Courtesy of Bill Arnold

 

THIS YEAR'S MODEL

A team rebuild can happen overnight, but usually, it takes a couple of years and a deep farm system to turn cellar dwellers into top contenders. Over the past two seasons, the Baltimore Orioles have improved their winning percentage by .304 points, from 2021's disastrous .321 (52-110) to this season's stellar .625 (95-57). That's the second-highest team point gain since 1901, topped only by the New York Giants' 340-point pole vault from .353 (48-88) in 1902 to .693 (106-47) in 1904.

Their secret sauce may be lost to time, but there's no mystery about the Orioles':

They built up their farm teams and promoted the right players - and all of them have had a good year. Now the Birds lead the A.L. East by a 2.5-game edge (over the second-place Rays), with 11 days remaining in the season. The Arizona Diamondbacks, another Cinderella story, have finished 208 points over their 2021 record, .321 (52-110).  The chart below shows the 20 teams with the biggest two-year turnarounds since 1901 (strike-shortened or 2020 pandemic seasons not included):

 

Team, Year, Record, Win Pct., 2-years before, Record, Win Pct., Diff.

Giants, 1904, (106-47).693, 1902, (48-88) .340, 353

Orioles, 2023, (95-57).625, 2021, (52-110).321, .304

Reds, 1939, (97-57).630, 1937, (56-98).364, .266

Yankees, 1927, (110-44).714, 1925, (69-85).448, .266

Yankees, 1910, (88-63).583, 1908, (51-103).331, .252

Mets, 1969, (100-62).617, 1967, (61-101).377, .240

A's, 1910, (102-48).680, 1908, (68-85).444, .236

Phillies, 1963, (87-75).537, 1961, (47-107).305, .232

A's, 1948, (84-70).545, 1946, (49-105).318, .227

Guardians, 1995, (100-44).694, 1993, (76-86) 469, .225

Giants, 1903, (84-55).604, 1901, (52-85).380, .224

Red Sox, 1934, (76-76).500, 1932, (43-111).279, .221

White Sox, 1972, (87-67).545, 1970, (56-106) .346, .219

Tigers, 1915, (100-54).649, 1913, (66-87).431, .218

Astros, 2015, (87-76).531, 2013, (51-111).340, .216

Cubs, 1918, (84-45).651, 1916, (67-86).438, .213

Diamondbacks, 2023, (81-72).529, 2021, (52-110).321, .208

Dodgers, 1946, (96-60).615, 1944, (63-91).409, .206

Braves, 1992, (98-64) 605, 1990, (65-97) 401, .204

Orioles, 1969, (109-53).673, 1967, (76-85) 472, .201

 

THE FIFTH ELEMENT

According to the good folks at the Elias Sports Bureau, now that the Tampa Bay Rays have clinched the AL postseason berth, their 45-year-old manager Kevin Cash has clinched a title of his own as the youngest MLB skipper to have steered a team to five consecutive postseasons. The previous record holder, Los Angeles Dodger manager Dave Roberts, was 48 when L.A. snagged a fifth straight postseason berth in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

 

ONE PITCHER, ONE TEAM

On Monday night, Adam Wainwright became the first pitcher to earn his 200th career win with a 1-0 victory. The Cardinal ace went seven innings while giving up four hits, walking two, and striking out three while becoming the 14th pitcher to play for just one team and earn 200 career wins. Topping that list, of course, is Walter "Big Train" Johnson, who won 417 games in his 21-season career with the Washington Senators. The 14 pitchers who won 200 or more games for their one and only team are:

 

Pitcher, Team, Wins

Walter "Big Train" Johnson, Senators, 417

Jim Palmer, Orioles, 268

Bob Feller, Indians, 266

Ted Lyons, White Sox, 260

Urban "Red" Faber White Sox, 254

Carl Hubbell, Giants, 253

Bob Gibson, Cardinals, 251

Edward "Whitey" Ford, Yankees, 236

Mel Harder, Indians, 223

George "Hooks" Dauss, Tigers,  223

Don Drysdale, Dodgers, 209

Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers, 209

Bob Lemon, Indians, 207

Adam Wainwright, Cardinals, 200

 

AROUND THE HORN

— The Nationals lead all teams with a 73.1 percent overturn rate on challenges, and much of the credit goes to the eagle-eyed efforts of replay operator Kenny Diaz. The Nats are 19-for-26 through Wednesday on challenges they initiated, followed by the Marlins (20-for-28, 71.4%), Diamondbacks (25-for-38, 65.8%), Royals (20-for-31, 64.5%), Yankees (17-for-27, 63.0%), and Astros (17-for-27, 63.0%).

— Despite a sprained left ankle, Marlin Luis Arraez will become the first major leaguer since 1901 to win batting titles in two different leagues in consecutive years. The slick-hitting second baseman won last year's A.L. batting crown as a Minnesota Twin with a .316 average and now leads the N.L. with a .354 mark through Wednesday. Ed Delahanty came close, winning the N.L. batting title in 1899 and the A.L. crown in 1902, as did DJ LeMahieu, the top batter in the N.L. in 2016 and the A.L. in 2020.

— On Tuesday, the Braves avoided losing their fifth straight game when they defeated the Phillies 9-3. Atlanta hasn't completed a five-game losing streak since they accomplished the dubious feat on September 30, 2017 - a stretch of 860 games. The Yankees hold the record, going 1,243 games between 1930 and 1938 without one five-game losing streak.

— On September 16, Bryan Reynolds passed Lloyd "Little Poison" Waner for the second most RBIs (75) while hitting out of the two-hole of the Pirates' lineup. Waner set his record of 74 in 1929. His older brother, Paul "Big Poison," owns the record, knocking in 80 in 1932 while batting second for the team.

— Braves ace Spencer Strider leads the majors with the most induced swings and misses this season: 618 out of 2,911 pitches thrown. Twins hurler Pablo Lopez leads the A.L., with 446 out of 2,857 balls pitched.

— The Angels gave the Tigers' retiring and certain-to-be Hall-of-Famer Miguel Cabrera a custom surfboard listing all his hitting accomplishments, presenting the gift before Cabrera's final game against them at Angel Stadium on September 17.

— The Rays are the eighth team in the Wild Card Era (which began in 1995) to make the postseason for at least five consecutive years. They join the Yankees (1995-2007 and 2001-22), Braves (1995-2005 and 2018-23), Astros (2017-23), Cardinals (2011-15), Guardians (1995-99), Dodgers (2013-23), and Phillies (2007-11).

—The Hanshin Tigers finally won the Japanese Central League's pennant this season, earning a bye for the first round of Japanese postseason playoffs. They last captured the flag in 2005, 18 long years ago.

— The Braves need nine homers to become the first N.L. team to crash the 300-homer-season barrier. Two A.L. teams have already done it: the Twins with 307 and the Yankees with 306 in 2019.

— Kyle Schwarber, although batting just .197, is set to become the 12th player since 1920 to post at least 120 walks, 102 runs scored, 45 homers slugged, and 100 RBIs in a season. The Phillies' designated hitter needs one more RBI to join Barry Bonds, Lou Gehrig, Chipper Jones, Aaron Judge, Harmon Killebrew, Ralph Kiner, Mickey Mantle, Willie McCovey, Babe Ruth, Mike Schmidt, and Jim Thome in that elite group.

— Teams without a complete game this season: the Orioles, Red Sox, Reds, Rockies, Tigers, Dodgers, A's, Padres, Cardinals, Rays and Nationals.

— It seems fitting that Twins manager Rocco Baldelli and his wife, Allie, welcomed fraternal twin boys, named Nino and Enzo, on Sunday night. Baldelli joins his pitcher Bailey Ober, who honored the Twins with a pair of twin girls last November.

— Ronald Acuna Jr. (Braves), Luis Arraez (Marlins), Freddie Freeman (Dodgers), and Gabriel Moreno (Diamondbacks) are the only players with a minimum of 10 at-bats to maintain a .300 batting average over four different months this season.

— For the fourth time in the Cardinals' history, two different sets of brothers have played against each other in the same season: Hector (Cardinals)/Jose Sr. Cruz (Astros) and Ken (Astros)/Bob (Cardinals) Forsch in 1975 and 1977, Randy (Cardinals)/Ron Flores (A's) and Bengie (Giants)/Yadier (Cardinals) Molina in 2007, Willson (Cardinals)/William (Brewers) Contreras, and Richie (Cardinals)/Joshua (Pirates) Palacios in 2023.

— The Marlins' center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. became the second player since baseball's modern era began in 1920 to hit a grand slam and steal three bases in the same game when he pulled off the obscure feat against the Braves on September 17. The first was Mike Cameron, who did it for the Mariners in 2002.

—On Monday, Mike Bauman became the third Oriole reliever to post at least 10 wins in a season without making a start. He joins fellow Birds Stu Miller (14 wins in 1965) and Dick Hall (11 wins in 1965 and 10 wins in 1970).

— After their loss on Wednesday, the Giants saw their odds of reaching the postseason fall to 2.1 percent. The only team lower of any of the teams still in the playoff hunt are the Padres, with a microscopic chance of 0.4 percent.

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