Johnny Lumsden, Author at Johnny L's Baseball Clubhouse

Hamilton Back to Texas

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Johnny Lumsden — No Comments ↓

After a failed signing by the Los Angeles Angels, luckily Josh Hamilton’s former team was willing to take him back along with helping the Halos pay off some of the remaining $80 million. There have been quite a few big contracts in the past that teams have gotten locked up in, and were not able to find a way out of, but this time the Angels were able to free up cap space, plus get an injury prone and mentally misallocated player off of the squad. Back in 2012 Anaheim signed the former AL MVP to a 5-year tender worth Continue reading Hamilton Back to Texas→

Week of 4-6-15

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Johnny Lumsden — No Comments ↓

Legend: Harmon Killebrew played 21 seasons of his 22-year career as a first and third baseman for the Minnesota Twins. He didn’t hit for average nor had a spectacular glove, but his 573 round trippers during the second dead ball era is what put him into the Hall of Fame. When he retired, he placed second in total home runs in the American League behind Babe Ruth. Killebrew was a well rounded big man who played football as well as baseball in high school. To date he is still one of the best sluggers the game has ever seen, as Continue reading Week of 4-6-15→

Harmon Killebrew: The Great Slugger of the 2nd Dead Ball ERA

Posted on April 11, 2015 by Johnny Lumsden — No Comments ↓

Harmon Killebrew lead the majors in home runs 6/11 seasons from 1959-1969 (the heart of the second dead ball era). During that period the league’s ERA was below 3.50, meanwhile Killebrew was slugging over .500 and getting on base some 37% of the time. Because of his tremendous power numbers, Killebrew was often called “killer.” He played 21 years of his career with the Washington Senators who became the Minnesota Twins in 1961; then went over to KC for one more season in 1975. He was born and raised in Idaho and grew up playing football and baseball, eventually standing Continue reading Harmon Killebrew: The Great Slugger of the 2nd Dead Ball ERA→

Week of 3-30-15

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Johnny Lumsden — No Comments ↓

Legend: Mike Piazza was not only arguably the best hitting catcher of all-time, but one of the best sluggers the game has ever seen. During his prime from 1996-2000, he averaged easily over a .300 batting average with 37+ homers and 100+ RBI’s. He retired just 73 round trippers away from the 500 milestone 232 total bases away from the big 4000. Thus, he still ended with a slugging percentage of .545 and OPS of .922, which helped him collect 10 career silver slugging awards behind the plate along with an All-Star Game MVP in 1996. Despite his offensive numbers Continue reading Week of 3-30-15→