Batting Titles

With the 2012 batting race currently featuring 4 players within 16 points of each other, I thought I'd go back and find other close batting titles in SFL history. Surprisingly, there weren't many, but this is what I found:

1985-- John Decker and Tony Connor tie at .500.
1987-- Bill Weinberg beats Rich Rowlands by 4 points, .452 to .448
1992-- Dan Schneider beats Kurt Hettler by 4 points, .486 to .482
1996-- Joe Gerber beats Phil Kotik by 8 points, .484 to .476
2003-- Ian Lebowitz beats Chris Hall by 7 points, .500 to .493

Here are the widest margins of victory:

1983-- Bill Weinberg (.605) by 114 points over Jose Balento
2007-- Phil Ciccone (.558) by 85 points over Dave Sommers
2005-- Chris Hall (.580) by 80 points over Carl Weinberg
2000-- Larry Savell (.623) by 78 points over Ian Lebowitz
2008-- Carl Weinberg (.541) by 75 points over Ian Parfrey

Players who won multiple titles:

Phil Kotik, 3-- 1994, 1995, 1999
Bill Weinberg, 2-- 1983, 1987
John Decker, 2-- 1985 (tie), 1986
Dan Schneider, 2-- 1992, 1997
Joe Gerber, 2-- 1996, 1998
Ian Lebowitz, 2-- 2001, 2003
Carl Weinberg, 2-- 2002, 2008
Chris Hall, 2-- 2004, 2005
Phil Ciccone, 2-- 2006, 2007
Ian Parfrey, 2-- 2010, 2011

Players who were runners-up multiple times:

Larry Savell, 4-- 1989, 1990, 1991, 1999 (won in 2000)
Phil Kotik, 4-- 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002 (won in 1994, 1995, 1999)
Dan Schneider, 2-- 1993, 1994 (won in 1992, 1997)
Carl Weinberg, 2-- 2005, 2006 (won in 2002, 2008)

One time runners-up:

Jose Balento, 1983
John Decker, 1984
Austen Ruse, 1985
Bill Weinberg, 1986
Rich Rowlands, 1987
Mark Allen, 1988
Kurt Hettler, 1992
John Grieco, 1995
Ian Lebowitz, 2000
Bob Holzwasser, 2001
Chris Hall, 2003
Gil Schmerler, 2004
Dave Sommers, 2007
Ian Parfrey, 2008
Derek Martinez, 2009
Freddie Melendez, 2010
Eric Schulman, 2011

Records Update

After yesterday's tripleheader, two more single-season records fell by the wayside. Zach Nilva scored 5 runs, giving him a total of 107 and surpassing Joe Gerber's previous record of 103 in 1995. Ian Parfrey drove in 2 runs, and after reviewing a scoring decision from the Nov. 28 games, was determined to have 93 RBI, breaking Larry Savell's mark of 92, set in 1994.

Zach added to his record total of hits. He now has 153 for the season. Freddie Melendez did not add to his record total of player wins, and still has 50 for the season. Alex Rivera added to his record total of doubles, and now has 36.

Now, with low temperatures forecast for next week, and the Christmas holiday on the following weekend, another game is possible but unlikely. Freddie Melendez's lead in the pennant is now only one game over Don Weiss, Nel Yomtov, and Ian Parfrey, and 1.5 games over Eric Schulman, Zach Nilva, and Phil Ciccone. Any of these players, should we play, and they show up and sweep a tripleheader, could win at least a share of the pennant.

Alex Rivera and Ian Parfrey are tied for the home run lead with 10, after Alex took Adam Garcia deep at the MS 141 field in Riverdale yesterday. Should Alex hit another HR, he will prevent Ian from winning the 4th Triple Crown in SFLOI history. The other winners were Jeff Miller (1991), Carl Weinberg (2002), and Chris Hall (2004).
Alex could also steal Zach's runs record if the season continues. He's only 3 behind, with 104.

Back in January, an informal pact was made between me, Zach, and Alex, to break all the records in the game. Other than triples, walks, pitcher wins, sacrifices, batting average (Larry Savell's .623 seems almost unbreakable), we basically did it.

Game recaps and updated stats to follow whenever my daughter stops sleeping next to the computer.

ZACH NILVA, RECORD BREAKER (part 2 and 3)

Zach Nilva got his 140th hit of the season, a 4th inning RBI single off of Freddy Melendez, to break Joe Gerber's single-season record, which had lasted since 1995. Nilva also had 17 consecutive hits over 5 games before finally being retired on a groundout by Jeff Appell. This is also a record as far as we know.

Zach needs to score 5 more runs to break Gerber's run record, and Ian Parfrey needs 10 RBI to break Larry Savell's record. Alex Rivera needs 3 doubles to break Phil Kotik's record. Parfrey also has a chance at breaking 2 more obscure records-- most times reached base and most runs produced, needing to reach 6 more times and produce 11 more runs, and also may become SFLOI's 4th ever Triple Crown winner. To recap, Zach has already broken the records for most hits and most singles; Freddy Melendez has broken the record for most player wins; Laura Stoeth has broken the record for most wins by a female pitcher; and Havelock Hewes has batted for the 6,000th time. It has been a historic season already and there may be more to come.

Now onto the games.

Hewes 6, Appell 4
Ken Walker hit a grand slam and tripled in another run, and Evan Peters added 3 hits as Hewes (13-20) held on for the win. Zach Nilva was 4-for-4 for Appell's team.

O'Connor / Garcia 21, Connor / Melendez 14
Game 2 was a slugfest featuring 35 runs, 41 hits, 12 walks, at least 7 errors, and 4 pitchers. Jim O'Connor (13-9) got the win and Freddy Melendez got the loss in relief. Adam Garcia picked up the save with 3 innings of relief pitching. O'Connor was staked to an 8-2 lead, but Connor's team scored 5 in the 3rd and 5 more in the 4th to take a 12-8 advantage. O'Connor's team scored 8 times in the bottom of the 4th and 5 more in the 5th to regain control. As you might expect, there are alot of individual performances to mention: For the O'Connors, Ian Parfrey (4-for-4, 2B, 5 RBI), Zach Nilva (4-for-4, 2 RBI), Adam Garcia (3-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI), Jeff Appell (3-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI), Joe Geller (2-for-3, 3 RBI). For the Connors, Freddie Melendez (5-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI), Sam Magnus (4-for-5, 3 RBI), Alex Rivera (3-for-5), Ken Walker (2-for-4, 3 RBI), and Havelock Hewes walked in all 5 of his at bats.

Melendez 13, Appell 9 (5 innings)
Eric Schulman homered and drove in 4 runs, and Adam Garcia was 3-for-3 with a triple and 4 RBI, as Freddy Melendez improved to 16-9 on the year. Alex Rivera had 3 hits in a losing cause, and Sam Magnus tripled twice. Melendez's team opened a 13-4 lead and barely survived their own defense.

GAMES AND NOTES OF 10/24

SFLOI record broken! Freddy Melendez won his 44th game of the season in today's Game 3, breaking Joe Gerber's record of 43 wins as a player in 1995. Zach Nilva has 41 wins this season, so it isn't guaranteed that Freddy will keep the record for very long. Freddy currently holds a 1.5 game lead in the pennant standings.

As for the games themselves, Tony Connor and Josh Balsam stacked their side with Riverdale players, but dropped a tripleheader to Ian Parfrey and Havelock Hewes's Brooklyn-Manhattan squad.

Melendez 7, Appell 4
Freddy Melendez (13-8) prevailed in a contest that was tied at 1 after 6 innings. Ian Parfrey's 2-run double to shallow right broke the tie in the top of the 7th, and then the floodgates opened. Melendez's team scored 6 times, and then had to hold on in the bottom of the inning when Sam Magnus smacked a 2-run HR to left-center. Alexander Rodriguez was 3-for-3 with 2 RBI for the winners.

Hewes 2, Martinez 1
Havelock Hewes (12-18) won a pitchers' duel. Parfrey had an RBI single in the 1st, and Alexander Rodriguez tripled to right-center in the 5th, and came around to score on a throwing error. Havelock's only spot of trouble came in the bottom of the 5th, as two singles and an error loaded the bases. Jaime Orochena's groundout drove in a run, a walk to Eric Schulman reloaded the bases, and Sam Magnus grounded out to end the inning.

Rosengard 7, Stoeth 3
Dave Rosengard (5-7) was in control throughout, and didn't allow an earned run. Nel Yomtov's 2-run HR to left in the 5th (on an 0-2 pitch with 2 outs!) broke open a 1-run game, and Rosengard's team scored 3 more times after that, taking advantage of two key outfield errors. Rosengard retired Marvin Cohen and Zach Nilva on grounders to snuff a 7th-inning comeback.

The View From the Batter's Box, Part I

While Marvin is certainly our resident philosopher, I will admit to having spent most of the last three years thinking about hitting. It has done wonders for my batting average but has probably ruined the swings of half a dozen people I've talked to. The batting title is within my grasp this season, though Freddy Melendez scares me with his right-field power and disciplined approach, and he swings with a sort of precise gusto, if you will, embodied in the 3-run triple he clubbed off of me to end yesterday's game one.

I have also learned the advantages of a right-field swing, though when I see Don Weiss standing there and inwardly grinning at the thought of a line drive coming his way, I realize that given time a defense will adjust to anything. Anyway, I take pride in the ability to hit line-drive singles between the first and second baseman, and I am always on the lookout for the pitch that can be blasted right down the line and over the head of an unfortunate right fielder for a home run.

I have thought a lot lately about batting slumps, as I have gotten into one-- not a terrible one, where I am adrift at sea in an open boat and starving to death for want of a hit, but a more pernicious sort of slump where I find myself wasting several at bats a day-- flying out on a first-pitch chicken-dance changeup from Havelock; deciding to pull no matter where the pitch is and then popping out; that sort of thing. This season has seen far more horrible slumps-- Marvin going 4-for-108 at Heckscher; Alex Rivera's 20-for-74 midsummer; Fred Lang's recent 5-for-63 freefall on the heels of a 16-for-29 hot streak that involved a batting tip from Phil Ciccone and a lot of sharp grounders into the shortstop hole. And Havelock's whole damn season; Bob Holzwasser's as well, until the day he went 5-for-7 and then tore a groin muscle... so I am 11-of-32 in September. No biggie, right? I suppose not, but I find the feeling of wondering what the hell's wrong with my swing for six days of the week and then going out on the seventh to fuck up some more just as unpleasant as everyone else.

Slumps can be physical or mental or some combination thereof. Dipping the back elbow is a good way to get under everything. Thinking too much about placing the ball can be equally deadly. Injuries can cause slumps, though they can also cause hot streaks. I think Alex's slump may have been caused by the conundrum posed by his role as a top-of-the-lineup hitter-- should he take pitches like a #2 hitter or be aggressive like he wants to be-- so, for a little while he took strikes and swung out of the zone, with a resulting dip in average. Lang's slump was at first a natural reaction to an unnatural hot streak, but he got frustrated and dug himself in deeper. I thought to myself last week, a lot of slumps are caused by swinging too aggressively. So my first time up Sunday, I was struck out looking by Jim O'Connor. Lately I've been considering acupuncture, or maybe going back to drinking too much on Saturday nights. Hangovers sometimes lead to a meditative approach to hitting.

As you may have seen from the leader boards, the race to break records is once again on. Joe Gerber's marks of 103 runs and 139 hits may possibly fall. Gerber had 376 plate appearances in which to achieve this; Zach and Freddy and myself will be lucky to get much over 300. I'm not asking for an asterisk for Gerber. I just want good weather until 2011.

Strange Plays I Have Seen

Sunday's Game One ended on one of the more bizarre plays I have seen in my SFLOI career. With one out in the top of the 7th, and runners on first and second, Bob Holzwasser-- the tying run-- hit a bloop to shallow center that fell in front of OF Derek Martinez. Martinez came up throwing to third, where runner Solomon Sarway was narrowly forced out. Trail runner Alex Rivera forgot how many outs there were, and wandered off of second base thinking the game was over. He was retired in a brief rundown.

Now, two obscure rules governed the putout at third base. Martinez's throw was low and into the runner, forcing the third baseman (me) to stretch towards home plate and inadvertently block the entire bag with my body. Solomon, rather than sliding into me and knocking me into next week, gave himself up. There was still a pretty strong collision. This is an interesting test of the no-collision rule. The runner would have been within his rights to slide into me. With Holzwasser, the batter, representing the tying run, it would have made good softball sense to slide, but perhaps bad common sense, because, as was mentioned a few weeks ago, there is nothing of vital importance at stake here, and we need to be able to go to work on Monday.

The other rule is the interference rule, which is widely debated and sometimes misinterpreted whenever it's called into play. As the fielder, I am allowed to go into the basepath to make a play, whether on a ground ball, popup, or attempting to field a throw. So the play was legit, the umpire made the correct call (assuming the ball actually beat the runner), the runner did the right thing by giving himself up, and the only unfortunate circumstance of the whole play is that it came in a situation of game-changing importance, and snuffed out a last-inning rally.

Before I recap this week's games, here are a few other strange plays from the last few years:

In the bottom of the 7th inning of the last game of the 2007 season, Phil Ciccone was on third base as the tying run with two outs. The next batter, John Pyne, hit a soft ground ball down the third base line. Phil remained on the bag, and made no effort to avoid the ball (and may have even leaned into it a little). It hit him and bounced into foul territory. Phil was called out for interference, and a long argument ensued. As I interpret the rules, the call was correct, even though being on the bag usually provides protection for the runner. I believe the hit-by-pitch rule in baseball is a reasonable parallel. If a batter leans into a pitch, he may not always be awarded first base.

Amusingly, while umpiring, I fucked up a similar call in early 2008. Phil was the batter this time, and smoked a line drive that hit runner Seung Lee on third base. I called Seung out, as he was in fair territory. This was probably the wrong call, IF he was still on the bag. I don't remember. Maybe Seung does.

Now, here's a couple of interference plays. While pursuing a popup in one of the Great Lawn bonus games last year, 1B Freddy Melendez collided with a runner. Both runners were declared safe because of Freddy obstructing the lead runner. This was an incorrect call, because Freddy was the fielder nearest the play, and HAS THE RIGHT TO ENTER THE BASEPATH TO MAKE A PLAY. The runner has the right to leave the basepath to avoid him, but the fielder has the right-of-way if he is pursuing the ball AND is the closest fielder. I believe the correct call would be that the runner should have been out, and the batter awarded first base. If the runner's interference were intentional (it was not), both would be out. In this case, the legendary vociferousness of Joe Gerber influenced the umpire's call, but the game was still won by Freddy's team.

The other case is Marvin's injury from last season. A slightly errant throw carried Marvin's momentum into the baseline, where Jim O'Connor collided hard with him. The umpire ruled Jim safe, and this was also correct, because Jim was in the baseline, and had no time to try to avoid Marvin-- when ball, fielder, and runner arrive at a base simultaneously, there is no interference.

The Records Dep't: How We Got Here

Provided the weather and the pitchers cooperate, I fully expect several more single-season hitting records to join Phil Kotik's 25-HR mark by the wayside in 2010. First-- the possible record breakers: Ian, Alex, Zach, Freddy, Derek, and perhaps Bill McLaughlin, off to a 19-for-33 start in 2010. Second-- the records being threatened: Hits, runs, RBI, doubles. Lastly, how we got here.

Single season hits. Joe Gerber had 139 in 1995. Larry Savell held the record for only one year, when he had 132 hits in 1994. He superseded Phil Kotik, who had 116 hits in 1992. Phil was SFLOI's first 100-hit man, and he took the hit record from Jorge Loarte, who had 84 in 1990. Before that, the record belonged to Gary Alvarez (1989), Bobby Naranjo (1988), John Decker (1986), and the commish, Havelock Hewes (1985). Ian Parfrey (now referring to himself in the 3rd person) came closest to breaking Gerber's mark with 134 hits last season.

Runs scored. Joe Gerber scored 103 runs in 1995. Phil Kotik scored 95 times in 1992, Bobby Naranjo 74 times in 1991, breaking his own records set in 1990 and 1988. Earlier record holders were John Decker (1986) and Havelock (1985). Bill Vernick's 99-run campaign in 1998 was the best attempt since Gerber's record.

RBI. Larry Savell drove in 92 in 1994. This broke Kurt Hettler's 1992 record of 84 RBI, which broke Jeff Miller's 1991 record (59 RBI), which broke Jose Balento's 1990 record (56 RBI). Earlier record holders were Gary Alvarez (1989), Jose Balento (1988), Bill Weinberg (1987 and 1986), and Joe Picciano (1985). Jose Balento almost took back the record when he drove in 88 runs in 1999.

Doubles. Phil Kotik had 34 in 1992. The only other 30-double season was Joe Gerber in 1995. The doubles record had belonged to John Decker (25 in 1986), breaking his own record from 1984. Doubles totals were very high in the early years of SFLOI. Was this due to a ground rule and a short fence?

And-- as a bonus feature, I present the SFLOI record that fell, and the one that's almost unbreakable. Derek Martinez hit 26 home runs in 2009, breaking Kotik's record of 25 (1995), which broke Kurt Hettler's record of 23 (1992), Jeff Miller's 11 (1991), and Jose Balento's 9 (1988). Prior to that, the record belonged to Joe Signore, who crushed 7 home runs in 22 at bats in 1987. Dave Metzger had 6 in 1986, and Joe Picciano hit 3 in 1985. Derek, by the way, broke Kotik's record on the last day of the season, with a line drive down the RF line at Hastings #2, and then he ran the bases backwards.

Lastly, in 2000, Larry Savell had 66 hits in 106 at-bats, for an average of .623. SFLOI played a significantly shorter season, so he was eligible for the batting title. In 1998, Joe Gerber had been 90-for-146 (.616), which broke Bill Weinberg's .605 mark, set in 1983. In 2006, Phil Ciccone was 64-for-106 (.604), and this has been the strongest challenge to Savell's record. Notice that all of these seasons are small samples. None of the .600 hitters batted 150 times. The highest batting average ever in 200+ at-bats is .565, by Carl Weinberg. I don't expect anyone will ever break Larry's record. Even Alex Rivera.

MOTIVE AND OPPORTUNITY

The comments on yesterday's column led me to try out the season score stat, described here. Basically, run elements over outs made times plate appearances. Since 1992, there have been 27 seasons scoring higher than 100. Carl Weinberg's 2006, in which he batted .565 with 45 extra base hits, is the highest season score, at 139.04. Pitching and defense are not included in the season score. Here's the roll call of elite batters:

Phil Kotik, 6 seasons: 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997-99.
Kurt Hettler, 2 seasons: 1992, 1993.
Bobby Naranjo, 2 seasons: 1992, 1994.
Joe Gerber, 2 seasons: 1995, 1998.
Dan Schneider, 2 seasons: 1995, 1997.
Jose Balento, 2 seasons: 1996, 1999.
Carl Weinberg, 2 seasons: 2006, 2008.
Ian Parfrey, 2 seasons: 2008, 2009.
Larry Savell, 1994.
John Grieco, 1995.
Tony Connor, 1998.
Bill Vernick, 1998.
Phil Ciccone, 2007.
Derek Martinez, 2009.
Alex Rivera, 2009.


The top 10 seasons:

1. Carl Weinberg, 2006-- 139.04
2. Carl Weinberg, 2008-- 136.62
3. Joe Gerber, 1995-- 135.98
4. Ian Parfrey, 2009-- 135.96
5. Phil Kotik, 1999-- 134.17
6. Derek Martinez, 2009-- 131.70
7. Phil Kotik, 1995-- 131.55
8. Phil Kotik, 1998-- 128.77
9. Jose Balento, 1999-- 128.73
10. Alex Rivera, 2009-- 128.47

THE FUTURE SEASON FORECASTER

This is something I've been kicking around with Sal and Seung for awhile now-- trying to come up with our own predictive tool, like Baseball Prospectus's PECOTA, for softball. I've concluded that this is a basically useless endeavor-- incredibly difficult with little payoff besides finding out if I'm as smart as I think I am. We're not professionals; Havelock will not be considering this when deciding whether to sign Alex or Zach to a multi-million dollar deal to patrol centerfield. But the idea refuses to die.

We do have an incredible statistical database, with basic batting stats going back to 1983, and the full range of stats starting in 1985. Pitching was not always tracked diligently, until Joe Gerber came along, and fielding is impossible to track at this level. Gerber, by the way, left me a valuable statistical database consisting of-- I believe 9-- complete seasons from the 1990s and 2000s. For those seasons at least, I could (if I accept this mission) weed out the park effects from the different fields we've used. It's easier to hit in the winter games, for example. Hastings produces a lot of doubles. Dobbs produces cheap homers. When SFLOI used Dobbs as its primary field, there was a HR explosion of epic proportions, similar to what would happen if the Colorado Rockies moved to Mexico City with 275-foot fences and built eight clones of Ted Williams with DNA taken from his frozen head. When I was hitting at Dobbs in late 2008, I hit 7 of my 12 homers in a single month. Jeff Appell homered 19 times in a season, Glen Lawrence 17, Ian Lebowitz 16. Heckscher, with its spacious outfield (and some claim, its difficult hitting backdrop), took away everyone's "power", though they were really the same hitters. Look in the lifetime stats-- the HR explosion is 1998-2001, and 2002-2005 is the dead ball era.

So, obvious conclusion #1-- some ballparks make certain hitters look good. Singles hitters do not benefit from Dobbs Ferry. Big fly-ball hitters do, as do line-drive gap hitters.

In baseball predictions, age is a big factor, but I don't think that would be the case in softball. Most baseball players are finished by 35, and softball hitters are never "finished", and you could make a case that the decline phase only even begins somewhere between 40 and 60. I would guess that how often a player plays, and how good their conditioning is, has a greater effect. So, I might look at how players perform after 200-AB seasons. Do they improve, or at least decline more slowly? Complicating this-- many of our players get at bats elsewhere, with other teams and pickup games. How can we measure for that?

Well, that's all the stats I have in me for today, and my girlfriend will probably kill me if I don't get off her laptop soon. Nate Silver, one of the guys who designed PECOTA, later said that ballplayers perform pretty much like they did in past seasons. That's good enough for me. Maybe.

SFLOI CARDS #3: JOE GERBER

Order Joe's card here.