Hot Stove: 11/18

The History of Baseball: 1880
League Champion: Chicago White Stockings (67-17, .798 WPCT).
After the 1879 season, the Syracuse Stars folded, leaving seven major league teams.  In their place came the Worcester Worcesters/Ruby Legs/Brown Stockings (they had no official name), playing out of Worcester, Massachusetts.  In addition to the new club, a rule change was enacted.  Starting in 1880, a walk was to require eight balls, not nine.  1880 was a historic year for pitching.  Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1939 among the first class of pre-1900 players, made his debut with the Providence Grays.  Cap Anson, a player-manager and future Hall of Famer himself (also Class of 1939), invented the pitching rotation by using Larry Corcoran and Fred Goldsmith for a two man starting rotation.  At this point, the pitcher was just like every other player, a regular every game.  Anson's move worked: the White Stockings won 21 straight games, which stands to this day as the second longest winning streak in history.  Eventually, this Corcoran (43-14, 1.95 ERA) and Goldsmith (21-3, 1.75 ERA) rotation would lead the White Stockings to the National League crown.  On June 12th, newly formed Worcester would make history.  Lee Richmond, their starting pitcher, threw the first perfect game in history, shutting down a Cleveland Blues lineup that included future Hall of Famer Ned Hanlon.  Just five days later, John Montgomery Ward of Providence tossed a second perfect game, defeating the Buffalo Bisons.  This feat remains the shortest amount of time between two perfect games in history.  There would not be another perfect game until Cy Young tossed one in 1904, and there would not be another in the National League until Jim Bunning's effort in 1964.  Another pitching feat that made the 1880 season historical was Tim Keefe's stat line.  Keefe, a rookie for the Troy Trojans and an eventual Hall of Famer, only threw 105 innings, but by today's standards for qualifying for the ERA title (one inning pitched per team game), Keefe had enough innings.  In twelve starts, he was 6-6 but with a 0.86 ERA, technically the lowest ERA of all time.   Among pitchers who pitched a full season, Ward had the lowest ERA at 1.74, while Cleveland's Jim MCormick led the majors with 45 wins.  On the offensive side, Chicago's George Gore took home the batting title by hitting .360 in 77 games.  Cap Anson was a distant second at .337, while also setting the RBI record with 74.  Worcester's Harry Stovey and Boston's future Hall of Famer Jim O'Rourke tied for the home run lead at six.  Powered by Gore, Anson, and their rotation, Chicago stormed to the National League title with a 67-17 record, 15 games ahead of second place Providence.  After the season, one team will fold, but another new team will join the mix, while two more significant rule changes will be made.

News
The Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League (a post season minor league) won the AFL championship, with Cubs' prospect Kris Bryant (6 HR, 17 RBI, .364 AVG, 3 SB in 20 AFL games) earning AFL MVP.

Free Agent Signings
Phillies resigned Carlos Ruiz (5 HR, 37 RBI, .268 AVG, 1 SB, 2014 age: 35) to a three year, $26 million deal ($8.67 million per season).
Red Sox signed Tommy Layne (0-2, 2.08 ERA, 1.73 WHIP, 2014 age: 29) to a minor league deal.
Rockies signed Pedro Hernandez (3-3, 6.83 ERA, 1.82 WHIP, 2014 age: 25) to a minor league deal.
Angels signed Wade LeBlanc (1-5, 5.40 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 2014 age: 29) to a minor league deal.
Phillies signed Clete Thomas (4 HR, 13 RBI, .214 AVG, 1 SB, 2014 age: 30) to a minor league deal.
White Sox resigned David Purcey (1-1, 2.13 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 2014 age: 32) to a minor league deal.
Blue Jays signed Dan Johnson (0-5 in three games, 2014 age: 34) to a minor league deal.
Yankees resigned Jim Miller (0-0, 20.25 ERA, 3.00 WHIP, 2014 age: 32) to a minor league deal.

The resigning of Carlos Ruiz by the Phillies is an interesting move.  Of course, Ruiz has been in the organization since 2000, playing with the big league club since 2006.  He has been the Phillies' regular starting catcher for the past seven seasons.  On the flip side, the Phillies are a very old team with the likes of Cliff Lee (2014 age: 35), Chase Utley (35), Ryan Howard (34), Jimmy Rollins (35), Marlon Byrd (36), Shawn Camp (38), Mike Adams (35-36), and Erik Kratz (34) under contract for 2014.  Bringing back Ruiz (35) doesn't help the age problem, especially since it is a three year deal.  Philadelphia has a solid option in Kratz for the catching duties, as he's hit nine home runs in each of the past two seasons while batting .228 in 118 games.  Cameron Rupp, who is only 25, is major league ready as a back-up, and Sebastian Valle does not seem too far behind, as he will start 2014 at AAA.  To be safe, if I were Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro, I would have gone for a lower end catcher that could be signed to a one year deal to bridge the gap between Ruiz and Rupp/Valle.  However, Ruiz is a great catcher and would have a slew of Gold Gloves if it weren't for some guy named Yadier.  On offense, Ruiz easily had his best season in 2012, batting .325 with 16 home runs in 114 games, though he was suspended for the use of amphetamines.  Last year, he battled injuries, ending up with five home runs and a .268 average in 92 games.  For his career, Ruiz has 57 home runs and a .274 average in 825 games.

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers
If your team is not included, please leave a comment.
HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage
Zack Silverman