The fans speak out

Baseball Digest, May, 2008 by Bryan E. Jones, Joseph S. Gordon, Tim Cogley, Martin Bonetti, Richard Turner, Thomas Haggerty, William Barry, Kyle Stevens, Rod Stinson, Jim McKay, Julius Brown, Bernie Hahn, Neal Golub, Charlie Newsom, Steve Bergeson, Bob Boyd, Scott Keatts, Stewart Stutzman, Ted Holland, Jeff Fleet, Kathleen Soisson

I recently acquired an old Nokona first baseman's mitt. It is a signature model with the name Walter Sessi on it. I have been unable to find anything on this ball player.

Could you please enlighten me on who he is and include any of his career statistics.

Bryan E. Jones

Fortuna, Mo.

Nicknamed Watsie, Sessi played only briefly with the Cardinals in two seasons, 1941 and 1946. He appeared in three games as an outfielder in 1941, failing to get a hit in 13 at-bats. In 1946, he appeared in 15 games and collected two hits including one home run in 14 at-bats.

He batted and threw left-handed, stood 6-3, weighed 225 pounds and was born in Finleyville, Pennsylvania in 1918.

One player who started his major league career as a pitcher and finished it as an outfielder was Rube Bressler. He was not mentioned in the list you published in the January/February issue.

Bressler pitched for the Philadelphia A's from 1914-1916 with a 14-23 won-lost record. He also pitched for the Cincinnati Reds from 1917-1920 with a 12-9 record. But, in later years with the Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, Phillies and Cardinals, he was used primarily as a first baseman and out-fielder before retiring in 1932. He had a career batting average of .301.

Joseph S. Gordon, M.D.

Drexel Hill, Pa.

Could you explain the purpose of the three-foot line that runs toward first base outside the regular foul line?

Tim Cogley

Boston, Mass.

The three-foot line starts 45 feet from first base and forms with the foul line a lane within which the batter must run while the ball is being fielded, usually by the catcher or pitcher, for a throw to first base.

If the batter-runner runs outside of the three-foot lane either to the left or right and is struck by the thrown ball, the umpire may call interference.

As air pollution moved in, I moved out of San Jose, California in the 1960s and right into the war in Viet Nam. When I left, I took with me memories of games played by the San Jose Red Sox at Municipal Stadium in the 1950s.

Some of the players made the big leagues, one of whom was Albie Pearson who was listed in a box score recently published in Baseball Digest.

Albie and his brother played for San Jose, then a farm team of the Boston Red Sox. Others who played in the majors and were on the San Jose team about the same time included Marv Owen, Walt Dropo and Norm Zauchin. They created a lot of nice memories for me.

Martin Bonetti

Silver City, Nev.

It doesn't happen too often when a major league team goes through an entire season without a pitcher achieving one of these stats: 10 wins, 10 losses, or 100 strikeouts.

But, in 2007, the Washington Nationals went through the season without any of their pitchers reaching these marks.

Jon Ranch was their biggest winner with eight victories. All of his wins came out of the bullpen. Matt Chico lost the most games, eight, and had the most strikeouts, 94.

It's even more odd that their biggest winner, Rauch, never even started a game.

Richard Turner

Lancaster, Wis.

Last season, Brandon Webb of the Diamondbacks pitched 42 consecutive innings without allowing a run. That's a pretty good stretch. Could you print a list of pitchers who have put together the most consecutive scoreless innings in the majors?

Thomas Haggerty

Los Angeles, Calif.

Two Dodgers, Orel Hershiser and Don Drysdale top the chart. In 1988, Hershiser pitched 59 straight innings from August 30 to September 28 without yielding a run. In 1968, Drysdale posted 58 and two-thirds consecutive scoreless innings. See the accompanying chart.

When I've watched National League games on "TV, I have heard the announcer saying a manager is making a double switch. Could you elaborate on just what a double switch is?

William Barry

Cincinnati, Ohio

When a manager in the National League makes a defensive change at the same time as a pitching change, it's called a double switch. It allows him to place the new players in either spot in the batting order, thus delaying the pitcher's turn at bat.

For instance, if the seventh place hitter ended the previous inning, the manager can remove him and the pitcher, insert the new position player in the ninth spot, and have the new pitcher hit seventh so he won't have to take his turn at the plate until the team's batters go all the way through the lineup.

Ten years ago, I watched Kerry Wood of the Cubs strike out 20 Houston Astros in a game at Wrigley Field. The game was early in the season, but I don't remember the date. Also, did he walk any batters in that game?

Kyle Stevens

Chicago, Ill.

Wood was 20 years old, making his fifth major league start, when he fanned 20 Astro hitters on May 6, 1998.

He yielded only one hit and walked none, blowing away opposing batters with his 100 mile-an-hour fastball. His bid for a perfect game was spoiled by Ricky Gutierrez's leadoff single in the third inning.

Wood struck out the side in the first, fifth, seventh and eighth innings.

I wonder if you could dig up and reprint that hilarious quote that Casey Stengel made about his lineup in his first year managing the Mets in 1962?