25 Bizarre Facts About Baseball in 2014

Stuff from the 2014 season you can't make up:

1. Clayton Kershaw faced a bases loaded situation three times all last season. He allowed no hits.

2. Only four second basemen made more errors than Dan Uggla did last year. He started only 37 games.

3. After a five-year career as a starter in which he allowed a 4.57 ERA, Wade Davis moved to the bullpen and reduced that ERA to 0.94.

4. Tampa Bay catcher Jose Molina scored four runs all year, in 247 PA. Thirty-seven players scored four runs or more in a game.

5. Forty-five players earned MVP votes in 2014, not one of them a Yankee or Red Sock.

6. The Texas Rangers went 24-18 in day games and 36-74 in night games. And nearly all the day games were on the road.

7. More on Jose Molina: he stroked two extra base hits all season. He slugged .187, the second lowest SLG among players with 200+ plate appearances all-time. (Ray Oyler, 1968)

8. Pablo Sandoval missed two games after injuring his elbow on a hit-by-pitch. Which he swung at.

9. All the Major League position players who batted at San Francisco's AT&T Park in 2014 combined for two grand slam home runs, the same number Madison Bumgarner hit.

10. Another Molina: he cost Tampa two wins against replacement in less than half a season's hitting opportunities, despite good defense behind the plate. His offense was roughly one-fifth league average.

11. The top five finishers in the AL Rookie of the Year voting were all older than Bryce Harper, Mike Trout and Giancarlo Stanton.

12. Hunter Pence batted .269 with no one on base in 2014, .377 with runners in scoring position and .452 with RISP and two out.

13. One last Molina: The Rays paid him the $2.75 million left on his contract for 2015 and released him. 

14. Pat Neshek walked one batter per nine in 2014. His career rate was 3.7 per nine in the eight years prior.

15. This is Ryan Braun, 2014: .266/.324/.443, 19 homers. This is Ryan Braun on drugs, 2007-2013: .312/.374/.564, 30 homers. Any questions?

16. Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit four consecutive doubles for the Mets . . . over a span of 58 days. He was sent to the Minors after the first double and didn't play the game after the third.

17. The World Champion Boston Red Sox, who won 97 games in 2013, were officially eliminated from playoff contention on September 10, three days earlier than the Houston Astros, who lost a Major League-high 111 games in 2013.

18. In his 19 Major League seasons, Raul Ibanez produced 20 wins against replacement, barely one per year. He ends his career with $66 million in earnings.

19. Joe Panik of the Cardinals went five-for-five in a game in September without scoring a run or knocking one in. Brett Gardner went oh-for-three in an April game and scored four times.

20. Over the last three years, there have been 29 player-seasons of 30 homers and 100 RBI. There were 35 such seasons in 2001 alone. There were 39 in 2002.

21. Chris Young pitched 162 innings for the Mariners last season, more than he had managed the previous four seasons combined.

22. Who won the Tigers-Rangers trade involving Prince Fielder and Ian Kinsler?

• Fielder: 42 games, three homers, negative WAR, Rangers' season collapses.
• Kinsler: 161 games, 61 extra base hits, 15 steals, superb defense, 5.5 wins against replacement and a division crown for Detroit.
• Kinsler nearly got his wish.

23. Rays' second baseman Sean Rodriguez batted .292 on the road and .112 at the Trop in 2014. He batted .211 overall but managed to slug .443.

24. Adam Dunn retired at the end the season with the expiration of his four-year, $56 million contract with the Chicago White Sox. The Big Donkey might have been better off retiring prior to the contract. He hit .202/.321/.407, or roughly replacement level on offense those four seasons after terrorizing pitchers at a .250/.381/.521 clip, worth 33 offensive wins against replacement, in his first nine years. Of course, then he'd be out $56 million. So never mind.

25. Jerome Williams beat the A's while pitching for the Astros. Then he beat them while pitching for the Rangers. And then he beat them while pitching for the Phillies. All in 2014.

Bonus: No one on their team hit 20 home runs. Their first baseman slugged .398, their right fielder .360. None of their hitters knocked in 75 runs or scored 90. Forty-two-year-old Raul Ibanez wangled 90 plate appearances (of .188 hitting.) Their manager occasionally looked lost. And they came within 90 feet of extra innings in Game 7 of the World Series.

Baseball. You can't make this stuff up.

Many of these facts courtesy of Jayson Stark, ESPN; and Paul Casella, Sports on Earth.

Let's Rub Robinson Cano's Uniform in Dirt

Dustin Pedroia is an awesome player. A career .301 hitter, he gets aboard at an admirable .367 clip, flashes leather at second, swipes bases efficiently and plays with verve that endears him to teammates. He's posted 39.4 WAR since entering the league in 2006.

Ronbinson Cano also flashes leather at the keystone, though vervelessly. He poses no threat, except to his own team, of running. A career .309 hitter, he's on base a little less than Pedroia but hits for significantly more power -- twice as many home runs and 50% more RBI. He's also outscored Petey by 162 runs. The Yankees and Red Sox have both created scads of crooked numbers during the two players' careers, so that's not an issue. 

Overall, Cano has posted 45.5 WAR in one more season, six wins more valuable overall than his Boston rival. But Mariano Rivera says in his new book that he prefers Pedroia over Cano. And Mariano is an honorable man. 

Rivera says Pedroia burns to win and Cano does not. Well, I burn to win. Unfortunately, my talent lacks the will to exist. 

More importantly, does "desire" really show up in the results? In his career, Pedroia is a slightly worse hitter when he bats with two outs. Cano is too, though he retains more of his value. But Mariano Rivera prefers Pedroia over Cano. And Mariano is an honorable man. 

With runners in scoring position, both players lose some value. Pedroia makes up some ground on Cano, but Cano is still the better hitter.

Pedroia comes alive in high-leverage situations -- when the game is really on the line -- hitting safely nearly 40% of the time. Cano can't match him. But Cano makes it all up in medium leverage situations. It's a point for Petey, but hardly conclusive.

How about the post-season, when it really matters? Ha! They both stink. Cano has been more pungent, but nothing about Pedroia's post-season resume says "burn to win." 

Cano is also getting better; his four best seasons have been his last four.  Pedroia peaked in '08 and has more or less maintained that level of performance.

So why would the sainted Mariano Rivers take a jab at his former teammate and issue an homage to a former rival? The less obvious reason is a soiled uniform on a 5' 8" body. Pedroia makes a habit of throwing his miniature self in the dirt each game, and that gives the appearance of caring. We all adore the scrappy little over-achiever.

The more obvious reason is that Cano committed the cardinal sin of jumping the Yankee ship for the money. It's hysterical to hear the team's fans contort themselves to find that odious. Evidently they discount any accomplishments by Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann, CC Sabathia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Alex Rodriguez, Mike Mussina, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Wade Boggs, Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter . . . how much time do you have?

Mariano Rivera is the greatest relief pitcher of all time or at least until Craig Kimbrel retires. But that doesn't make him an expert on analyzing the game, any more than it made Joe Morgan or Harold Reynolds or John Kruk. The two second basemen are both potential Hall of Famers, but the talent is worth more than all the world's scrappiness. Take Cano, and if it makes you feel any better, you can rub his uniform in dirt before he puts it on.