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By Geoff Young
On page 893 of The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, James talks about wanting to “sort pitchers into ‘families’.” This has nothing to do with that, although my interest was sparked by James’ comment. Whereas James had practical uses in mind (“a way of organizing our thinking”), my motivation is more esoteric. It’s kind of sappy, even. To use one example, you and I know who Sean Casey is. We’ve been watching baseball for a while and we’re familiar with the name. We might even have a concept in our mind of the type of hitter he is. Going back a little further, we find Hal Morris. Many of us remember him as a line-drive hitting first baseman in the mold of, say, Casey. Going back even further, we encounter Chris Chambliss, Wes Parker, Joe Collins, George McQuinn, George Kelly, and Fred Merkle. Some of these names are etched in the history books – Kelly is a Hall of Famer, while Merkle is famous for other reasons. Others are relegated to virtual anonymity. Who remembers the accomplishments of McQuinn 60 years after he played his final game? Acknowledging the limitations inherent in any system that attempts to compare players from different eras (or even from the same era, for that matter), if we accept that McQuinn was a Sean Casey type hitter back in the ‘30s and ‘40s, we have at least a general frame of reference for McQuinn’s career.
So what? Well, it may not be as important as overclocking the latest runs created formula in terms of daily operations, but from a historical perspective, it’s good to remember any heritage that is worth upholding. McQuinn is a part of that heritage. He wasn’t a great player but he was pretty darned good in his day and deserves to be remembered for that.
That’s one man’s opinion, anyway. Also, it’s fun to put these things together. My method was crude, and there probably are other ways to do this that would be at least as valid. I used Baseball-Reference’s PI tool to identify guys who played most of their games at a certain position and whose career OPS+ fell within 2-3 points of one another. I generally set the minimum requirement for plate appearances at 3000 and then lowered as necessary to cover large gaps in the timeline. Again, there may be better ways to do this. My main objectives here were to a) get a rough idea of families and b) have fun with it. To the trees:
The Merkle Line of First Basemen
Player
| Years
| PA
| BA
| OBP
| SLG
| OPS+
| Fred Merkle
| 1907-1926
| 6426
| .273
| .331
| .383
| 109
| George Kelly
| 1915-1932
| 6565
| .297
| .342
| .452
| 109
| George McQuinn
| 1936-1948
| 6597
| .276
| .357
| .424
| 110
| Joe Collins
| 1948-1957
| 2700
| .256
| .350
| .421
| 111
| Wes Parker
| 1964-1972
| 4835
| .267
| .351
| .375
| 111
| Chris Chambliss
| 1971-1988
| 8305
| .279
| .334
| .415
| 109
| Hal Morris
| 1988-2000
| 4443
| .304
| .361
| .433
| 111
| Sean Casey
| 1997-2007
| 5426
| .301
| .366
| .450
| 110
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There's a gap between 1932 and 1936, and another between 1957 and 1964. If we wanted to refine the results further, we might consider physical attributes (height, weight, lefty/righty), career shapes (early peak, late peak, etc.). This is hardly revolutionary stuff, but sometimes the obvious gets overlooked precisely because it is obvious. As noted earlier, Merkle and Kelly are fairly well known. McQuinn made seven All-Star teams during his 12-year career and finished sixth in AL MVP voting in 1947. Collins spent his entire career with the New York Yankees and played alongside the likes of Yogi Berra, Billy Martin, Phil Rizzuto, Mickey Mantle, and Whitey Ford. Parker was a brilliant defender who won six Gold Glove Awards in nine seasons with the Dodgers and who garnered some MVP support in 1970.
The Gilbert Line of Second Basemen
Player
| Years
| PA
| BA
| OBP
| SLG
| OPS+
| Billy Gilbert
| 1901-1909
| 3271
| .247
| .328
| .289
| 81
| Dick Egan
| 1908-1916
| 3547
| .249
| .315
| .300
| 81
| Ralph Young
| 1913-1922
| 4336
| .247
| .339
| .296
| 79
| Bill Regan
| 1926-1931
| 2570
| .267
| .306
| .387
| 81
| Danny Murtaugh
| 1941-1951
| 2937
| .254
| .331
| .317
| 81
| Don Blasingame
| 1955-1966
| 5938
| .258
| .329
| .327
| 81
| Tommy Helms
| 1964-1977
| 5333
| .269
| .300
| .342
| 79
| Manny Trillo
| 1973-1989
| 6573
| .263
| .316
| .345
| 81
| Carlos Garcia
| 1990-1999
| 2359
| .266
| .307
| .374
| 79
| Luis Rivas
| 2000-2007
| 2067
| .262
| .307
| .385
| 80
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This line, dormant for most of the '30s and for a few years in the mid-'20s and -'50s, appears to be dying. I had to lower the plate appearances threshold to 2000 just to get Garcia and Rivas in here. Players with this skill set are utility men nowadays. In this case, we see how a position has evolved over time. Gilbert was Hall-of-Famer Bill Dahlen’s double play partner with the New York Giants. Oops, I forgot, Dahlen isn’t in the Hall of Fame. Someone should fix that. Anyway, Gilbert played under the legendary John McGraw and even was a teammate – for one game at least – of a fellow named Moonlight Graham, later made famous by W.P. Kinsella’s novel Shoeless Joe (and the film it inspired, Field of Dreams). Egan attended Fordham University, the same school that produced Hall of Famers Frankie Frisch and Ed Walsh as well as, more recently, Pete Harnisch. Egan spent most of his career playing for the Cincinnati Reds. He backed up Joe Tinker at shortstop in 1913 and Johnny Evers in 1915 (of the famous Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance combination). Young spent most of his career with the Detroit Tigers, where Hall of Famers Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford were among his teammates. Young got his start with the Yankees, where he very briefly played alongside Frank Chance (yes, that Chance). I can’t find much on Regan. He played alongside Hall of Famer Red Ruffing in Boston, as well as Pie Traynor and the Waners in Pittsburgh. Murtaugh is an interesting case. He had some nice seasons in his 20s with the Phillies, went to serve in World War II, then had some nice seasons in his 30s with the Pirates before managing the latter club intermittently from 1957 to 1976. As skipper, Murtaugh finished with 1115-950 record and brought two World Championships to Pittsburgh. Blasingame played for four teams during his career. He hit a ton of singles and was exceptionally difficult to strike out. Blasingame made the 1958 National League All-Star team while with the St. Louis Cardinals, where his teammates included Stan Musial, Curt Flood, and the exquisitely named Vinegar Bend Mizell. Helms is the uncle of big-leaguer Wes Helms. The elder Helms was named National League Rookie of the Year in 1966 and made the All-Star squad each of the following two seasons. Helms was Joe Morgan’s predecessor with the Reds, and in fact was part of the November 1971 deal that brought Morgan to Cincinnati and helped launch the Big Red Machine. Helms later managed the Reds for 64 games in 1988 and 1989. Trillo played forever. And there was a time in the late-‘70s or early-‘80s when it seemed like you couldn’t open a pack of baseball cards without getting one of his. But I digress. Trillo spent most of his career with the Cubs and Phillies. He made four All-Star teams and won three Gold Glove Awards. He also was part of the infamous 5-for-1 deal that sent young outfielder Von Hayes from Cleveland to Philly.
The Mowrey/Kamm Line of Third Basemen
Player
| Years
| PA
| BA
| OBP
| SLG
| OPS+
| Mike Mowrey
| 1905-1917
| 4979
| .256
| .334
| .329
| 97
| Willie Kamm
| 1923-1935
| 6935
| .281
| .372
| .384
| 97
| Billy Werber
| 1930-1942
| 5845
| .271
| .364
| .392
| 97
| Andy Carey
| 1952-1962
| 3217
| .260
| .327
| .396
| 97
| Max Alvis
| 1962-1970
| 3984
| .247
| .302
| .390
| 97
| Wayne Garrett
| 1969-1978
| 3913
| .239
| .350
| .341
| 95
| Gary Gaetti
| 1981-2000
| 9817
| .255
| .308
| .434
| 97
| Aaron Boone
| 1997-2007
| 4060
| .265
| .329
| .429
| 95
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These guys tend to fall into the “serviceable but wish you had someone better” category. Gaetti managed to hit 360 homers in the process, which sort of illustrates one of the problems of comparing players across eras: Mowrey hit seven. Mowrey played with some of the game’s legends, including Casey Stengel, Zack Wheat, and Honus Wagner. His best season came in 1910, when at age 26 he hit .282/.375/.368 for the St. Louis Cardinals. Kamm spent his career with the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians. He hit six home runs in each of his first three big-league seasons, then a total of 11 more over his final 10. Kamm finished fifth in the American League MVP voting in 1928, when he hit .308/.391/.411. He led the league in walks in 1925, and finished in the top 10 on four other occasions. Werber is, as of this writing, the oldest living teammate of Babe Ruth. His best season came in 1934, when he hit .321/.397/.472 for the Boston Red Sox. Later, in 1940, Werber hit .370/.452/.519 for the Reds in their 1940 World Series victory over Detroit. Carey spent most of his career with the Yankees. He won two World Championships during his time there, although his contribution (.175/.214/.250 in 40 AB) was minimal. Carey led the American League in triples in 1955. He also once hit two home runs in a game off Hall of Famer Bob Lemon. Alvis enjoyed some solid seasons in Cleveland, including two appearances on the American League All-Star team, but his career was essentially over by the time he reached 30. Alvis batted cleanup in his first big-league game, against the Washington Senators; he singled and drove in a run off left-hander Claude Osteen. Garrett played for the New York Mets and Montreal Expos, with a dash of St. Louis Cardinals thrown in at the very end. As a rookie, Garrett was part of the Miracle Mets, batting .218/.290/.268. His two-run homer in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the NLCS against the Braves’ Pat Jarvis gave New York a lead it would not relinquish and propelled the Mets into the World Series, where he went 0-for-1 with two walks. Gaetti hit more homers in his career than Garrett had RBI. Gaetti played recently enough that I probably don’t need to discuss him much. I will note that in 1984, I paid good money for him in my first ever Rotisserie League draft auction on the strength of the 46 home runs he’d knocked over the previous two seasons. He then proceeded to hit five that year for the Twins despite playing in every game. Not that I’m bitter or anything. . . . I could go on, and I probably already have. So, why did I pick these families? No reason, really, other than you have to start somewhere. One of the beautiful things about looking at “family trees” is that there’s virtually no limit to the different lines one can create. Looking at the bigger picture, the particular method and specific examples are less important than the general concept. Maybe someone else can do even greater things with this idea. Maybe they already are. Maybe the next time you find yourself thinking about Sean Casey, you’ll remember George McQuinn as well. |
