Spring Training Update: 3/17

History of Baseball: 1918
World Series Champions: Boston Red Sox (75-51, .595 WPCT).
     Because the season was cut short due to World War I, not many notable events occurred.  One development of note was the beginning of Babe Ruth's transition from pitcher to hitter.  He appeared in a career high 95 games, batting .300 with an AL leading eleven home runs and 66 RBI.  He pitched in only 20 games (19 starts), going 13-7 with a 2.22 ERA and a career low 1.05 WHIP.  Grover Cleveland Alexander, recently traded from the Phillies to the Cubs, spent the majority of the season fighting in WWI in France, and was limited to only three starts.  This effectively put an end to the three year run from 1915-1917 that had been among the greatest in history.  America's inclusion in WWI, however, caused the deaths of four major leaguers in 1918.  The first was former third baseman Eddie Grant.  He was followed by former Tiger Bun Troy, former Yankee Alex Burr, and former White Sox outfielder Larry Chappell that year.  However, on August 31st, San Diego, California welcomed Theodore Samuel Williams to the world, on that day producing arguably the greatest hitter who ever lived.
     When the season was cut short on September 1st, the Chicago Cubs had already been pretty confident of their chances at the NL Pennant, finishing 84-45 and 10.5 games over the second place New York Giants (71-53).  The Red Sox (75-51), however, saw a little more relief in the early end of the season, as their 2.5 game lead over the Cleveland Indians (73-54) became a win.  The Cubs and Red Sox met in the World Series, and the two teams traded zeros on the mound through its entirety. No team scored more than three runs in any game, with the Red Sox' 3-2, Game 4 victory setting the standard as the Series' "slugfest".  Only one player, Chicago's Charlie Pick, managed to bat over .300.  Boston's two main starters, Babe Ruth and Carl Mays, shut down the Cubs by combining to go 4-0 with a 1.03 ERA over four starts.  Chicago's two main pitchers, Hippo Vaughn and Lefty Tyler, went 2-3 but combined for an excellent 1.08 ERA over six starts.  Boston didn't know it yet, but the Curse of the Bambino was about to be upon them, and they would not win another World Series until 2004.  In fact, neither "Sox" team would win a World Series between the 1918 and 2004 seasons, a span of 86 years.
     Back on the statistical side of things, Ty Cobb again ran away with the batting title.  He hit .382 over 111 games, earning his eleventh batting title in twelve years.  The A's' George Burns finished a distant second at .352. George Sisler, who was steadily rising to prominence, hit .341 to lead the NL in average.  Babe Ruth and the A's' Tilly Walker tied for the MLB lead with eleven home runs, while Detroit's Bobby Veach led in RBI with a relatively low total of 78.  Heinie Groh, who also finished with a very low total for a league leader, topped the league with 86 runs.  Ty Cobb had led baseball in stolen bases for three straight years, but Pittsburgh's Max Carey knocked him off the throne with his own 58 stolen bases.  From the mound, one pitcher stood out among the rest.  Walter Johnson led the majors in wins, ERA, strikeouts, WHIP, and opponents' batting average in one of the many legendary seasons of his career.  The 30 year old Johnson went 23-13 with a 1.27 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP, and 162 strikeouts over 39 games (29 starts).  Also putting up incredible numbers was the Cubs' Hippo Vaughn, who stepped up in the absence of Grover Alexander and went 22-10 with a 1.74 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP.  Cleveland's Stan Coveleski followed up his breakout 1917 by going 22-13 with a 1.82 ERA over 38 games (33 starts). With two of Philadelphia's "Big Three", Chief Bender and Eddie Plank, having retired in 1917, Jack Coombs also pitched his final full season.  Coombs had left the A's in Connie Mack's fire-sale in 1914, and went 8-14 with a 3.81 ERA for Brooklyn in his final season.  He would return for two games in 1920, but ultimately finished 158-110 with a 2.78 ERA over his 14 year career.  Colby College in Maine and Duke University in North Carolina each named their baseball stadiums after Coombs.

News
17 year major league veteran Livan Hernandez announced his retirement at 39 years old.
Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin damaged his UCL and is considering Tommy John surgery.

Livan Hernandez, with his big, sweeping curveball, established himself as one of the most durable pitchers in recent memory.  From 1998-2006, he reached at least 216 innings in eight of nine seasons, thrice reaching 240.  He was also among the both the best fielding and the best hitting pitchers in baseball.  Hernandez grew up with his half brother, future major leaguer Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, in poverty in Cuba.  Livan, the younger of the two, managed to escape poverty by defecting to Mexico in 1995.  The Florida Marlins picked him up, and he was in the majors by the end of the 1996 season.  The 21 year old tossed three shutout innings in his debut relief appearance on September 24th, effectively becoming the first and only "Livan" ever to play Major League Baseball.  In fact, he is one of only two Livans listed on Wikipedia in any category.  He spend half of the 1997 season in the majors, but proved he belonged in his 17 starts, going 9-3 with a 3.18 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP as a rookie.  Despite pitching fewer than 100 major league innings, he finished second place in the NL Rookie of the Year voting to Scott Rolen (21 HR, 92 RBI, .283 AVG, 16 SB).  Despite being only 22, Hernandez established himself as a local hero in Miami with his heroics in the postseason, as he went 4-0 with a 3.18 ERA over five games (three starts).  He won both the NLCS and World Series MVP awards as the Marlins captured their first World Series championship.  Hernandez returned for a full season in 1998, but put up pedestrian numbers as he finished 10-12 with a 4.72 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP over 33 starts.  His nine complete games were second only to Curt Schilling in the NL rankings as he tossed a major league ninth place 234.1 innings.  He split the 1999 season between the Marlins and Giants, where he went 8-12 with a 4.64 ERA over 30 starts.  Hernandez had begun to find his groove when he joined San Francisco, but he turned it on for a breakout season in 2000.  Despite the extremely high offensive numbers of the Year of the Hitter (it helped to NOT have to pitch to teammate Barry Bonds), Livan managed to go 17-11 with a 3.75 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP over 33 starts. His 240 innings pitched were fifth in baseball.  While offensive numbers dropped closer to normal levels in 2001, Hernandez himself saw his numbers plummet, as he finished 13-15 with a 5.24 ERA over 34 starts.  In 2002, he returned to normalcy, putting up a decent season by going 12-16 with a 4.38 ERA over 33 starts.  He was traded to Montreal in 2003, where he put up the best year of his career.  In 33 starts, he went 15-10 with a 3.20 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP, leading the NL with 233.1 innings and eight complete games.  He returned for another solid season in 2004, going 11-15 with a 3.60 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP, leading all of baseball in starts (35), innings (255), and complete games (9).  His great season earned him a trip to his first All Star Game, but he did not pitch.  He also earned the Silver Slugger Award for pitchers, batting .247 with a home run, seven doubles, and ten RBI.  The new Washington Nationals were formed in 2005, and Hernandez was called upon to throw the first pitch in Nationals history.  Unfortunately, he was knocked around for seven runs in that first game.  He rebounded from the tough first game to go 15-10 with a 3.98 ERA.  Ever the workhorse, he again led the majors in starts (35) and innings (246.1).  He was again sent to the All Star Game, but allowed two earned runs in his only inning of work.  Washington traded him to Arizona midway through 2006, and he combined to go 13-13 with a 4.83 ERA between the two clubs.  He spent a full season with the Diamondbacks in 2007, but went just 11-11 with a 4.93 ERA over 33 starts.  Splitting 2008 between Minnesota and Colorado, he put up the worst year of his career by finishing 13-11 with a 6.05 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP over 31 starts.  He again split 2009 between two teams, going 9-12 with a 5.44 ERA over 31 starts between the Mets and Nationals.  Always liking the Washington franchise, he stuck around for 2010, where he revived his career by going 10-12 with a 3.66 ERA over 33 starts.  It was his 13th straight season with at least 30 starts.  In his final full season in 2011, Hernandez, then 36, went 8-13 with a 4.47 ERA over 29 starts for the Nationals.  Splitting 2012 between the Brewers and Braves as a reliever in 2012, he was 4-1 with a 6.42 ERA over 44 appearances, though he did earn the first and only save of his career.  He retired before the 2014 season with a 178-177 career record, a 4.44 ERA, and a 1.44 WHIP over 519 games (474 starts).  Hernandez has been on the bump more than any other pitcher in Nationals history, pitching 829 innings over his Washington career.  His 44 victories are also a Nationals record.  

Game Scores
Tigers (10-7) beat the Nationals (SS, 10-9) 2-1.
Nationals (SS, 10-9) beat the Astros (7-9) 4-3.
Rays (11-4) beat the Red Sox (7-10) 8-4.
Yankees (SS, 10-9) beat the Braves (7-12) 7-4.
Yankees (SS, 10-9) beat the Marlins (SS, 11-7) 7-0.
Pirates (10-7) beat the Phillies (5-12) 5-0.
Dodgers (6-10) tied the Rockies (8-10) 3-3.
Cubs (SS, 9-10) beat the Mets (SS, 8-9) 6-3.
Indians (SS, 14-3) beat the Cubs (SS, 9-10) 3-2.
Top Scorer: Rangers beat the White Sox 14-8.

Standings
Grapefruit (Florida) League: Top: Rays (11-4, .733 WPCT).  Bottom: Phillies (5-12, .294).
Cactus (Arizona) League: Indians (14-3, .824).  Bottom: Rangers (5-10, .333).
Nationals: 10-9, .526, 6th in Grapefruit League.

Spring Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Austin Jackson (Tigers), .469 (15-32).  HR: Chris Heisey (Reds), 5.  RBI: Nick Castellanos (Tigers), 16.  SB: Dee Gordon (Dodgers) and Billy Hamilton (Reds), 9.
Pitching: Wins: Jesse Chavez (A's), Roenis Elias (Mariners), and Max Scherzer (Tigers), 3.  K's: C.J. Wilson (Angels), 19.  ERA: Jesse Chavez, 0.00 (12.2 shutout innings).  Saves: 5 tied with 3.

Top Performers
Offensive: Steven Souza (Nationals): 3-3, triple, 2 home runs (3), 3 RBI, 2 runs, walk.
Pitching: C.C. Sabathia (Yankees): Win (1-1), 5 shutout innings, no hits, no walks, 5 K's (9).
Worst Pitching Performance: Drake Britton (Red Sox), No decision, 1.2 innings, 5 earned runs, 6 hits, 2 walks, 1 K (8).

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers
If your team is not included, please leave a comment.
HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage
Zack Silverman