Hot Stove: 11/5

A quick note
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The History of Baseball: 1876
League Champion: Chicago White Stockings (52-14, .788 WPCT).
After the National Association folded, eight teams formed what is today the National League.  The teams were, with current team in parentheses: The Chicago White Stockings, Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Stockings, Hartford Dark Blues, Mutual of New York, St. Louis Brown Stockings, Cincinnati Red Stockings, and the Louisville Grays.  137 years later, two of those original eight teams survive: The Chicago White Stockings, who are today the Chicago Cubs, and the Boston Red Stockings, who are today the Atlanta Braves.  The Cubs and Braves are therefore the oldest teams in baseball.  On Opening Day, in what is today known as the first game in major league history, the Red Stockings beat the Athletics 6-5 in Philadelphia's Jefferson Street Grounds.  A field still survives today on the location, near Girard College, although from my vantage point on Bing Maps, it does not look to be well kept.  Over the course of the season, the White Stockings clearly showed their dominance, going 52-14 during the 66 games schedule, finishing six games ahead of Hartford and St. Louis.  Cincinnati finished dead last at 9-56.  Ross Barnes of Chicago proved to be the best hitter, batting .429 with 21 doubles and 14 triples to become the National League's first champion in runs scored (126), hits (138), triples, walks (20), on base percentage (.462), slugging percentage (.590), OPS (1.052), and, most notably, batting average.  Being the batting champion would be the equivalent of winning the MVP award for years to come.  Englishman George Hall of Philadelphia became the league's first home run champion, knocking five in 60 games.  On the mound, Chicago's Al Spalding dominated the league, going 47-12 with a 1.75 ERA in 61 games (60 starts).  St. Louis' George Bradley started all 64 of the Brown Stockings' games and went 45-19 with a 1.23 ERA and was the league's first ERA champion.  Jim Devlin of Louisville had quite a notable season: he started all 68 of the Grays' games, but went just 30-35 with a 1.56 ERA and pitched 622 innings, averaging over nine innings per start.  After the season, de facto commissioner William Hulbert expelled the Mutual of New York as well as the Philadelphia Athletics for refusing to finish their schedules due to travel expenses.  This move may have saved the NL, establishing the league's authority over the teams, something the old National Association did not have.

News
Starting today, free agents are eligible to sign with any team they choose.

Awards
Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera won the AL Comeback Player of the Year award, while Pirates hurler Francisco Liriano earned the honor in the National League.

While there were other viable options for AL Comeback Player of the Year such as Victor Martinez, John Lackey, and Adam Lind, we all kind of knewMariano Rivera would end up with the award.  On one hand, he is the greatest closer of all time who just pitched in his final season.  On the other hand, he did some pretty impressive things in 2013.  We all remember Mariano crumpled on the warning track in Kansas City with a torn ACL that ended his 2012 season.  To come back from that ACL tear and pitch the way he did in 2013 is incredible.  Add on that he's 43, and that's just downright crazy.  A 43 year old with over 1000 major league appearances came back from a torn ACL to post a 2.11 ERA and save 44 games.  After the season, the Sandman told the world that he was pitching with everything he had to finish off that season.  He allowed just one baserunner in his final four innings.  Had he recorded just two more outs in his career, he would have a career WHIP below 1.00.  

In the NL, free of sentimental bias (which isn't a bad thing), Francisco Liriano earned the Comeback Player of the Year award.  Interestingly, he is the only player ever to win the award twice, having done so in two different leagues.  In 2009, he was just 5-13 with a 5.80 ERA, but he came back in 2010 to go 14-10 with a 3.62 ERA and earn the award.   In 2012, he again struggled, this time going 6-12 with a 5.34 ERA.  In 2013, he posted the best season of his career, going 16-8 with a 3.02 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP.  If it weren't for one awful start in Colorado on August 9th, where he gave up ten runs in two and a third innings, he would have been 16-7 with a 2.50 ERA.  Actually, take out another start on September 4th where he allowed seven runs in three innings in Milwaukee, and he was 16-6 with a 2.14 ERA in 24 starts.  His best start of the season came on August 30th against St. Louis, where he tossed eight shutout innings on just two hits and two walks to earn his 15th victory of the season, a new career high.  

Free Agent Signings
Rangers resigned Jason Frasor (4-3, 2.57 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 2014 age: 36) to a one year, $1.75 million deal.
Indians signed J.C. Ramirez (0-1, 7.50 ERA, 1.88 WHIP, 2014 age: 25) to a minor league deal.
Blue Jays resigned Andy LaRoche (0-4 in only game, 2014 age: 30) to a minor league deal.

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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