Daily Baseball Update: 9/24

Did You Know

MLB's 200,000th game is to be played tonight, but does anyone know how the first game went?  On 4/22/1876, the Boston Red Stockings (now Atlanta Braves) beat the Philadelphia Athletics (which no longer exist) 7-6.  Jim O'Rourke, who would bat .306 over his 19 year career and be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1945, collected the first hit in major league history.  Joe Borden earned the first win, but would not pitch past 1876, finishing with an 11-12 record and a 2.89 ERA (keep in mind that ERA's were much lower back then).  Borden was only 140 pounds, just as a whimsical fact. 

This Day in Baseball History

9/24/2006: Trevor Hoffman saves his 479th game, setting a new major league record as he passes Lee Smith.  The 38 year old Hoffman, who showed no signs of slowing down at that point, would pitch through 2010, racking his saves total to 601.  Mariano Rivera broke that record on Monday.  

My Minors Awards

As the Minor League season wrapped up in early September, I am just getting around to giving out my awards. 

Top Hitter: Bryan LaHair (Cubs AAA)

Though he is not a prospect, having played 45 games with the Mariners in 2008 and now 16 this year with the Cubs, the 28 year old tore up AAA this year.  His 38 home runs were 5 more than anyone else in the minor leagues, his 109 RBI finished 5th, and he ripped .331 for the Iowa Cubs, throwing in two stolen bases.  His .664 slugging percentage led the minors, as he added 38 doubles to total 76 extra base hits. He now has 89 home runs over his last three seasons at AAA (29.67 per season).  He is now batting .341 with two home runs in 16 games for the major league Cubs. 

Top Pitcher: Matt Moore (Rays AA and AAA)

Matt Moore is almost the opposite of LaHair, being ranked the #27 prospect in the minor leagues (which is bound to be even better next year).  After going 8-3 with a 2.20 ERA and .187 BAA in 18 starts for AA Montgomery, Moore was promoted to AAA and pitched even better.  In 9 starts with Durham, he dominated in nearly every start, going 4-0 with a 1.37 ERA and .179 BAA.  His minors totals showed a 12-3 record, a 1.92 ERA, and 210 K's in just 155 innings.  In 3 games (one start) since being promoted to Tampa Bay, he is 1-0 with a 2.89 ERA and 15 K's in 9 1/3 innings. 

First Year Player: Bryce Harper (Nationals Class A and AA)

That wasn't that hard.  Harper hit 17 home runs, batted .296, and stole 26 bases in 109 games.  He played especially well at Class A, hitting 14 home runs, batting .318, and stealing 19 bases in 72 games.  He slumped a bit at AA, hitting only three home runs and batting .256 with 7 stolen bases.  That doesn't take away the fact that Harper was playing at AA at 18 years old, while most 18 year olds are still in their freshman year of college or, if they were drafted out of high school, may be at Low Class A Short Season.  

News

Brewers clinched the NL Central.  Diamondbacks clinched the NL West.  Rangers clinched the AL West.  Every division has been clinched.

Game Scores

Braves (89-68) beat the Nationals (76-80) 7-4.  Blue Jays (80-77) beat the Rays (86-71) 5-1.  Dodgers (79-77) beat the Padres (68-89) 2-0.  Cubs (70-87) beat the Cardinals (86-71) 5-1.  Red Sox, Yankees, and Phillies were rained out.

Top Scorer: Royals beat the White Sox 11-1 and Astros beat the Rockies 11-2.  Longest Winning Streak: Blue Jays, Indians, A's, Cubs, Astros, Diamondbacks, and Dodgers, 2 games.  Longest Losing Streak: Rockies, 9 games. 

Standings

AL East: Yankees (95-61, .609 WPCT).  AL Central: Tigers (91-66, .580).  AL West: Rangers (91-66, .580).

NL East: Phillies (98-58, .628).  NL Central: Brewers (92-65, .586).  NL West: Diamondbacks (91-66, .580).

AL Wild Card: Red Sox (88-68, .564).  NL Wild Card: Braves (89-68, .567).  Bottom Team: Astros (55-102, .350).

League Leaders

Offensive: AVG: Adrian Gonzalez (Red Sox), .341.  Home runs: Jose Bautista (Blue Jays), 42.  RBI: Curtis Granderson (Yankees) and Matt Kemp (Dodgers), 119. Stolen bases: Michael Bourn (Braves), 58.

Pitching: Justin Verlander (Tigers), 24.  K's: Justin Verlander, 244.  ERA: Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers), 2.27 (226 innings, 57 earned runs).  Saves: Jose Valverde (Tigers), 47.

Top Performers

Offensive: Jim Thome (Indians): 3-4, double, home run (15), 3 RBI, run, AVG up .008 from .248 to .256, hitting streak to 8 games (13-30, .433).

Pitching: Bruce Chen (Royals): Win (12-8), 8 innings, 1 earned run, 2 hits, 1 walk, 4 K's (93), ERA drop: 0.16 runs from 4.14 to 3.98. 

Worst Pitching Performance: Zach Stewart (White Sox): Loss (2-6), 4 innings, 9 earnd runs, 12 hits, no walks, 1 K (45), ERA jump: 0.91 runs from 4.97 to 5.88.

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Teams followed in this update: Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves

If your team is not included or you would like to be included on the original email that I send out every morning, please leave a comment and I will add you.

HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average.  BAA: batting average against.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage
Zack Silverman