Sunday Notes: Kenley Jansen Looks Back at the 2007 Great Lakes Loons

Kenley Jansen was a 19-year-old catching prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization when he played for the 2007 Great Lakes Loons. Sixteen years and 417 saves later, he looks back at his time in Midland, Michigan fondly. The All-Star closer didn’t hit much — his conversion to the mound in 2009 came for a reason — but the overall experience shaped who he is today.

“I loved everything about that city, man,” said Jansen, a native of Curaçao who also called Midland home in 2008. “It was cold, but probably also my favorite city from my time in the minor leagues. We played at Dow Diamond and that place was packed every night. The fans were great. I lived with Rob Wright and Lori Wright — Danny Wright, too — and I don’t even consider them my host family anymore; they’re part of my family now. I didn’t play very well, but a lot of good things came out of that whole experience. Great Lakes helped transition me from being a kid to being a man.”

The 2007 season was also notable because of his manager and a pair of teammates. Longtime Detroit Tigers backstop Lance Parrish was at the helm of the Midwest League affiliate, the club’s primary catcher was Carlos Santana, and a teenage left-hander was the most-prominent member of the pitching staff.

“We knew he was going to be in the big leagues,” Jansen said of three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, who toed the rubber 20 times as a Loon. “A year later, he was in the big leagues. He was way ahead of all of us. His stuff was really good. He was a fastball/curveball guy and then Rick Honeycutt helped him develop that slider. He’s going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.”

Santana made his MLB debut in 2010 after being traded to Cleveland, and a few years later made a position switch of his own. Never a stalwart behind the dish, he’s gone on to see the bulk of his big-league action as a slugging first baseman. In terms of prospect profile, he was the polar opposite of Jansen.

“When I see guys like [Carlos] Delgado and Santana with their offense… all you’ve got to do is play catcher decent and you’re going to be in the big leagues,” said Jansen. “That’s because your offense is going to take off. For me, it was trying to figure out my offense. I knew my catching would probably put me in the big leagues — my defense was good — but my offense wasn’t good. It didn’t happen, and thank god, man. I probably would have been a backup catcher, and wouldn’t be having this unbelievable career. It was a great decision.”

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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS

Bobby Del Greco went 4 for 5 against Bubba Church.

Thurman Tucker went 5 for 6 against Bubba Harris.

Bubba Phillips went 5 for 5 against Steve Gromek.

Bubba Morton went 6 for 9 against Sparky Lyle.

Bubba Trammell went 4 for 6 against Joe Kennedy.

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Triston Casas’s full-count numbers caught my eye recently. In 69 plate appearances that ended on a 3-2 pitch (as of Thursday), the Red Sox rookie either walked or fanned 56 times. Moreover, his slash line was an OBP-heavy .135/.536/.265.

How extreme is a 401-point gap between batting average and OBP? My colleague Ben Clemens is a wizard when it comes to unearthing data of this ilk, so I reached out to him for an answer. It turns out that Casas is indeed an extreme case.

With 50 plate appearances as the low-end cutoff, only Ryan Noda has a wider gap. In 85 full count PAs (again as of Thursday), the Oakland A’s rookie has an .044 BA and a .482 OBP, a difference of .438. The third-highest gap belongs to yet another rookie, Minnesota Twins infielder Edouard Julien, at .118/.508 for a 390 point difference.

Even more extreme, but short of the aforementioned cutoff, are Miguel Cabrera and Anthony Rendon, neither of whom has recorded a full-count hit. Thanks to free passes, the former has a .441 OBP in 34 PAs, the latter a .472 OBP in 36 PAs..

And then there is the opposite extreme. The players with the smallest gaps and at least 50 full-count PAs are Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (.163/.280 for a 117-point difference) and Cody Bellinger (268/.400 for a 132-point difference). Jon Berti, who has 37 PAs, is .313/.405 for a 92-point difference.

As for the league averages on full counts, the BA is .190 and the OBP is .454. a 264-point difference.

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A quiz:

Who was the opening-day second baseman for the 1967 “Impossible Dream” Red Sox? A hint: He went on play the vast majority of his career as an outfielder, making seven All-Star teams and finishing with a 137 wRC+ and 64.6 WAR.

The answer can be found below.

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NEWS NOTES

The South Atlantic League’s Rome Braves announced this week that they will dropping their parent club’s nickname at the end of this season. The Low-A affiliate will remain with Atlanta.

Fargo Little League became the first team from North Dakota to advance to Williamsport in the 76-year history of the Little World Series when they captured the Midwest region championship on Friday. Fargo defeated South Dakota’s Sioux Falls Little League 9-7

Mel Roach, an infielder/outfielder whose career spanned the 1953-1962 seasons, died on July 31 at age 90, 70 years to the day after making his big-league debut. Primarily a utility player with the Milwaukee Braves, he had his best year in 1960 when he batted .300 with three home runs.

Jim Price, who caught for the Detroit Tigers from 1967-1971 and went on to serve as one of the team’s broadcast analysts for three decades, died earlier this week at age 81. Folksy behind a microphone, and the co-founder of Tigers fantasy camp, Price won a World Series ring with Detroit in 1968 and hit a career-best nine home runs in 1969.

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The answer to the quiz is Reggie Smith, who started the first six games of the 1967 season at second base before moving to the outfield when regular second-sacker Mike Andrews returned from an injury. They were the only appearances at that position for Smith, who played in 1,875 games over his 15-season MLB career.

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Left on the cutting-room floor from Friday’s interview with Justin Turner were his thoughts on two of baseball’s hardest throwers. With high-velocity heaters the subject at hand, I asked the veteran infielder how Hunter Greene and Spencer Strider compare on the mound.

“I think Strider’s slider might be a little bit better than than Hunter’s,” opined Turner, who has faced both pitchers. “Both have really good fastballs. Both have really great stuff. I think they’re the future of the game as far as pitching goes, as long as they can, knock on wood, hold up and stay healthy.”

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For the past few years I’ve routinely closed interviews with the following question: “What haven’t I asked you that I should have?” Doing so recently with Kansas City’s Nick Wittgren elicited a response that ranks right up there with the most unique. The Royals reliever suggested that I ask what happened to his missing tooth.

“It’s kind of the one trademark that a lot of umpires and players know me by,” added Wittgren, who has pitched for four teams over eight big-league seasons. “A few people have asked me about it, but I don’t think anyone has ever put it out there.”

The story will now be told.

“Eighth grade football and I wasn’t wearing a mouthguard under my face mask,” explained Wittgren. “I got my tooth pushed up. It actually fused into my jawbone. The full tooth is still there, but all you see is the little nub.”

Ever thought about getting it fixed?

“Nah,” Wittgren said of that possibility. “I’m married with two kids. I don’t need to please anyone else. They like me as I am.”

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FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The Hanshin Tigers have won nine of their last 10 and at 61-38 have the best record in NPB. The Chunichi Dragons are 40-61 and have the worst record in NPB.

Trevor Bauer is 8-3 with a 2.75 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 104-and-two-thirds innings for the NPB’s Yokohama BayStars. The erstwhile MLB hurler has surrendered 93 hits and issues 24 free passes.

Shunpeita Yamashita is 9-3 with a 1.73 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 83 innings for the NPB’s Orix Buffaloes. The 21-year-old right-hander has allowed 64 hits and issued 26 free passes.

Si Hwan Roh leads all KBO batters with 27 home runs. The 22-year-old Hanwha Eagles third baseman is slashing .308/.394/.576 in 434 plate appearances.

Hye Seong Kim leads all KBO batters with 134 hits. The 24-year-old Kiwoom Heroes second baseman is slashing .321/.381/.431 with five home runs in 467 plate appearances.

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Mark Gubicza made two starts against the Detroit Tigers during his 1984 rookie season and allowed 10 hits and nine runs in 10-and-a-third innings. He’s not the only pitcher who struggled against the Sparky Anderson-managed club that year. Detroit led all MLB teams in runs scored (829) and home runs (187) on their way to winning the World Series.

“When I go back and reflect, I think the ’84 Tigers were the best team ever,” Gubicza said of that season’s champs. “It seemed like they had a 40-man roster when everyone else had a 25-man roster. They platooned guys. They had great starting pitching led by Jack Morris. Willie Hernandez was the MVP as a closer. Alan Trammell. Lou Whitaker. Chet Lemon was in center. Parrish was behind the plate. They had some great players. That team was good as any I’ve ever seen.”

The ’84 Tigers had 10 players with at least 200 plate appearances and a wRC+ of 100 or better (five were 130 or better), while two others were at 99 and one was at 97. Another had 168 plate appearances and a 129 wRC+. Detroit finished the regular season 104-58, then won seven of eight games in the postseason.

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FARM NOTES

Walker Jenkins is 10-for-26 with one home run in 27 plate appearances in the Florida Complex League. The 18-year-old outfielder was drafted fifth overall this year by the Minnesota Twins out of South Brunswick High School in Southport, North Carolina.

Wyatt Langford is 15-for-38 with two home runs in 47 plate appearances between the Arizona Complex League and High-A Hickory. The 21-year-old outfielder was drafted fourth overall this year by the Texas Rangers out of the University of Florida.

Max Clark is 6-for-20 with two home runs in 23 plate appearances in the Florida Complex League. The 18-year-old outfielder was drafted third overall this year by the Detroit Tigers out of Franklin, Indiana’a Franklin Community High School.

Dylan Crews is 11-for-33 with two home runs in 34 plate appearances between the Florida Complex League and Low-A Fredericksburg. The 21-year-old outfielder was drafted second overall this year by the Washington Nationals out of LSU.

Paul Skenes made his professional debut in the Florida Complex League on Thursday and retired all three batters he faced, one via strikeout. The 21-year-old right-hander was drafted first overall this year by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of LSU.

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Johnny Doskow is one of the best stories of the 2023 season. A minor league broadcaster for three decades, the 56-year-old veteran of 4,000-plus games is now behind a microphone on a full-time basis for the Oakland Athletics. I had the pleasure of meeting him this summer, and took the opportunity to ask for a few snapshot memories of his time on the farm.

Doskow told me Johnny Damon, then with the Low-A Rockford Royals, was the first player he thought would be “really special.” That was in Doskow’s first year in pro ball, with the Midwest League’s Cedar Rapids Kernels in 1993.

His first game in the booth included a mistake he quickly learned not to make.

“I butchered a home run call,” Doskow recalled. “It was a fly ball to left, I said playable, and it went 40 feet over the fence. The left fielder had deked everybody, including me. I didn’t know they did that, so I botched the call.”

His three years with the Kernels included a decision that says a lot about life in the low minors back in the 1990s. There were only four people on the staff, and they had to choose between a fax machine or a mascot. They voted to get the mascot, Mr. Shucks.

A handful of years later, calling games for the California League’s High Desert Mavericks, he saw the team’s mascot given the heave-ho by an umpire. “Wooly Bully was taunting him,” explained Doskow. “I guess the umpire had had enough.”

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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE

MLB.com’s Sarah Langs presented us with 10 mind-blowing notes from the last week in baseball.

At Sportsnaut, Dan Connolly looked at how Orioles managing partner “John Angelos and his people just keep opening up the circus tents.”

At Project Muse, Anne R. Keene told the story of Tom Carroll, the only MLB player to earn a World Series ring and also the CIA’s Medal of Merit.

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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS

Houston’s Dusty Baker got his 2,159th managerial win on Wednesday, moving him ahead of Bucky Harris and into sole possession of seventh place on the all-time list. All six managers with more wins are in the Hall of Fame.

JP Sears’s 14 HBPs are an Oakland Athletic’s single-season record. The franchise record is held by Chick Fraser, who plunked 32 batters with the Philadelphia A’s in 1932. Frasier tossed 331 innings that year. Sears is at 125-and-two-thirds innings.

Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is combined 15-for-40 with 10 home runs against the Blue Jays and Red Sox this season. He is a combined 4-for-38 with no home runs against the Oakland A’s and Texas Rangers.

Freddie Freeman has 23 home runs in 528 plate appearances. Jose Siri has 23 home runs in 284 plate appearances.

The Arizona Diamondbacks recorded eight stolen bases and one home run in their 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins last Sunday.

The Kansas City Royals recorded three home runs and six stolen bases against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night. It was the first time a team, home or away, had accomplished that feat in the 112-year history of Fenway Park.

Rudy Pemberton went 21-for-41 for the Red Sox in 1996. All told, the outfielder from San Pedro de Macoris slashed .336/.395/.515 in 147 plate appearances over parts of three big-league seasons.

On today’s date in 2006, Russell Martin took Vinnie Chulk deep in the 10th inning to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 1-0, walk-off win over the San Francisco Giants. Greg Maddux and Jason Schmidt worked eight scoreless frames for their respective clubs, the latter throwing 115 pitches, the former just 68 pitches.

Mule Watson was a veritable workhorse on today’s date in 1921, recording complete-game wins in both ends of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Boston Braves right-hander scattered 10 hits in a 4-3 win in the opener, then tossed a two-hit shutout in the 8-0 finale.

Players born on today’s date include Odie Davis, an infielder who went 1-for-8 while getting a cup of coffee with the Texas Ranger in 1980. One of two players in MLB history with his given first name — Odie Porter played for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1902 — Davis had a pinch-hit single off of Milwaukee’s Mike Caldwell in his first big-league plate appearance.

Also born on today’s date was Vinegar Bend Mizell, a southpaw whose big-league career spanned the 1952-1962 seasons and included stints with the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and first-year New York Mets. Mizell went on to serve in Congress, representing North Carolina, and later hold positions in the Gerald R. Ford and George H.W. Bush administrations.