BHI: Young, Singleton and Triandos

In my last Big Homer Index post, I made a mistake in the formula that calculates BHI. The corrections have been made for Jeffery Hammonds, Melvin Mora and Paul Blair on the Career BHI list below. What is the Big Homer Index (BHI)? Look here.

Now, more BHI:

Mike Young - 70 Oriole Career Homers

Mike Young was a 1st round draft pick in 1980 and after posting a .273/.348/.513 line in 1985 (including 28 homers) at the age of 25, he looked to be a rising star in the Oriole outfield. But he never OPS'ed north of .750 or hit 20 homers in a season again and was out of baseball by 1990.

Still, in terms of BHI he was very good. Two extra inning walk-offs and a very low percentage of his homers could be chalked up to "garbage" home runs. Young flamed out quick but muscled up when it counted.

BHI - 354

Ken Singleton - 182 Oriole Career Homers

Singleton is one of the great Oriole outfielders of all time and he fares well in terms of BHI. Only one walk-off but half his homers either tied the game or gave the team the lead. Also, just 20% of his homers came during garbage time. He's just on the cusp of the elite in terms of BHI for Oriole sluggers.

BHI - 274

Gus Triandos - 142 Oriole Career Homers

Did you know that Triandos ranks #11 on the Oriole career homer list? I didn't. But no game ending home runs and just 40% of his homers tying the score or giving the lead give him a decent but lackluster score.

BHI - 195


BHI Leaders - Oriole Career


Brooks Robinson - 495
Eddie Murray - 469
Rafael Palmiero - 469
Mickey Tettleton - 444
Tony Batista - 406
John Lowenstein - 393
Mike Young - 354
Boog Powell - 341
Mike Devereaux - 333
Paul Blair - 290
Jim Gentile - 274
Ken Singelton - 274
Melvin Mora - 268
Larry Sheets - 266
Albert Belle - 240
Chris Hoiles - 240
Roberto Alomar - 230
Doug Decinces - 225
Brian Roberts - 224
Miguel Tejada - 218
Cal Ripken - 197
Gus Triandos - 195
Brady Anderson - 138
Rick Dempsey - 136
Kevin Millar - 117
Jeffrey Hammonds - 84
Jay Gibbons - 42
Jeff Conine - 5
B. J. Surhoff - -64

Around the Orioles Blogsophere - 5/5/09

...but first a quick stop off at Rob Neyer's blog on ESPN.com who make a solid point about patience and the case of Felix Pie:

How many more chances do you give him? I don't know, exactly. What I do know is that in Brady Anderson's first three seasons, his line was .216/.305/.301 in nearly a thousand plate appearances. He was awful in his fourth season, too. And he was significantly older than Pie, without the Triple-A credentials...But the Orioles didn't give up on Brady Anderson when he was 27, and they shouldn't give up on Felix Pie when he's 24. Especially not in a vain pursuit of fourth place.

Correct. Unless there's something going on behind the scenes, you stick with Pie until at least mid-season.

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Along those same lines, Frost King looks back at the month of April and makes some discoveries about Felix Pie and Lou Montanez:

Pie's defense hasn't been as advertised yet (it's only been about average in LF) but his bat hasn't been as bad as it's looked. A .194 BABIP despite a 23% line-drive rate will definitely not continue, and his increased walk rate (from 7.8% to 10.5%) and decreased strike-out rate (from 34.9% to 27.5%) are both good signs. He needs to be given plenty of at bats to work through this....

Maybe Luis shouldn't have talked so much about being over-looked for a spot on the team. Pie has shown the better underlying stats, and has the higher ceiling...

Go to the blog to see more supporting numbers but, again, he's right. Common wisdom is to dump Pie or give him a reduced role. He's performed a bit better than the basic numbers show.

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While not necessarily referring to Felix Pie, Ben at Oriole Central is urging fans with short memories to be patient:

I understand (and want) the O's to win now like everyone else. What I don't understand is the irrationality and impatience like Rick Maese advocates to call up every prospect now to Baltimore and throw them to wolves.This is the exact flawed logic that has screwed up pretty much every viable Oriole prospect for the past decade, Nick Markakis not withstanding. Garrett Olson, Adam Loewen, Hayden Penn, Daniel Cabrera, Radhames Liz, and every other pitching prospect including Erik Bedard (took him awhile didn't it) are examples how this get them up NOW to give us something is a horrible route to take. I don't like seeing Adam Eaton in the rotation either, but I'd rather bite the bullet on what's going to be another lost season and let Chris Tillman work on his control in the minors where he belongs.

He is correct! (I feel like John McLaughlin...)

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Jay Trucker recaps last night's win and looks forward to tonight's matchup:

The Orioles conclude their series against Tampa with an inexplicable 4:08 pm game. They are putting steel-ribbed Koji Uehara on the mound to face the Rays' Matt Garza.

Which gave me an endorsement idea for Koji...he could play the Jimmy Rollins role.




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Roar from 34 gets creative with an Oriole advice column...

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Wayward O also makes a good point about a managing gaffe is last night's win...

and yet Wayward O must this rainy tuesday morning chide manager for not inserting pinch runner for ZAUN when ZAUN hit double in eighth inning...let's say b-rob singles to right instead of going big fly. if pie is pinch running from 2nd there is a 84.57% chance he scores. as the game stood, there was a 13.87% chance of ZAUN scoring in same scenario.

Wayward O is not statistician but single to right scenario is far more likely there than home run.

In retrospect, it was a very odd (non)move...

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Patrick Smith of Bugs and Cranks looks at George Sherrill's closing duties and makes a fantastic Glengarry Glen Ross reference in the process.

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Speaking of Sherrill, Weaver's Tantrum runs down the options in case he is permanently unseated as the Oriole closer.

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Finally, the Toy Department blog at BaltimoreSun.com has a fine article catching up with former Oriole catcher Gus Triandos. Their "Catching Up..." series is riveting stuff to the diehard Oriole fan.