Sean Casey and the History of the Reds 1st baseman. - RedsZone.com - Cincinnati Reds Fans' Home for Baseball Discussion

westofyou · 06-11-2005, 05:33 PM

I posted this on redlegnation last month, as Casey rumors circulate I thought it might be good to bring it back up over here.

Look at what's happened to me,
I can't believe it myself.
Suddenly I'm up on top of the world,
It should've been somebody else.

Sean Casey Reds first baseman is not a power hitter or a patient man willing to take a walk, but a man who can hit .305 with 45 doubles, while driving in and scoring 90 runs.

Or so the story goes, Casey has actually had 40 doubles three times and 100 RBI's and 90 runs scored twice. His highest home runs total was 25 in 1999 and his 24 last year was his second highest in 6 seasons.

If you're a Reds fan then all this sounds like a broken record to you most likely.

But really... how familiar is the batting average first sacker with no speed and little power in Cincinnati Reds history?

Below is a table that ranks Runs Created vs. The league numbers of the 1b position for the original 8 National League

The Avg, BB, SLG and BPA (Bases per Plate Appearance) are all vs. the league average as well.

Code:

RUNS CREATED/GAME       	DIFF   PLAYER   LEAGUE     AVG      BB       SLG      BPA  
1    Cardinals                  1.44     6.18     4.73     .020     1395     .064     .062 
2    Giants                     1.00     5.73     4.74     .013      653     .052     .049 
3    Dodgers                    0.68     5.42     4.75     .010      649     .036     .033 
4    Cubs                       0.55     5.28     4.73     .011      320     .026     .024
5    Reds                       0.49     5.22     4.73     .013     -353     .036     .023
6    Phillies                   0.37     5.09     4.73     .005      744     .016     .013
7    Pirates                    0.32     5.06     4.74    -.002      742     .023     .023
8    Braves                     0.15     4.89     4.74     .004      140     .013     .006

The above shows me that historically overall the Reds 1b have all been fairly pedestrian. The Reds rank 5th in RC/27 vs the league, but 2nd in Batting average. The Slugging percentage is a distant third and the Reds 1b are the only team to have below average walk totals, an incredible 493 behind the 7th place team.

Who are these first sackers that come to Cincinnati, refusing to take a walk, hitting for average and are they leaving a suit that only fit Ralph Hinckley?

Here are the top 12 Reds 1st basemen ranked by Plate Appearances

Code:

PLATE APPEARANCES               PA       AVG      OBA      SLG      OPS       G     
1    Ted Kluszewski             5404     .302     .357     .512     .869     1339  1950's
2    Frank McCormick            5202     .301     .350     .437     .788     1228  1940's 
3    Dan Driessen               4570     .267     .364     .421     .785     1228  1980's
4    Tony Perez                 4247     .276     .343     .458     .801     1156  1970's 
5    Sean Casey                 3891     .304     .371     .469     .840      938  2000's 
6    Hal Morris                 3762     .305     .362     .444     .807     1049  1990's
7    Doc Hoblitzell             3577     .283     .339     .388     .727      850  1900's 
8    Jake Daubert               3523     .301     .352     .409     .761      801  1910's - END
9    Lee May                    3065     .275     .322     .491     .813      756  1960's - END
10   Gordy Coleman              2587     .271     .322     .447     .769      767  1960's - Begining
11   Jake Beckley               2340     .326     .373     .434     .807      530  1910's - Begining

100 years before Sean Casey showed up from the Indian organization the Reds signed newly released Jake Beckley, a slightly cross-eyed 1st baseman who made a name for himself in Pittsburgh (Sean Casey is from Pittsburgh!!) Beckley had produced a robust .300/.359/.442/.801 in a hitters era. Since he played at Pittsburgh and later Cincinnati I would be remiss in noting that in all of baseball history Jake is 4th in 3b all time with 243.

After Beckley faded into the sunset, a few years passed before the position was seized by Dick Hoblizell (Doc due to his Dental Degree) his 850 games as a Red left an offensive imprint of .283/.339/.388/.727, a typical deadball era line, Hoblitzell was well known for his fielding in an era that the bunt was prominent it was important for the corner men to be adapt at working the bunt and the ensuing plays it generally created. He was slick gloveman who lost his batting skills during the 1914 season.

For five more seasons the suit sat in the corner (most likely hiding from Hal Chase)

The next man to find the suit was Former Brooklyn great Jake Daubert.

A former batting champ and a lifetime .300 hitter Daubert was known for his superb bunting skills and once had 6 sacrifices in a doubleheader, he bunted so much that in the list of top ten sac bunts by a 1b is basically the property of Daubert.

Code:

SACRIFICES                    YEAR     SAC    
T1   Jake Daubert             1915       39   
T1   Jake Daubert             1919       39   
3    Stuffy McInnis           1923       37   
4    Jake Daubert             1916       35   
5    Doc Johnston             1915       34   
T6   Jake Daubert             1921       33   
T6   Jake Daubert             1914       33   
T8   Jake Daubert             1910       31   
T8   Jake Daubert             1922       31   
T8   John Hummel              1909       31

That second one is the Reds first NL and WC season, the 4th one is the Dodgers 1916 NL Championship season; it's probably one of the safest held records out there in a sport saturated with records.

Daubert manned the Reds 1st base position until he was 40, it was after he left that the Reds had their hardest time filling the position.

Between 1925-1936 three Reds 1st baseman managed to get at least 1300 at bats, however none played above average baseball and all were on the down slope of careers that knew much better days. They were (starting in 1925), Wally Pipp (sans headache), George Kelly and Jim Bottomley, all three OPS'd below league average and were out of the game shortly after leaving the Reds. The depression era Reds were a poor team and their recycled lineup of used to be's highlighted that daily and nightly.

In 1938 Frank McCormick arrived for good, perhaps the suit fit him the best so far.

If Sean Casey has a Reds doppelganger then McCormick is the man in that mirror. The 1940 MVP and NL hit leader from 1938-1940 McCormick was the most popular player as far as the fans in Cincinnati were concerned and was amongst the first inducted in the Reds Hall of Fame in 1958.

A batting average driven player McCormick rarely walked and struck even less. His first 3000 at bats as a Red compared with Casey’s (3488 ab's) are eerily similar

Code:

.303/.348/.444/.792 - McCormick
.270/.337/.383/.720 - League
.304/.370/.468/.839 - Casey 
.270/.343/.436/.779 - League

Another fair comparison can be found in Frank’s habit of grounding into double plays.

Code:

Top fifteen Reds 1b in GIDP
GIDP                          YEAR    GIDP      SO       BB       AVG      EBH      PA     
T1   Frank McCormick          1940       23       26       52     .309       66      676   
T1   Frank McCormick          1939       23       16       40     .332       63      688   
3    Frank McCormick          1941       22       13       40     .269       53      653   
T4   Frank McCormick          1945       20       22       56     .276       43      644   
T4   Ted Kluszewski           1950       20       28       33     .307       62      572   
T4   Lee May                  1968       20      100       34     .290       55      602   
T7   Lee May                  1970       19      125       38     .253       70      649   
T7   Sean Casey               2003       19       58       51     .291       36      629   
T7   Frank McCormick          1944       19       17       57     .305       60      645   
10   Frank Robinson           1960       18       67       82     .297       70      562   
11   Tony Perez               1974       17      112       61     .265       58      667   
T12  Frank Robinson           1959       16       93       69     .311       71      626   
T12  Sean Casey               2001       16       63       43     .310       53      588   
T12  Hal Morris               1994       16       62       34     .335       44      483   
T12  Sean Casey               2004       16       36       46     .324       70      633   
T12  Ted Kluszewski           1951       16       33       35     .259       50      644   
T12  Sean Casey               2000       16       80       52     .315       55      545

Later in his career when he was a well-liked Red and team leader, McCormick's power numbers waned and his batting average became the barometer to his game. He finished his career in Boston on their 1948 NL championship team.

In the fifties Ted Klusewski showed up, a massive man with power <em>and</em> batting average skills came to town. Klu is the Reds greatest offensive 1st baseman. Listed behind Beckley (who played half his games in the 1890's) Klusewski was a masher in an era of mashers. No suit could fit that man and he sliced the sleeves off the ones he was issued by the club.

After Ted left town with his battered back, Gordy Coleman showed up to try on the suit and managed to play 1st in the manner that it has always been handled, low walks, low strikeouts and occasional grace in the field.

The only problem is was that Gordy Coleman wasn't a .300 hitter like his predecessors and by the age of 31 he was out of the game; he must have lost the instruction manual to the suit earlier than most

After Gordy left the most successful era in the Reds history began.

It was during this era that the Reds had 1st basemen that were nothing like the standard 1st baseman that had played on the West Side since Vine Street was flush with German Beer Halls and nickle steins.

Of course I'm talking about the Big Red Machine and Lee May and Tony Perez.

I won't bore you with the usual details but I will point out the following, both may and Perez are in the top ten of Reds 1st baseman in RC/27 vs. the league.

Code:

 RUNS CREATED/GAME               DIFF   PLAYER   LEAGUE     AVG      OBA      SLG      BPA    
1    Jake Beckley               1.74     7.13     5.39     .044     .033     .079     .058   
2    Ted Kluszewski             1.70     6.73     5.03     .034     .016     .100     .076   
3    Tony Perez                 1.04     5.44     4.40     .015     .013     .074     .055   
4    Dan Driessen               0.97     5.47     4.50     .001     .033     .031     .057   
5    Sean Casey                 0.97     6.27     5.30     .034     .027     .033     .014   
6    Hal Morris                 0.88     5.74     4.86     .037     .027     .033     .013   
7    Lee May                    0.88     5.19     4.31     .015    -.004     .108     .075   
8    Frank McCormick            0.74     5.46     4.71     .031     .013     .058     .026   
9    Gordy Coleman              0.39     4.96     4.56     .007    -.006     .045     .029   
10   Doc Hoblitzell             0.35     4.84     4.49     .017     .003     .032     .017   
11   Jake Daubert               0.13     4.92     4.79     .014     .010     .017     .007

They are also the only 2 who struck out more then the league average and only Perez walked more than league average (barely)

Code:

STRIKEOUTS                      DIFF   PLAYER   LEAGUE     SLG    
1    Tony Perez                  195      727      532     .074   
2    Lee May                     171      596      425     .108   
3    Dan Driessen                 -3      540      543     .031   
4    John Reilly                 -12      120      132     .103   
5    Hal Morris                  -89      467      556     .033   
6    Doc Hoblitzell              -95      156      251     .032   
7    Jake Daubert                -95      126      221     .017   
8    Sean Casey                 -193      417      610     .033   
9    Ted Kluszewski             -218      292      510     .100   
10   Frank McCormick            -251      149      400     .058   

WALKS                           DIFF   PLAYER   LEAGUE     SLG    
1    Dan Driessen                224      606      382     .031   
2    Tony Perez                   22      390      368     .074   
3    Sean Casey                   -9      339      348     .033   
4    Jake Daubert                -15      230      245     .017   
5    Hal Morris                  -16      304      320     .033   
6    Jake Beckley                -29      230      259     .079   
7    Doc Hoblitzell              -57      249      306     .032   
8    Lee May                     -85      178      263     .108   
9    Ted Kluszewski              -87      406      493     .100   
10   Frank McCormick            -111      339      450     .058

After Perez left the Reds 1st baseman with the best secondary skills slid into the position and is best remembered as the man who replaced "Doggie."

Driessen was like many prior Red 1st sackers, he hit for average and didn't strike more than most, but the man could take a walk like no other Reds 1st baseman and even today he leads all Reds 1st baseman in walks by a wide margin. (200)

The Reds acquired Hal Morris in 1990 and fitting into the suit (though somewhat baggy) he fulfilled his duty and he finished his career at .304/.361/.433/.794.

As sure the oroboros bites its tale this piece comes to an end with the swap of Dave Burba for Pittsburgh native Sean Casey in the spring of 1997. A bat on the ball player, Casey doesn't live by power or strike out (or walk much)

It's my guess that in the eyes of the owners that the suit fits still.

But it could get tight sooner than later.

Food for thought.

The Reds and Braves are the only teams of the orginal 8 National League teams to NOT have a 1st baseman who ever averaged 2 runs better than the league in his career.

Big Klu · 06-11-2005, 06:05 PM

Excellent article! Have you written similar articles for each of the other positions?

westofyou · 06-11-2005, 06:44 PM

Thanks, so far just this one, and the above.

http://www.redszone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35502

06-11-2005, 05:33 PM	#1
westofyou breath Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: PDX Posts: 39,378	Sean Casey and the History of the Reds 1st baseman. I posted this on redlegnation last month, as Casey rumors circulate I thought it might be good to bring it back up over here. Look at what's happened to me, I can't believe it myself. Suddenly I'm up on top of the world, It should've been somebody else. Sean Casey Reds first baseman is not a power hitter or a patient man willing to take a walk, but a man who can hit .305 with 45 doubles, while driving in and scoring 90 runs. Or so the story goes, Casey has actually had 40 doubles three times and 100 RBI's and 90 runs scored twice. His highest home runs total was 25 in 1999 and his 24 last year was his second highest in 6 seasons. If you're a Reds fan then all this sounds like a broken record to you most likely. But really... how familiar is the batting average first sacker with no speed and little power in Cincinnati Reds history? Below is a table that ranks Runs Created vs. The league numbers of the 1b position for the original 8 National League The Avg, BB, SLG and BPA (Bases per Plate Appearance) are all vs. the league average as well. Code: RUNS CREATED/GAME DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE AVG BB SLG BPA 1 Cardinals 1.44 6.18 4.73 .020 1395 .064 .062 2 Giants 1.00 5.73 4.74 .013 653 .052 .049 3 Dodgers 0.68 5.42 4.75 .010 649 .036 .033 4 Cubs 0.55 5.28 4.73 .011 320 .026 .024 5 Reds 0.49 5.22 4.73 .013 -353 .036 .023 6 Phillies 0.37 5.09 4.73 .005 744 .016 .013 7 Pirates 0.32 5.06 4.74 -.002 742 .023 .023 8 Braves 0.15 4.89 4.74 .004 140 .013 .006 The above shows me that historically overall the Reds 1b have all been fairly pedestrian. The Reds rank 5th in RC/27 vs the league, but 2nd in Batting average. The Slugging percentage is a distant third and the Reds 1b are the only team to have below average walk totals, an incredible 493 behind the 7th place team. Who are these first sackers that come to Cincinnati, refusing to take a walk, hitting for average and are they leaving a suit that only fit Ralph Hinckley? Here are the top 12 Reds 1st basemen ranked by Plate Appearances Code: PLATE APPEARANCES PA AVG OBA SLG OPS G 1 Ted Kluszewski 5404 .302 .357 .512 .869 1339 1950's 2 Frank McCormick 5202 .301 .350 .437 .788 1228 1940's 3 Dan Driessen 4570 .267 .364 .421 .785 1228 1980's 4 Tony Perez 4247 .276 .343 .458 .801 1156 1970's 5 Sean Casey 3891 .304 .371 .469 .840 938 2000's 6 Hal Morris 3762 .305 .362 .444 .807 1049 1990's 7 Doc Hoblitzell 3577 .283 .339 .388 .727 850 1900's 8 Jake Daubert 3523 .301 .352 .409 .761 801 1910's - END 9 Lee May 3065 .275 .322 .491 .813 756 1960's - END 10 Gordy Coleman 2587 .271 .322 .447 .769 767 1960's - Begining 11 Jake Beckley 2340 .326 .373 .434 .807 530 1910's - Begining 100 years before Sean Casey showed up from the Indian organization the Reds signed newly released Jake Beckley, a slightly cross-eyed 1st baseman who made a name for himself in Pittsburgh (Sean Casey is from Pittsburgh!!) Beckley had produced a robust .300/.359/.442/.801 in a hitters era. Since he played at Pittsburgh and later Cincinnati I would be remiss in noting that in all of baseball history Jake is 4th in 3b all time with 243. After Beckley faded into the sunset, a few years passed before the position was seized by Dick Hoblizell (Doc due to his Dental Degree) his 850 games as a Red left an offensive imprint of .283/.339/.388/.727, a typical deadball era line, Hoblitzell was well known for his fielding in an era that the bunt was prominent it was important for the corner men to be adapt at working the bunt and the ensuing plays it generally created. He was slick gloveman who lost his batting skills during the 1914 season. For five more seasons the suit sat in the corner (most likely hiding from Hal Chase) The next man to find the suit was Former Brooklyn great Jake Daubert. A former batting champ and a lifetime .300 hitter Daubert was known for his superb bunting skills and once had 6 sacrifices in a doubleheader, he bunted so much that in the list of top ten sac bunts by a 1b is basically the property of Daubert. Code: SACRIFICES YEAR SAC T1 Jake Daubert 1915 39 T1 Jake Daubert 1919 39 3 Stuffy McInnis 1923 37 4 Jake Daubert 1916 35 5 Doc Johnston 1915 34 T6 Jake Daubert 1921 33 T6 Jake Daubert 1914 33 T8 Jake Daubert 1910 31 T8 Jake Daubert 1922 31 T8 John Hummel 1909 31 That second one is the Reds first NL and WC season, the 4th one is the Dodgers 1916 NL Championship season; it's probably one of the safest held records out there in a sport saturated with records. Daubert manned the Reds 1st base position until he was 40, it was after he left that the Reds had their hardest time filling the position. Between 1925-1936 three Reds 1st baseman managed to get at least 1300 at bats, however none played above average baseball and all were on the down slope of careers that knew much better days. They were (starting in 1925), Wally Pipp (sans headache), George Kelly and Jim Bottomley, all three OPS'd below league average and were out of the game shortly after leaving the Reds. The depression era Reds were a poor team and their recycled lineup of used to be's highlighted that daily and nightly. In 1938 Frank McCormick arrived for good, perhaps the suit fit him the best so far. If Sean Casey has a Reds doppelganger then McCormick is the man in that mirror. The 1940 MVP and NL hit leader from 1938-1940 McCormick was the most popular player as far as the fans in Cincinnati were concerned and was amongst the first inducted in the Reds Hall of Fame in 1958. A batting average driven player McCormick rarely walked and struck even less. His first 3000 at bats as a Red compared with Casey’s (3488 ab's) are eerily similar Code: .303/.348/.444/.792 - McCormick .270/.337/.383/.720 - League .304/.370/.468/.839 - Casey .270/.343/.436/.779 - League Another fair comparison can be found in Frank’s habit of grounding into double plays. Code: Top fifteen Reds 1b in GIDP GIDP YEAR GIDP SO BB AVG EBH PA T1 Frank McCormick 1940 23 26 52 .309 66 676 T1 Frank McCormick 1939 23 16 40 .332 63 688 3 Frank McCormick 1941 22 13 40 .269 53 653 T4 Frank McCormick 1945 20 22 56 .276 43 644 T4 Ted Kluszewski 1950 20 28 33 .307 62 572 T4 Lee May 1968 20 100 34 .290 55 602 T7 Lee May 1970 19 125 38 .253 70 649 T7 Sean Casey 2003 19 58 51 .291 36 629 T7 Frank McCormick 1944 19 17 57 .305 60 645 10 Frank Robinson 1960 18 67 82 .297 70 562 11 Tony Perez 1974 17 112 61 .265 58 667 T12 Frank Robinson 1959 16 93 69 .311 71 626 T12 Sean Casey 2001 16 63 43 .310 53 588 T12 Hal Morris 1994 16 62 34 .335 44 483 T12 Sean Casey 2004 16 36 46 .324 70 633 T12 Ted Kluszewski 1951 16 33 35 .259 50 644 T12 Sean Casey 2000 16 80 52 .315 55 545 Later in his career when he was a well-liked Red and team leader, McCormick's power numbers waned and his batting average became the barometer to his game. He finished his career in Boston on their 1948 NL championship team. In the fifties Ted Klusewski showed up, a massive man with power <em>and</em> batting average skills came to town. Klu is the Reds greatest offensive 1st baseman. Listed behind Beckley (who played half his games in the 1890's) Klusewski was a masher in an era of mashers. No suit could fit that man and he sliced the sleeves off the ones he was issued by the club. After Ted left town with his battered back, Gordy Coleman showed up to try on the suit and managed to play 1st in the manner that it has always been handled, low walks, low strikeouts and occasional grace in the field. The only problem is was that Gordy Coleman wasn't a .300 hitter like his predecessors and by the age of 31 he was out of the game; he must have lost the instruction manual to the suit earlier than most After Gordy left the most successful era in the Reds history began. It was during this era that the Reds had 1st basemen that were nothing like the standard 1st baseman that had played on the West Side since Vine Street was flush with German Beer Halls and nickle steins. Of course I'm talking about the Big Red Machine and Lee May and Tony Perez. I won't bore you with the usual details but I will point out the following, both may and Perez are in the top ten of Reds 1st baseman in RC/27 vs. the league. Code: RUNS CREATED/GAME DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE AVG OBA SLG BPA 1 Jake Beckley 1.74 7.13 5.39 .044 .033 .079 .058 2 Ted Kluszewski 1.70 6.73 5.03 .034 .016 .100 .076 3 Tony Perez 1.04 5.44 4.40 .015 .013 .074 .055 4 Dan Driessen 0.97 5.47 4.50 .001 .033 .031 .057 5 Sean Casey 0.97 6.27 5.30 .034 .027 .033 .014 6 Hal Morris 0.88 5.74 4.86 .037 .027 .033 .013 7 Lee May 0.88 5.19 4.31 .015 -.004 .108 .075 8 Frank McCormick 0.74 5.46 4.71 .031 .013 .058 .026 9 Gordy Coleman 0.39 4.96 4.56 .007 -.006 .045 .029 10 Doc Hoblitzell 0.35 4.84 4.49 .017 .003 .032 .017 11 Jake Daubert 0.13 4.92 4.79 .014 .010 .017 .007 They are also the only 2 who struck out more then the league average and only Perez walked more than league average (barely) Code: STRIKEOUTS DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE SLG 1 Tony Perez 195 727 532 .074 2 Lee May 171 596 425 .108 3 Dan Driessen -3 540 543 .031 4 John Reilly -12 120 132 .103 5 Hal Morris -89 467 556 .033 6 Doc Hoblitzell -95 156 251 .032 7 Jake Daubert -95 126 221 .017 8 Sean Casey -193 417 610 .033 9 Ted Kluszewski -218 292 510 .100 10 Frank McCormick -251 149 400 .058 WALKS DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE SLG 1 Dan Driessen 224 606 382 .031 2 Tony Perez 22 390 368 .074 3 Sean Casey -9 339 348 .033 4 Jake Daubert -15 230 245 .017 5 Hal Morris -16 304 320 .033 6 Jake Beckley -29 230 259 .079 7 Doc Hoblitzell -57 249 306 .032 8 Lee May -85 178 263 .108 9 Ted Kluszewski -87 406 493 .100 10 Frank McCormick -111 339 450 .058 After Perez left the Reds 1st baseman with the best secondary skills slid into the position and is best remembered as the man who replaced "Doggie." Driessen was like many prior Red 1st sackers, he hit for average and didn't strike more than most, but the man could take a walk like no other Reds 1st baseman and even today he leads all Reds 1st baseman in walks by a wide margin. (200) The Reds acquired Hal Morris in 1990 and fitting into the suit (though somewhat baggy) he fulfilled his duty and he finished his career at .304/.361/.433/.794. As sure the oroboros bites its tale this piece comes to an end with the swap of Dave Burba for Pittsburgh native Sean Casey in the spring of 1997. A bat on the ball player, Casey doesn't live by power or strike out (or walk much) It's my guess that in the eyes of the owners that the suit fits still. But it could get tight sooner than later. Food for thought. The Reds and Braves are the only teams of the orginal 8 National League teams to NOT have a 1st baseman who ever averaged 2 runs better than the league in his career.

06-11-2005, 06:05 PM	#2
Big Klu Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Cambridge, OH Posts: 16,274	Re: Sean Casey and the History of the Reds 1st baseman. Excellent article! Have you written similar articles for each of the other positions? __________________ Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser....Americans play to win all of the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed...the very idea of losing is hateful to an American. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.

06-11-2005, 06:44 PM	#3
westofyou breath Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: PDX Posts: 39,378	Re: Sean Casey and the History of the Reds 1st baseman. Thanks, so far just this one, and the above. http://www.redszone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35502

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