Evan Scribner was the winning pitcher in the A’s storybook finish – and AL West Title.
2012 was a remarkable season – and BBRT expects even more excitement in the post season. Most readers may be too young to remember “Your Hit Parade,: an early TV show that featured the Top Ten music hits and a few “extras.” Here are ten “hits” and a few extras that grabbed BBRT’s attention during the 2012 MLB regular season.
1. The no-name, low-payroll Oakland A’s AL Western Division Championship.
The Oakland A’s started the 2012 season with the lowest payroll in the AL and second-lowest payroll in all of baseball ($55.3 million, with only the Padres lower), and with most analysts predicting a last-place finish in the AL West. Yet, this no-name bunch – 13 games out of first on June 30 – completed a remarkable comeback with a dramatic final weekend sweep (and comeback from a 5-1 deficit in game 162) of the heavily favored Texas Rangers to grab the AL West title with a 94-68 record. The heroes in that final contest included such “name” players as Evan Scribner, Derek Norris, Brandon Moss and Coco Crisp.
How improbable was this division championship? The A’s had no 100-RBI men; no .300 hitters; only one player with 30 or more homers (Josh Reddick, 32); no-pitcher with more than 13 victories; only one pitcher with 30+ starts (Tommy Milone, 31); and no pitcher with 200 innings pitched. They had 54 wins from rookie pitchers, and started a rookie hurler in each of the last 14 games of the season.
Here is the list of A’s with at least 100 games played in 2012: Brandon Moss, Coco Crisp; Josh Reddick; Chris Pennington; Yoenis Cespedes; Seth Smith; Jemile Weeks.
Oh, and by the way, the A’s had sole possession of first place on only one day all season – the day that counted.
For BBRT, the A’s story was number-one on the 2012 Hit Parade.
2. Miguel Cabrera’s Triple Crown
Not accomplished since 1967 (the Red Sox Carl Yastrzemski), Cabrera’s Triple Crown included a .330 average, 44 homers and 139 RBI – a performance that led his Tigers to the AL Central crown. His key challenges came from Josh Hamilton in home runs (who suffered a late season power slump) and a final rush from Curtis Granderson that brought him within one round tripper of Cabrera. Cabrera also pushed aside batting average challenges from Joe Mauer and Mike Trout, with Miggy turning in a clutch four-hit performance in the Tigers’ October 1 Division Championship-clinching game.
3. Mike Trout’s spectacular rookie season.
All the pre-season hype focused on Washington National’s phenom Bryce Harper. Then on April 27th, the California Angels made a move that changed the playing field – calling up Mike Trout, a 20-year-old who was hitting a blistering .403, with one HR, 13 RBI and six stolen bases at Salt Lake City. Despite missing a month of the MLB season, Trout, at 21, became the first rookie and youngest member of the 30-40 club (30 homers and 40 stolen bases), finishing with a line of .326; 30 HRs; 49 SBs; 129 runs; 83 RBI; and a good shot at a Gold Glove. And, again, despite his late April call up, was only one stolen base from joining the elite 30-50 club, which includes only Eric Davis and Barry Bonds. It was a marvel to witness – and think about how much more baseball Trout (and fans) have to look forward to in the seasons ahead.
Hit Parade Extra – Precognition or Coincidence? We’ll take coincidence. BBRT’s March 29th blog may have foreshadowed the current Cabrera versus Trout MVP discussions. The blog was title “Triple Crown = MVP? Not Always!” Visit that blog for more detail, but three players have been denied the MVP after winning the Triple Crown, one of them twice: Lou Gehrig, in 1934, actually led both leagues in the Triple Crown categories and finished a distant fifth in MVP voting, while Ted Williams won the Triple Crown in 1942 and 1947 without being recognized as MVP and Chuck Klein had that distinction in 1933. For 2012, BBRT’s vote goes to Cabrera, since Trout’s solid season and strong supporting cast still could not bring the Angels a playoff spot.
4. Baltimore Orioles make playoffs for the first time since 1997.
Like the Oakland A’s, the Orioles came into the season as Division “also-rans.” Yet they stayed in the hunt with the powerful Yankees until the final weekend – and earned a Wild Card spot. Like the A’s, we are not looking at a group of established names. The O’s did show power, with five 20+-HR players, led by Chris Davis (33) and Adam Jones (30). However, they had no 100-RBI players (although Davis, Jones and Matt Wieters all topped 80) or .300 hitters. The Orioles starters were led in wins by Wei-Yen Chen, the only hurler with more than 20 starts (12-11, 4.02) – but did benefit from Jim Johnson’s 51 saves. Still, the Orioles played gritty, were fun to watch, and did bring home 93 wins.
5. The Washington Nationals NL East Crown.
The Nationals are considered another surprise team in the playoffs by many (BBRT was among those predicting a playoff spot), but more surprising may be that they led the NL in wins (98) and how they did it –with the NL’s lowest ERA (3.33), even after shutting down Stephen Strasburg. Staff leaders were Strasburg (15-8, 3.16) and Gio Gonzalez (21-8, 2.89), while seven pitchers logged saves, led by Tyler Clippard (32) and Henry Rodriguez (9). A real interest grabber was what would happen once Strasburg left the rotation. John Lannan filled in admirably.
Hit Parade Extra – What difference relief pitchers make. The New York Mets led all of MLB in quality starts in 2012 (101) and yet finished with only 74 wins against 88 losses. BBRT watched the self-destruction closely.
6. The Pittsburgh Pirates fall from grace.
BBRT predicted in March that the Pittsburgh Pirates would end 19-years of futility (under-.500 finishes) this season. That looked like a pretty good bet on August 8, when the Pirates were 16 games over .500 at 63-47, just 2 ½ games behind the division-leading Reds. In fact, just over a week later, the team sent out play-off ticket ordering instructions. Well, from August 8 on, BBRT watched in dismay as the March prediction and the Pirate’s season went into free fall. They played 20-games under .500 the rest of the way, finishing at 79-83 for their 20th consecutive losing season. Ironically, the clinching 82nd loss came at home on Sunday, September 30 – the Pirates’ official Fan Appreciation Day.
7. Chipper Jones’ Final Season.
BBRT watched with interest (and respect) as the forty-year-old Chipper Jones went .287, 14 HR, 62 RBI in his final season, helping the Braves to a post-season slot. The future Hall of Famer, always a pressure player, hit a single (as a pinch-hitter) in his final regular season at-bat. Post-season to follow and BBRT hopes to see more of Chipper.
8. Kris Medlen’s remarkable comeback.
Kris Medlen is a remarkable “find” for the Braves – a solid prospect lost for all of 2011 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. After the Braves moved him into the rotation on July 31 (after 38 relief appearances), he made 12 starts and went 9-0 with a 0.97 ERA. For the year, he’s 10-1, 1.57. But here’s what has grabbed BBRT’s attention. Since 2010, the Braves have won 23 consecutive games started by Medlen, breaking a record shared by Hall of Famers Carl Hubbell and Whitey Ford. As BBRT writes this post, Medlen is preparing to face the Cardinals in a Wild Card play-off game.
9. Melky Cabrera suspension and right decision.
BBRT was glad to see Melky Cabrera, baseball and the Giants do the right thing after Cabrera’s PED-related suspension, with Melky opting out of the batting race (see blog post of Sept. 22) and the Giants deciding not to activate him for the post season. Notably, Melky’s “resignation” – with a .346 average – opened the door for the Giants’ Buster Posey (.336) to become only the fourth catcher to win a batting title.
10. Seven no-hitters and three perfect games.
Seems like BBRT has been posting about no-hitters and perfect games all season. You can check them all out in posts of Sept. 29, August 16, July 12, June 14, June 9 and April 21. Lots of no-hitter trivia and tidbits there.
Hit Parade Extra – A Few Honorable Mentions: Jamie Moyer becoming the oldest pitcher to win a major league game; the collapse of the Red Sox; the inability of the West Coast Dodgers and Angels to make the playoffs despite some aggressive signings and trades; R.A. Dickey’s remarkable season; the impact of the new Wild Card system; Yu Darvish; and my fantasy team – the KL Mundies – taking first place with 7200 total points, only 15 ahead of second place.
Any highlights to add – use the comments section, BBRT would love to hear your views on the 2012 season.
