the greatest singles hitter of his time

the title of this blog might conjure up names like Cobb, Carew, Boggs or Ichiro but as great as they all were the hitter I am referring to has incomparable stats.

Have you ever heard of a young man named Kosman ? Maybe yes, maybe no. Well you should, he batted .929 his first year of organized ball and .893 his second year with only 1 extra base hit. That is right, I said nine twenty nine and eight ninety three. Ok, wait a second, truth be told it was in t-ball and this youngster was only six and seven years old, but who cares, his batting average is the highest I have ever seen anywhere.


He was promoted to the minors in 2007 and Kosman settled back to reality by hitting .327 and .382 the next two years respectively. With only two extra base hits out of his 38 minor league safeties, he just might be the greatest singles hitter of his time.

Before he could even swing a bat this year, 2009, an off season mishap with a trampoline has sidelined him a bit. A broken arm may slow this kid down but his coaches and trainers are sure he will continue where he left off; hitting singles when he gains his full strength back.


Thanks to his Dad, Paul of Wrigley Wax "little" Kosman will be a star for a long time. Keep hitting singles Sean, the record books await !

Happy Easter, Luke

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and what better day of the year to honor former Negro League and Cleveland Indian "star" named Luke Easter.

While I never saw him play or even had heard of him prior to doing some Easter "research", it seemed only appropriate to do a post today on him.
Standing 6'4" tall and weighing in at 240 lbs, Easter was a powerful man who led the Negro League in HR and RBI's in 1948 and led the Homestead Grays to victory in the last Negro League World Series ever held. From there he was signed by Bill Veeck, the then owner of the Cleveland Indians.

Having a strong performance in the minors in 1949, Easter was called up briefly that year and then won the regular first baseman's "job" in 1950, prompting a trade of All-Star Mickey Vernon.

The next three years in Cleveland (1950, 51 and 52) Easter would hit a combined 86 HR's and drive in 307 runs. In 1952 Easter would finish 13th in MVP voting. Knee and ankle troubles allowed Easter to only play briefly in '53 and '54, eventually calling his playing days over in 1954.
Easter was known for his tape measure homeruns and according to Bill James in his Historical Baseball Abstract; Easter is ranked as the second best first baseman in the history of the Negro Leagues. James also goes on to say "if you could clone him and bring him back, you'd have the greatest power hitter in baseball today, if not ever."

Luke Easter died in 1979, but I find no other player worthy of today's post. So . . . Happy Easter, Luke and Happy Easter everyone !

Ted Lilly . . . the next Greg Maddux ?

Don't even get me started . . . the answer is a resounding NO !

To be be fair, there may never be another Greg Maddux (355 wins, 8x all-star, better than a 3 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio, 4 Cy Young awards, 18 x gold glove and 17 consecutive years with 15 + wins, future first ballot HOF'er) but . . . I just read an article, published by a "reputable" resource (to remain un-named for their safety) that compared Lilly to Maddux in this regard.

Yesterday's spring training game against the Indians (Cubs lost 7-5) where Lilly gave up two home runs to DeRosa (almost had a third if not for that tall wall) it was mentioned that Lilly was "setting up" DeRosa for later on in the season as Maddux had done throughout his career to perfection.

May I just suggest that Lilly is NO GREG MADDUX. Lilly might have been rusty, having pitched only 3 + innings in the WBC and DeRosa is a solid power hitter but Greg Maddux, is one of the greatest students of the game and in the top tier of smartest pitchers of this or any generation.

So to those "reputable" journalists out there . . . Dont insult Maddux . . . and don't put unrealistic expectations on any pitcher.

For the record, Ted Lilly is a solid pitcher; has three consecutive years of 15 + wins, hopefully will win # 100 this year, has a $ 10,000,000 contract and wears uniform # 30 (close to Maddux's #31) . . . but is NO GREG MADDUX !

1970 Topps: #7 Indians Rookie Stars

The first Rookie Stars card from the 1970 set highlights two players who never really "made it". Sorry to those Indian bloggers out there but there will be "better" tribe cards to come later on in the set.

Gary Boyd played only in 1969, appearing in 8 games; giving up 11 earned runs in 11 innings pitched (that would be an era of 9.00). He also walked 14 batters and struck out 9. To make matters worse, Boyd actually played in his first game on August 1st and his last on September 26 - giving him a total of 57 days in the majors.

His card partner, Russ Nagelson did somewhat better. As a 14th round draft pick (the 272nd overall pick) out of Ohio State University in 1966, Nagelson enjoyed a three year (partial as it my have been) major league career. Appearing in 62 games (34 with Cleveland in 1968 thru 1970 and 28 with Detroit in 1970); he had 78 career at bats, 16 hits including 1 (yes one) homerun ! One positive though, his fielding percentage was 1.000 ! (committed zero errors in 13 games, 24 put outs - playing all three outfield positions and first base)

So the first Rookie Stars of 1970 are far from stars but each did have a "sip of coffee" as it is said and are card # 7 !

"The Heater"

That was the nickname for Neal Heaton during his days at the University of Miami (1979-1981). Heaton was drafted 2nd by the Cleveland Indians (39th overall) in the 1981 draft and played for seven teams from 1982 until 1993. While his major league career record of 80-96, 4.37 era and 699 strikeouts do not accurately reflect his "heat" or potential; Heaton was actually the first UM player ever to be selected to a Major League All-Star game, 1990 (though did not play).
It was in college that Heaton was known to throw fire. The two-time All American won 42 games as a Hurricane and had 23 strikeouts in one game against Indiana State on March 10, 1981. He has had his #26 retired by the UM baseball team and elected to the UM Hall of Fame in 1992. With Coach Ron Fraser running the team like a "minor league show", attendance at Mark Light Stadium on the campus of UM was packed every night, especially when "the Heater" was on the mound.

At 6'1" and 200 lbs, Heaton was the "stud", "the sure thing", "a can't miss", a left handed fireballer who threw 93 mph. Originally drafted by the N Y Mets in 1979, they offered him a insultingly low signing bonus of only $ 35,000, and after rejecting it flat out, Heaton opted to attend Oklahoma State University in Stillwater OK. It was not very long until Ron Fraser (UM Coach) picked up the phone and coaxed Heaton into coming to Coral Gables.

Just one year prior to that unrelated event, in March 1978, I had visited the U and decided that is where I was going to spend "the best four years of my life". Living on fraternity row, which was right across the street from Mark Light Stadium, home games were "party time" in and out of the stadium. Many times we would sneak in during the between inning commotions (orchestrated by head coach Fraser, termed the P T Barnum of college baseball by Sports Illustrated in 1977) and watch our Hurricanes win day in and day out.

Back then . . . baseball was king in Coral Gables, Heaton was the stud on the mound and I did my best to survive the "best four years of my life".

Jim Abbott: still an inspiration to many

I have been meaning to do a post on Jim Abbott for some time now and so here goes . . .

For those of you too young to remember, Jim Abbott was born without a right hand yet became a two sport high school star athlete in Flint Michigan; excelling in both American football (yes he played quarterback and led his team to two state championships) and baseball of course. He was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 36th round of the draft in 1985 but opted to enter the University of Michigan instead.

1989 Topps # 573: I like this card showcasing the Michigan uniform and the Angels logo
as Abbott is indeed a solid # 1 draft pick

He led Michigan to two Big Ten Championships and in 1987 won the James E Sullivan Award for being the nations best amateur athlete. He was the first baseball player and remains the only baseball player to have ever won this award. In 1988, the California Angels made Abboott the 8th player chosen in first round. 1988 was also the year Abbott led the USA to a Gold Medal in the summer Olympics held in Seoul South Korea.

1989 Topps Traded # 11: a USA Olympian

Never pitching in the minors, Abbott went straight to the majors and his rookie season went 12-12 for the Angels, coming in fifth in the ROY award. After four seasons in California, Abbott was traded to the New York Yankees in December of 1992 and on September 4th, 1993 had his "day to remember forever" as he pitched a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians.

1990 Score # 330: a good shot of how Abbott uses his right arm to cradle his glove as he pitches

His last year in the majors was with the Milwaukee Brewers, the only NL team he played for and had to actually stand in the batters box. While he was able to hit the ball over the fence during BP, during the 1999 campaign he did get 2 hits in 21 at bats (coincidentally both off Jon Leiber of the N Y Yankees).

Throughout Abbotts career, teams tried to take advantage of his unusual situation (that of only having one hand) and it proved to be unsuccessful. Abbott defense was as solid as his pitching and actually had a lifetime .976 fielding percentage (having four years of perfect fielding).

Abbotts professional career was not spectacular, going 87-108 with a 4.25 career ERA. However, Jim Abbott will always be remembered for his courage and inspiration to all who saw him play. Today, he continues to be that as he has turned to motivational speaking. Thank you Jim Abbott for what you did for baseball in the late eighties - I know many have been and will continue to be inspired by you.

New "irregular special feature" beginning now

For some reason I feel compelled to start a new "irregular special feature" on my blog and I give all the credit (or blame) to my wife. Prior to marriage her initials were K.K. (now they are K.P.) so she is my unofficial inspiration to baseball players that have the same first and last initial, {right now many of you are saying I know someone who has that but so what}.

Just something to think about . . . since there are three teams that also fit this category; Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates and of course the Chicago Cubs !

Today I start with A.A. - Andy Allanson.

A.A. (Allanson) was a Topps All-Star Rookie selection in 1987 (probably his kiss of death), played for 8 years and five different teams, mostly for the Cleveland Indians. He never lived up to his status given out by Topps by hitting only 16 career HR's driving in 140 runs and having a lifetime BA of .240.

But nonetheless, A.A. is my first entry in my new "irregular special feature" that I will be calling . . . drum roll please . . . "Duplicate Initials". If I can submit an entry weekly, that means this task will be done in 26 weeks (or less if I can not find Q.Q. or a Z.Z.).

Just wait until next week . . .I know your brains are working already trying to figure out who will be my B.B. or C.C. or D.D . . . ? ! Please tune in again next week . . .