Mormon Baseball

Rev. E. C. Lloyd (right), missionary-teacher of the American Episcopal Church, pitcher; captain for 1911.
H. Grant Ivins (left), of Salt Lake City, catcher; elected captain for 1912.

So far I haven’t hears of any Mormons playing in Japanese baseball, at least not on a professional or serious amateur level. And before I came across the article below, I wasn’t even aware that the Japanese had begun to play baseball as early as they had. It turns out that baseball in Japan dates to the late 1860s or early 1870s. And the Mormon presence in Japanese games dates , according to this, to 1912.

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Perhaps its just timing. Someone has to lose–and Mitch Talbot’s last few games hasn’t been as strong as his performances earlier in the season. Then there is also the long wait that the Lions faced while the Korean playoffs approached the Korean Series. First the 3rd and 4th place teams played a five game series, then the winner of that series played the 2nd place team in another five game series. Finally, well rested–perhaps too well rested–the first place Lions, Talbot’s team, played the winner of the series with the 2nd place team. And last night, Talbot took the mound for the Lions, lasted 6 innings and gave up 3 runs. And lost.

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You may have missed this news from the regular season, and I’ve been wanting to write about it ever since I saw it. In the field, Darwin Barney, in just his second season in the majors, has been nearly perfect. During the entire season he committed just two errors, and that while playing 2nd base, one of the most error prone positions in baseball.

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Mitch Maier

Even though the post season games are still being played, the post season roster shuffle has already started, and one Mormon player has already suffered a setback. The Kansas City backup outfielder Mitch Maier was released by the Royals on October 5th, leaving Maier looking for a new team. Maier ended the season in the minors, after hitting just .172 at the plate in the majors, down from .263 in 2010.

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The last remaining Mormon in the MLB postseason, Bryce Harper, finally started batting like the Harper that fans knew and expected. He started last night’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals with a triple off of pitcher Adam Wainwright, driving in his first post-season RBI and setting himself up to score when Ryan Zimmerman hit a home run two pitches later. Then in the third, Harper hit a 92 mile per hour sinker into the stands for his first post season home run and only the second postseason home run by a teenager in major league baseball history.

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Bryce Harper is still mired in a slump that has left him with just one post-season hit in 18 at bats. But while he has had to content himself with his performance in the field, his team, the Washington Nationals, have managed to keep alive, winning yesterday to force a 5th and deciding game with the St. Louis Cardinals. I’m sure that both Harper and his team are thinking this would be a great time for his bat to wake up!

Meanwhile, the other Mormon playing in the MLB postseason, Oakland As backup 2nd baseman Adam Rosales, has been eliminated along with his team. Rosales never got a chance to play in what would have been his first MLB postseason appearance. Perhaps he will get another shot in the future.

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Can we still say “no joy in mudville” if Casey doesn’t get a hit, but also doesn’t strike out? In yesterday’s game against the Cardinals, Bryce Harper didn’t strike out, but he also didn’t get a hit in 5 trips to the plate. His postseason average is down to .067! Perhaps post season pitching is just that much better? too much for a 19-year-old rookie?

At least Harper is getting a chance. The Oakland As backup 2nd baseman, Adam Rosales, still hasn’t reached the plate. For Rosales and the As everything is on the line in tonight’s game against the Tigers; the two teams are tied in their series at 2 games apiece.

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There is yet another Mormon playing in the post season, but most readers of this blog won’t see him play. And, in addition, his first post-season game doesn’t start until October 24th! Mitch Talbot plays for the Samsung Lions of the Korean Major League, and his team has the best record in the regular season. Under the Korean playoffs, the 3rd and 4th place teams have a 5-game playoff series. The winner then faces the 2nd place team in another 5-game series, and that winner then faces the Samsung Lions for the championship series. So Talbot waits.

But the wait is probably worth it. Not only does he go to the championship series well rested, the winner of that series gets to play in the 6-team Asia Series, which includes champions of the professional leagues in Japan, Australia, China, and Taiwan plus the host Lotte Giants of Busan, South Korea. The Asia series runs from November 8-11.

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The playoffs have started, and somehow I haven’t managed to report on the final three days of play of the regular season. But in general, now that I’ve compiled the statistics, there isn’t much to report. Among fielders, the standout was again Bryce Harper, who went 2 for 6 and scored a run. Most of the others were pretty abysmal — Darwin Barney was 0 for 7, John Buck 0 for 4, and Ellsbury 2 for 10.It seems likely that the lack of motivation, since these players had no chance to make the post-season, was likely a factor.

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With the elimination of the Tampa Bay Rays (and a couple of other AL teams) yesterday, the teams that will make the post season are now set (although who will lead the AL East and AL West vs. who will be the AL wild card teams isn’t yet certain). As a result we now know which Mormon players will make the post season this year: Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals and Adam Rosales of the Oakland As.

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