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Friday, September 10, 2021
Indiana Daily Times, September 10, 1921: “Six more and maybe a dozen,” Babe Ruth, baseball’s champion slugger, said [in Philadelphia] today, in talking about a home run record.
Ruth equaled his 1920 mark of 54 when he hit one off Naylor in yesterday’s game with the Athletics…He has twenty-two games in which to make a new record, the majority of which are to be played in New York, where he has the range on the short right field stands.
As it turned out, six more than 54 was exactly Ruth’s single season limit.
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1. Jefferson Manship (Dan Lee) Posted: September 10, 2021 at 08:22 AM (#6038990)I'm confident that this is the only team all year in which the fourth-best first baseman on the roster is the only position player in the Hall of Fame.
C: Jack Lapp (8.9 WAR)
1B: Paul Goldschmidt (49.2 WAR)
2B: High Pockets Kelly (25.9 WAR)
3B: Neil Walker (19.6 WAR)
SS: Harry Niles (5.8 WAR)
LF: Joey Votto (63.3 WAR)
CF: Roger Maris (38.3 WAR)
RF: Dusty Miller (7.8 WAR)
SP: Randy Johnson (101.1 WAR)
SP: Barney Pelty (19.2 WAR)
SP: Anthony Swarzak (4.9 WAR)
SP: Chad Kuhl (2.2 WAR)
SP: Preston Hanna (1.8 WAR)
RP: Danys Baez (5.8 WAR)
Manager: Eddie Sawyer
Backup 1B/Bench Bat/Uniform Designer: Ted Kluszewski (31.5 WAR)
Not that one: Harry Anderson
None of those ones: Danny Murphy
-3.6 WAR in less than 500 career AB: Chad Hermansen
Kluzewski: no appearances besides 1B
Goldschmidt: no appearances besides 1B and DH
Votto: 7 outfield games, 6 of them as a rookie
Kind of like when the Giants brought up Bill White, Orlando Cepeda, and Willie McCovey at the same time.
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Kelly famously played 2B in the 1924 World Series and most of 1925 to get Bill Terry's bat in the lineup. He was above-average defensively at 2B (!) but turned 30 that season - it wasn't a long-term solution.
His career arc and player profile is very similar to Steve Garvey. Both spent time at other IF positions, both played in big markets, had high BA's, moderate power, seldom walked, drove in lots of runs, overrated by the media of their time, neither reaches Hall of Fame/Merit standards. Kelly, though, was not a jerk.
Pretty sure I still have Chad Hermansen in a dormant keeper league somewhere... don't suppose he's going to turn it around at age 44, not having played since 2004...
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