jmh@ltuxa.UUCP (Jon M. Hanrath) (08/22/85)
In regard to David Rubin and Whitey Herzog's comments of the Cubs "career seasons" of 1984 - it just doesn't seem to be true. I have looked up (in Bill James' Baseball Abstract) the 1984 stats of the Cubs starters vs. their career averages and here they are: Name G AB Hit 2B 3B HR R RBI BB SO SB AVG Durham 84 137 473 132 30 4 23 86 96 69 86 16 .279 career 565 161 31 8 21 89 91 70 101 25 .285 Sandberg 156 636 200 36 19 19 114 84 52 101 32 .314 career 641 180 32 9 11 105 62 47 91 34 .282 Cey 146 505 121 27 0 25 71 97 61 108 3 .240 career 572 150 26 2 25 78 93 81 94 2 .263 Bowa 133 391 87 14 2 0 33 17 28 24 10 .223 career 615 161 19 7 1 73 38 35 41 23 .261 Matthews 147 491 143 21 2 14 101 82 103 97 17 .291 career 594 170 27 5 19 92 82 75 91 17 .286 Dernier 143 536 149 26 5 3 94 32 63 60 45 .278 career 453 119 18 3 3 78 27 47 60 51 .263 Moreland 140 495 138 17 3 16 59 80 34 71 1 .279 career 543 154 23 3 16 62 83 49 70 1 .283 Davis 150 523 134 25 2 19 55 94 47 99 5 .256 career 543 142 27 2 20 55 83 46 104 2 .262 Cotto 105 146 40 5 0 0 24 8 10 23 9 .274 career 225 62 8 0 0 37 12 15 35 14 .274 Now these stats reflect the 1984 totals of the starters and their "carrer stats in seasonal notation" (out of the Abstract). The seasonal notation is basically what they would be expected to do in an average season. I seems to me that Durham, Matthews, Moreland, Davis, and Cotto had average seasons, Cey and Bowa had a bit less than average, and Dernier and Sandberg had better than average seasons. That doesn't sound like what Herzog was stating. In fact, I would say given Sandberg's stats from this year (.295, 19 HRs, less triples, but many runs and 55 RBI) that he had maybe only a little better than average year last year, which leaves us with only Dernier. It is true that Dernier was a big part of the offense, and also Sutcliffe DEFINITELY had a "career year". The other pitchers (Eckersley, Ruthven, Sanderson) had average years, with Trout having 'a little above average year with a 13-7 record. However, I don't think one can say that "8 or 9" guys had career seasons for the Cubs in 1984. Herzog just has a big mouth and he always has to say something. Everything went well last year for the Cubs, no injuries (few injuries) and a lot of "hunger" and luck. I agree with David Rubin in that the Cub hitting ("clutch hitting") isn't helping things this year along with the pitching woes. There's always next year. Side Note: The Brewers pull within 17.5 of the Jays!!! Jon Hanrath ihnp4!ltuxa!jmh
radio@spuxll.UUCP (Rick Farina) (08/23/85)
> In regard to David Rubin and Whitey Herzog's comments of the Cubs > "career seasons" of 1984 - it just doesn't seem to be true. > I have looked up (in Bill James' Baseball Abstract) the 1984 > stats of the Cubs starters vs. their career averages and here they are: > > Name G AB Hit 2B 3B HR R RBI BB SO SB AVG > Durham 84 137 473 132 30 4 23 86 96 69 86 16 .279 > career 565 161 31 8 21 89 91 70 101 25 .285 > ... Yes, but how did you arrive at those career statistics? Does the career line include 1984? If it does, then the career numbers don't prove your point, especially since the career stats of the less-experienced Cubs (Sandberg, Dernier, Davis) might merely be skewed in favor of their 1984 career year. Aw c'mon. Let's face it: last year the Cubs were magic, this year they're mud. raf ---