How are you doing? All things considered <looks around> I am doing fine. I am making an effort to post more. I figure if I can post one of these every two weeks, I'll be up to date a year from now. It's plan. We are heading into a slong stretch of Hall of Fame players. Of the 25 remaining subjects in this series, 20 are enshrined in Cooperstown.
Next up is a Hall of Famer, Hal Newhouser. He isn't a common name when talking about the great pitchers of the past, but he had a 6 year stretch between 1944 and 1949 when he was dominant.
So, let's learn a little more about him:
- He was born in 1921 to immigrant parents. His father was from Czechoslovakia and his mother from Austria.
- As a child in The Depression, he helped his family survive by any means available to him, including gathering up discarded coal scraps at the coal yard to heat the family's home.
- Elected to the Hall in 1992 by the Veteran's Committee after years of being overlooked, his main joy was the fact that his mother was alive to see it.
- His induction was delayed due to his (undeserved) reputation as a Wartime Pitcher, ignoring that he continued to be an ace for 4 seasons after the war.
- He had a (deserved) reputation for anger issues.
- To be sure, his best years were 1944 (29-9, 2.22 ERA, 7.7 WAR) and 1945 (25-9, 1.81 ERA, 11.3 WAR) when he won back-to-back AL MVP awards.
- However, a 26-9, 1.94 ERA, 9.7 WAR season followed in 1946, which warranted a 2nd place in MVP voting behind Ted Williams.
- He was something of a pioneer. After a frustrating 1957 season (17-17, 2.87 ERA, 5.8 WAR) he spent time analysing his pitching by comparing film taken of his pitching in 1947 with his performances in prior seasons.
- After his playing career, he was a Detroit area scout for several organizations. His most notable signings were Milt Pappas and 1964 Cy Young winner Dean Chance.
- His scouting career came to an end when he quit after his then employer, the Houston Astros, chose to ignore his advice to draft Derek Jeter as the first pick in the 1992 amateur draft. They chose instead to draft Phil Nevin.
What I am listening to: The Joke by Brandi Carlile
