In keeping with an earlier theme...1995

1995

Easily the comeback year for all-time. 

          The 1994 season was halted in mid-summer by a work stoppage that canceled the 1994 World Series. One of the black spots in Major League Baseball's rich history. It was a hard fought labor battle, and included the most heinous possible outcome... Replacement Players.

          The owners decided that the 1995 season would be played, no matter what. Even if that meant the caliber of play was not up to snuff. They opened their camps to anyone and everyone with the dreams of playing in the big leagues. Remarkably, there were a couple of players that were able to capitalize on that opportunity.

          Cal Ripken Jr., baseball's Iron Man was close to breaking the all-time record for consecutive games played. He was less that 100 games shy of the record of 2,130 set by the immortal Lou Gehrig. Ripken's remarkable streak was also in jeopardy. That may be the reason that Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos announced that he would NOT permit his team to play using inferior players, if the season was ordered to begin.

          Cooler heads and common sense finally prevailed. (I am really condensing the story and leaving out a ton of details)

          The 1995 season began a little later than normal, was a little shorter than normal, but helped baseball recover in the national eye. Fans, both serious and casual, followed the Ripken/Gehrig chase as it unfolded. Finally on a warm September evening, with President Bill Clinton in attendance, Cal and the Orioles reached the fifth inning of their game against the California Angels, making the game official. the 2,131st consecutive game that Cal appeared in. He would go on to play in another 501 consecutive games, ending his streak at 2,632 games.

          Cal was the darling of the media that summer, spending as much time as needed for interviews, pictures, whatever was needed at the time.

          Now, as you have read on my earlier items, since the post season awards are voted on by the baseball writers. And since these writers are human beings, they will harbor both grudges and favoritism.

          Twenty years after the fact, it is easy to forget that one of the best individual offensive seasons in the past fifty years happened in 1995.

          Albert Belle, an outfielder with the Cleveland Indians had a monster year. He is was the first player to have 50 homers and 50 doubles in the same season (and a shortened season at that). he finished with a 50/126/.310 and .310/.401/.690. He did NOT win the most valuable player award. Why not?

          Mr. Belle was not the most pleasant person in his dealings with the media. Or with the fans either actually. His temper outbursts are legendary, but I won't delve into them here.

          Instead,  will delve into the numbers, as I do.

          the 1995 Cleveland Indians were a true offensive juggernaut. They finished the season with a .291 batting average as a team. They led the league in Runs Scored, Hits, Slugging Percentage, Home Runs and On Base Percentage. They won the American League crown easily, going 100-44 and winning the division by 30 games. The swept the first round of the playoffs, sweeping the Boston Red Sox, and then beating the Seattle Mariners 4 games to 2. They lost the World Series to the Atlanta Braves in 6 games.

          So the American League Most Valuable Player was...Mo Vaughn.

         

          Mo had a very good season as well, 39/126/.300 and .300/.388/.575. He helped the Red Sox to the playoffs, losing to Albert and the Indians. He was also a much easier and affable interview than Albert was

         

          I read somewhere that the easiest way to pick out the truly stellar performances was to use the 3-4-5 method. .300 average, .400 on base percentage and .500 slugging percentage. Mo falls short by that parameter, but Albert fits it.  Remember this, we'll need it in a minute...

          Crunching the numbers and using my formula, the raw numbers are as follows:

         

player	Mike#
Edgar Martinez	2.5241
Albert Belle	2.4716
Will Clark	2.4051
Mark McGwire	2.3433
Jose Canseco	2.3369
Tim Salmon	2.2993
John Valentin	2.2961
Mo Vaughn	2.2876
Jim Edmonds	2.2679
Frank Thomas	2.2628

         

          Edgar Martinez, you say?

          Yes.

          Edgar's numbers were 29/113/.356 and then .356/.479/.628.

          3-4-5.

          The Mariners finished very strong, winning the West Division by a game over the California Angels, despite being without Ken Griffey Jr. for about a quarter of the season. They went deeper into the playoffs than any other Mariner team before or since.

          The Seattle Mariners finished third in runs scored and home runs.

          So, next step, how do the number compare against their teams? Let's check:

player			vs TEAM
Will Clark			1.5826
Mark McGwire			1.4823
Edgar Martinez			1.4659
Wally Joyner			1.4010
Frank Thomas			1.3707
Albert Belle			1.3707
Jose Canseco			1.3568
Rafael Palmiero			1.3463
Tim Salmon			1.3398
John Valentin			1.3331

         

            OK. Will Clark.

            Will the Thrill, first baseman for the Texas Rangers, who homered in his first Major League at-bat against the legendary Nolan Ryan, had a pretty solid year for a disappointing Rangers team. They finished third in the American League West, but were a pretty average offensive team that year.

            Will finished at 16/92/.302 and .302/.389/.480. Respectable.

            Finally, we check the rest of the league:

player	Mike#	vs LGUE
Edgar Martinez	2.5241	1.5811
Albert Belle	2.4716	1.5482
Will Clark	2.4051	1.5066
Mark McGwire	2.3433	1.4679
Jose Canseco	2.3369	1.4639
Tim Salmon	2.2993	1.4403
John Valentin	2.2961	1.4383
Mo Vaughn	2.2876	1.4330
Jim Edmonds	2.2679	1.4206
Frank Thomas	2.2628	1.4174

            No surprise here if you read the earlier notes. My surprise was that I figured that Belle had the most impressive single season. Not Edgar Martinez.

            So there you have it. The best offensive player in the American League in 1995...Edgar Martinez.

This is the one of the most impressive baseball books I have read. And the graphics are incredible. All of the illustrations are based on the old style tobacco cards. Coming in May, 2015...

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