Mark Whicker: Sixty years ago, little-known engineering prof saw baseball’s future

“Long before there was Bill James and his vast acolytes of baseball codifiers, there was Earnshaw Cook.

He was the subject of a Sports Illustrated piece called “Baseball Is Played All Wrong,” based on his computerized analysis. That piece ran in 1964. In those days, computers themselves were about as big as Boog Powell, the Orioles’ lefthanded slugger. Yet Cook’s theories has somehow trickled down to the major league dugouts of today.

Cook found that starting pitchers should work a couple of innings, be removed for a pinch-hitter, and be relieved by a better pitcher who would work five or so innings. Then the guy whom we now know as the “closer” would work the eighth and the ninth. The theory was that pitchers should not hit, and pinch-hitters would increase the run totals by a dramatic margin.”

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McFarland: Hemmerling making his late father proud at Barton

“Before every one of his starts, you will see Reece Hemmerling grab a pendant around his neck, look up at the sky and say four words.

“I love you, Dad.”

It’s a new pre-game ritual for the Beaumont, Alberta product, after his father passed away in November.

The pendant matches a tattoo that Hemmerling had etched on his arm, featuring an anchor that represents how his dad, Troy, was the anchor of the family, and a grey ribbon representing Glioblastoma Cancer awareness.”

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