Episode 1008: Tenth Time’s the Charm

## Summary

*Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan analyze the Hall of Fame voting results and extend their unlikely Lenny Harris discussion streak, then answer listener emails about restructuring the BBWAA ballot, restructuring Mike Trout, unbreakable records, eclipses, parity, and more.*

## Topics

* Gary Sheffield's Hall of Fame case
* Changing the Hall of Fame voting structure
* Extreme parity in baseball
* Extra base hits and infield flyouts
* Heavy Mike Trout hypotheticals
* Unbreakable playoff and All-Star game records
* Baseball during an eclipse

## Banter

* Tim Raines, Jeff Bagwell, and Ivan Rodriguez were elected to the Hall of Fame.
* Ben and Jeff discuss Jonah Keri's efforts to get Tim Raines elected.
* Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens did not receive as big of a voting bump this year as had been expected.

## Ode to Lenny Harris

Ben reads an email (9:45) from listener Nathan who tells a story about bonding with a stranger over a shared disdain for Lenny Harris:

>
> This latest blast of Lenny Harris analysis has me laughing about something that happened years ago. The only other person besides you guys who might have appreciated it would have been my dad. Growing up in St. Petersburg, Florida pre-expansion, I was a big Cincinatti Reds fan. I'd classify myself as a very dedicated fan with very limited tools to aid my understanding. I thought I knew a lot about my team, but in hindsight I probably didn't.
>
>
> When it came Lenny Harris, I knew this much: He seemed pretty terrible at baseball.
>
>
> I was not shy about sharing this point of view with my father, and he kind of turned it into my "thing". For example, if he were talking to a friend about his son's baseball interests, he might say something along the lines of "Oh, that's my son over there. He loves the Reds.
> He's a big Barry Larkin fan. Also, for some reason, he can't stand Lenny Harris." Both true statements.
>
>
> It could've been that Lenny Harris by coincidence did poorly in games that were televised in Florida. Whatever it was, I thought he stunk.
>
>
> So one summer, we were in Cincinatti visiting family, and we caught some Reds games at Riverfront Stadium. If I had to guess, this was probably 1995, when Lenny Harris had a 50 OPS+. As a pinch hitter, he had 56 plate appearances and a 220/373/220 line to show for it. Of course, in the first game we went to, Lenny Harris made an obligatory pinch-hitting appearance late in the game. I, in turn, with no sense of self-awareness, dropped some surly teenage comments about Lenny Harris to my dad. And then the gentleman sitting in front of us, who had sat silently the entire game to that point, upon hearing my remarks turned around and enthusiastically said, "Amen!"
>
>
> Now, you might be wondering how I could remember such detail about this man's remark while being so unsure about which year this game occurred. I'll tell you: I found this moment validating. The fact that a man who seemingly attended hundreds of Reds games could by chance be seated in front of me in Cincinatti would turn around and reinforce a clearly obvious position on Lenny Harris for my father to see: This meant something to me. It was like my dad could see I wasn't crazy, nor was I alone.
>
>
>
>

Jeff responds, "I'm not sure there's anything that brings people together quite like sharing opinions about which players in common suck."

Ben recalls that in Episode 786, a listener wanted suggestions on how to convince his father that Barry Bonds was good at baseball. Ben thinks that this story offers another solution: Have a stranger, roughly the same age as your father, spontaneously agree with you.

Jeff points out that in 1998, Lenny Harris pinch hit and stayed in the game to throw one inning as a position player pitcher, during which he faced Bill Mueller, who was himself pinch hitting. It may be the only time that a pinch hitter faced a pinch hitter.

## Email Questions

* Eric (Philadelphia, PA): "Why is Gary Sheffield getting almost no support for the Hall of Fame? He was a terrifying hitter and has similar and slightly better statistics than Fred McGriff."
* Sarat: "What if voters could vote for a Hall of Fame candidate extra hard? So currently Hall of Fame voters can vote for up to 10 players per year. What if voters could allocate their ten votes however they wanted?"
* Sam: "Imagine a reality where over the next 30 years each team wins a World Series. If expansion teams are added, the number of years is extended and they all win World Series too. How good would this be for baseball? Would it be more beneficial for baseball as a sport for dynasties? Also how quickly would we notice this was happening?"
* Brett: "How much weight would Mike Trout have to be carrying for you to beat him in a footrace? I'm thinking some sort of weighted vest."
* Dennis: "I'm wondering whether Mike Trout, currently listed at 6' 2" 235 would still be an All-Star level player in 2017 if he gained 65 pounds over the course of the offseason."
* Carl: "How likely will Derek Jeter's postseason records last?"
* Jacob: "Since the All-Star Game became a thing Tony Phillips has the highest career bWAR (almost 51) without ever being selected to an All-Star team. Is that an unbreakable record?"
* Michael: "On Monday, August 21st there will be a total solar eclipse visible across all of North America. There are some minor league games on the docket and that raises some interesting concerns. The eclipse would certainly be distracting for the fans but how do you think it would affect the players and umpires. Can these games even be played without giving everyone in the park special eye protection? Is this the coolest possible condition under which a baseball game can be played?

## Stat Blast

* Jeff uses FanGraphs data to see which players have the best and worst ratios of extra base hits to infield fly balls (going back to 2002).
* In 2013 2013 Chris Davis had 7 pop-ups with 96 extra base hits.
* In 2013 Luis Cruz had 22 infield flyouts and 4 extra base hits.

## Notes

* Before the listener email questions, Ben reads an email from listener Nathan about Lenny Harris, continuing the streak of discussing Harris on episodes where Jeff is a co-host.
* Gary Sheffield was worth close to -30 wins as a defensive player.
* Jeff, Rob Neyer, and Matthew Kory once timed themselves running to see if they could be faster than David Ortiz. They were slower than Ortiz running from home to third but barely beat his home to first time.
* Jeff thinks that Mike Trout could gain 100 pounds and still be above replacement level.
* Derek Jeter has 650 postseason at-bats.
* The Spokane Indians once had a game that was 'ashed out' due to excessive volcano ash.

## Links

* Effectively Wild Episode 1008: Tenth Time's the Charm