Teams with three players who led in league MVP voting

Baseball Digest, August, 2008 by Shane T. Reiniche, Carl Glover, John Schlegelmilch, Bert Wilson, Nathan Jacobson, Ron Cordahl, Eric Relkin, Robert E. Beedle, Larry Creasy, Andy Kucer, Robb Moretti, David Lateiner

(Total points in parentheses)

1941 Brooklyn Dodgers: First baseman Doll Camilli (300), center fielder Pete Reiser (183) and pitcher Whitlow Wyatt (151).

1959 Chicago White Sox: Second baseman Nellie Fox (295), shortstop Luis Aparicio (255) and pitcher Early Wynn (123).

1966 Baltimore Orioles: Right fielder Frank Robinson (280), third baseman Brooks Robinson (153) and first baseman Boog Powell (122).

I am fascinated with numbers and statistics. I love to see players break records and rack up wins, hits and RBI.

It always saddens me when I see a player with a great deal of potential fail to achieve what they might have been able to because they were injured or had other problems.

Dwight Gooden, Ken Griffey Jr. and Sandy Koufax come to mind.

Can you name some other talented players who "should have" accomplished more in their careers?

Shane T. Reiniche

Hanover, Mich.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

There have been dozens of major leaguers who might have achieved more in their careers if they had not been hampered by injury or some other ailment.

Actually, there are too many to mention here, but we'll provide a few names to get the list going and readers are invited to add other players to the lineup:

Lou Gehrig (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), Herb Score (eye and arm injury), Pete Reiser (vertigo), Ron Santo (diabetes), Mickey Cochrane (fractured skull), Joe Medwick (severe concussion), Kirby Puckett (glaucoma), Dizzy Dean (arm injury), Mark Fidrych (arm injury), and Bill Gullickson (diabetes).

Earlier this season, right-handed starter Derek Lowe of the Dodgers needed 43 pitches to record the first out in the first inning of a game against the Rockies. Is this a major league record?

Carl Glover

Johnson City, Tenn.

No records are available in this category, but Lowe must be at or near the top in throwing the most pitches before recording the first out in the opening inning of a game.

I have read that there have been times when the hidden ball trick was successful in the majors. After following baseball for more than 50 years, I don't remember it ever having been tried. Why isn't it tried any more?

John Schlegelmilch

Red Wing, Minn.

The hidden-ball trick is a time-honored ruse in which an infielder conceals the ball and hopes the base runner thinks it has been returned to the pitcher. When the runner steps off the base, he is quickly tagged out with the hidden ball.

Why the play is such a rarity is hard to explain. Baseball-wise, players today and in the past have pretty much the same game smarts.

If the pitcher is standing on or astride the pitcher's rubber when a hidden ball trick is attempted, a balk is called which makes the play far more difficult to pull off successfully.

Third baseman Matt Williams of the Indians pulled off the hidden ball trick on Jed Hansen. a rookie second baseman for the Royals, in the first inning of the second game of a doubleheader in Kansas City on September 19, 1997. The Indians won the game, 6-2.

On September 15, 2004 Mike Lowell of the Florida Marlins caught Brian Schneider of the Expos with two out in the fourth inning and the bases loaded. Lowell had the ball as play ended and went to the mound and when he returned to third base with the ball still in his possession, he tagged Schneider out as he led off the base.

Lowell pulled off another hidden ball play on August 10, 2005 when he caught Luis Terrero of the Diamondbacks, who represented the tying run, taking a lead off third base in the eighth inning, with Florida leading 6-5. The Marlins won the contest, 10-5.

On June 8, 2007 shortstop Julio Lugo of the Boston Red Sox caught Alberto Callaspo of the Diamondbacks. After Callaspo led off the third inning with a single, he advanced to second on a single by Chris Snyder, but when Lugo hid the ball in his glove, Callaspo stepped off the base to dust off his uniform and Lugo applied the tag for an unassisted out.

Also, during the 1958 season, second baseman Nellie Fox of the White Sox executed a successful hidden ball trick against Billy Gardner of the Orioles in a game at old Comiskey Park. He asked Gardner to step off the bag for a moment so he could clean it off Gardner obliged and when he stepped off the bag, Fox, who had the ball in his glove, tagged him out.

In Game 2 of the 1907 World Series, Detroit Tigers third baseman Bill Coughlin caught Cubs center fielder Jimmy Slagle with a hidden ball trick, the only one in World Series history.

In a game at Kauffman Stadium on April 25, Royals starting pitcher Zack Greinke gave up a lone run on a home run by Lyle Overbay of the Blue Jays in the top of the seventh inning and left the game with the score fled, 1-1.

The Royals then scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to take a 2-1 lead.

In the top of the eighth, Royals reliever Leo Nunez came in and gave up three runs, all earned, to put the Jays on top, 4-2.

The Royals responded with a six-run inning and eventually won the game, 8-4. Nunez was credited with the victory.