

5. Ryan Braun - 2nd best offensive OF in baseball over last three seasons, but also one of the biggest defensive butchers. Great baserunning instincts make up for some of that poor defense.

6. Albert Pujols - How much further could be fall before this list gets discredited altogether?

7. Troy Tulowitzki - If he was average defensively he'd still be the best SS in baseball. As it is, he's a top 5 defensive SS and easily the best offensive SS.

8. Adrian Gonzalez - 5th best offensive 1B in baseball over last three years behind Prince Fielder at #4, but 25+ run defensive swing between he and Fielder puts him on the list and sinks fielder.

9. Dustin Pedroia - 4th best offensive 2B in baseball over last three years and best in baseball in 2011. Led all 2B in WAR in 2011. Named by defensive metrics as either the 1st or 2nd best defensive 2B between him and...

10. Ben Zobrist - 2nd most runs saved on defense in all of baseball over the last three seasons and the third best offensive 2B. Also has positional versatility as a ++RF.

Zobrist seems way high to me, but I think that's probably dependent on how much stock one puts into defensive metrics.

If I could have either Ben Zobrist or Matt Kemp on my baseball team for the next few years, with the exact same contract terms, I'd take Kemp in a heartbeat. Zobrist is a fine player, but I don't think he's top ten.

New article up at THT: Replacing managerial legends, that looks at what happens when a team replaces an especially long-tenured manager. It's inspired by Mike Matheny replacing Tony LaRussa. It's nothing too deep, but it goes over the 14 longest tenured managers ever (in terms of games managed) and sees who replaced them.

Turns out LaRussa's St. Louis stretch was the seventh longest tenure ever for a manager (in terms of games). Before clicking on the link above, can you name the six managers who lasted even longer with their team?

Mack, McGraw, Robinson, Lasorda. Alston?

can you name the six managers who lasted even longer with their team?

Connie Mack
John McGraw
Wilbert Robinson
Walter Alston
Jimmy Dykes
Bucky Harris

Not necessarily in that order after the first two.

Dan Lee is five for five with his guesses. Only one left.

As for joe, Harris and Dykes are wrong. Harris managed a lot of games for Washington, but in three different stretches. His longest single stretch was eight years. Still one answer left.

Cox?

Has to be Cox.

Had a question about WAR. Assume a team went through the entire season with a 25 man roster of 0 WAR players. What is the expected number of wins for that team?

Mack, McGraw, Robinson, Lasorda. Alston?

Now without reading the article, name their replacements. I'll give you one - Lasorda replaces Alston!

Yeah, Cox is the other one.

Sparky Anderson just misses by the thinnest of margins.

Verlander is MVP!

Verlander is MVP!

Cool. I would have voted for him, but I didn't figure he had much of a chance.

Successors:

Mack - Dykes
McGraw - Bill Terry
Robinson - Max Carey
Alston - Lasorda
Lasorda - Bill Russell
Cox - Gonzalez

-- MWE

How exactly did a Boston team get nicknamed the "Rustlers"?

My guess is that it was a play on the owner's last name. They were also informally known as the Heps, derived from the owner's name.

That's two Hall of Famers on that 11/21 team, with a third to be elected in 2016. And Charlie Bennett had an MLB park named after him.

Bennett is in the Hall of Merit.

WAR: bb-ref sets it at .320 (so, 52-110).

O's signed T.H. Chong - rumor is 2/3.2. The submariner is the first player signed directly out of the KBO.

Rustlers: Yup. Before that, they were the Doves (their owner was named Dovey) - after that, they became the Braves (after their new owner's link to Tammany Hall).