The Baseball Life of Tom Haley (OOTP11)

[Big Six]

Tom Haley will always remember 2016 as the season he got his first chance to be a big-league closer. Here's how his stats looked:

TEAM        LEVEL  G  GS  W  L SV   ERA    IP   H   ER HR  BB   SO  WHIP
Atlanta     MLB   86   0  9  7 32  3.68  95.1  88   39 10  31  104  1.25

For the second straight season, Tom led the National League in pitching appearances. He ranked among the league leaders in relief wins (tied with 3 other pitchers for 2nd), strikeouts by a reliever (2nd), and FIP by a reliever (3.23, 5th).

Tom was a bit less dominant this year than he was as a rookie; his WHIP rose from 1.05 to 1.25, and he allowed twice as many home runs in only ten more innings. Perhaps he suffered from a little touch of the sophomore jinx after all.

Tom went 1-7 for the year as a hitter, smacking the second base hit of his major league career on July 13 when he singled against another of the game's best young relievers, Joe Nicholas. He came around to score on a double by Freddie Freeman.

A better-than-average fielder, Tom handled every chance that came his way cleanly for the third straight season. He recorded four putouts and 13 assists, good for a +0.7 zone rating. His fielding efficiency was a fine 1.100, helped by the fact that he started two double plays.

[Big Six]

Just in case anyone was curious, here are the basic stats for the most important players for the 2016 Braves.

PLAYERS                AVG  HR  RBI  SB
C   Brian McCann      .278  23   82   1
1B  Freddie Freeman   .288  16   88   3
2B  Ben Zobrist       .263  15   55   4
3B  Mat Gamel         .278  17   75   1
SS  Manny Contrera    .224  15   65  10
OF  Jason Heyward     .322  27   90   7
OF  Jacoby Ellsbury   .319   9   45  30
OF  Matt LaPorta      .291  24   77   1

OF  Luis Sumoza       .225  22   51   3
OF  Seika Ine         .234   0   10   4
SS  Billy Hamilton    .206   1   14   8
IF  Numan Romero      .309   0   23   2

PITCHERS                W   L   ERA  SV
SP  Anthony Ranaudo    10  11  3.64   0
SP  Julio Teheran      14   6  3.74   0
SP  Kris Medlen        14  10  3.90   0
SP  Scott Kazmir        9   5  4.37   0
SP  Edwin Jackson       7   6  6.38   0
RP  Tom Haley           9   7  3.68  32
RP  Jonathan Papelbon   9   7  4.04  17
RP  Billy Buckner       5   5  4.66   2
RP  Sean Burnett        3   3  2.04   0
RP  Huston Street       2   1  5.68   1
RP  Scott Olsen         0   4  6.83   0

Heyward's counting stats were down this year, because he appeared in only 125 games; he made two trips to the DL. Zobrist, too, had problems staying healthy; he got in only 103 games this year. Ellsbury was a great fit at the top of the order. McCann was steady and productive, as usual, and Freeman was rewarded for another solid year with a lucrative contract extension. LaPorta's .563 SLG was second only to Heyward's .577.

The Braves had problems finding a fifth starter. Jackson, Buckner, and Olsen all had a shot at the job and none of them pitched very well. Haley and Papelbon won 18 games and saved 49 between them. Kazmir and Burnett were productive, inexpensive free agent pickups.

[Big Six]

Here's a little more information from around the baseball universe I've created here:

• Albert Pujols, now 36, just completed his 16th season with the NL champion Cardinals. He is an 11-time All-Star, and he's won six Gold Gloves. Albert won three NL Hitter of the Year awards before Jason Heyward's emergence made it very difficult for anyone else to win the prize. Pujols has hit 614 homers in his career, and he finished the '16 season with 2939 hits. He has scored 1839 runs and driven in 1875, and could end his career among the top 10 in each category if he remains productive for another season or two.
  
  
• Pujols is almost a sure bet to join Alex Rodriguez as the only active players with at least 3000 career hits. A-Rod, now 41, has a career total of 3342, ninth most in MLB history. Alex is clearly nearing the end of the line; will he hang on long enough to hit five more home runs and become the new all-time home run king? He passed Henry Aaron late in the '16 season, and now has 758 career homers.
  
  
• Rodriguez (2216 runs, 2252 RBI) is the only player in history to both score and drive in at least 2200 runs. He needs 46 more runs scored to take the all-time lead in that category. On another note, only Reggie Jackson struck out more times than A-Rod, who's gone down on strikes 2535 times.
  
  
• A-Rod's long-time teammate, Derek Jeter, retired at the end of the 2014 season with 3313 hits. He also scored 1883 runs, 12th most in history.
  
  
• Besides Rodriguez, the active player with the best shot at getting 3000 hits is probably Miguel Cabrera of the Reds, who has 2329 hits at age 33.
  
  
• Chipper Jones (2659) won't make it; he's 44 and only gets a few hits a year now. Chipper also has 445 career homers, and over 1500 runs scored and RBI with a lifetime average of .305.
  
  
• Jimmy Rollins (2573) is losing his skills at age 37; he's probably going to fall short, too. In fact, J-Roll didn't even spend the entire '16 season in the major leagues.
  
  
• If the Detroit Tigers' hulking first baseman, Adam Dunn, can hold on a little longer, he'll make history when he smacks his 500th career home run. Dunn, 36, went deep only 14 times in '16, and hit .208. He also tips the scales at a hearty 289 pounds now, too. However, he's lighter than CC Sabathia, who is now trying to fill up his 307-pound body on a minor league per diem.
  
  
• Mark Texiera of the Yankees is the same age as Dunn, but is in much better condition, and with 458 career home runs and much of his talent still intact, is actually a better bet to join the 500 club.
  
  
• Miguel Cabrera, with 419, should also manage to reach this milestone. So should Prince Fielder, who's gone yard 396 times at age 32.
  
  
• On the other hand, Ryan Howard, also 36, probalby won't make it; he has 407 homers and is riding the bench for the Rockies.
  
  
• The winningest active pitcher is Javier Vazquez of the Orioles, who has 219 career wins at age 40. Vazquez is now the Orioles' closer, however, so his wins total won't change much.
  
  
• Several pitchers retired since the beginning of my dynasty with at least 200 career wins. They include Jamie Moyer (260), Andy Pettite (240), Pedro Martinez (223), and John Smoltz (213).
  
  
• Roy Halladay isn't technically retired yet, but he didn't pitch at all in 2016 and appears doomed to finish his career with 197 wins.
  
  
• Among the pitchers who, barring a run of bad luck, could win 200 games are Tim Lincecum of the Giants (156 wins, age 32), Chad Billingsley of the Royals (148 wins, age 32), Jon Lester of the Phillies (147 wins, age 32), Felix Hernandez of the Brewers (142 wins, age 30), Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals (141 wins, age 35), and Cole Hamels of the Dodgers (137 wins, age 32).
  
  
• Vazquez is the only active pitcher with 3000 career strikeouts; he's whiffed 3095. Lincecum, with 2243 at age 30, should pass that milestone easily and end his career among the top ten strikeout artists of all time. King Felix, with 1982 at 30, should do the same.
  
  
• Six of the all-time leaders in saves have been active during this dynasty: Trevor Hoffman (598), Mariano Rivera (565), Billy Wagner (431), Joe Nathan (382), Francisco Rodriguez (371), and Jonathan Papelbon (362). How cool is it that Tom Haley has been a teammate of THREE of them--Wagner, K-Rod, and Papelbon?
  
  
• Nathan, Rodriguez, and Papelbon are all still active. None of the three is his team's closer, however. Brian Fuentes is, however, the Indians' closer, and he's got 332 saves at age 40.
  
  
• Two closers have over 300 saves at age 32: the Royals' Joakim Soria (332) and the Phillies' Jonathan Broxton (315). Broxton, incidentally, now has more saves than pounds of weight; he weighs 297. And keep your eye on the Red Sox' Chad Smith, who has racked up 153 saves by age 27.
  

[Big Six]

Here's something else I think is cool. VORP is one career statistic that doesn't work retroactively. Only the players' accomplishments in the simulation are taken into account when their career VORPs are calculated.

So, if you look at the career VORP leaders, you can tell who's had the most notable, productive careers in your baseball universe.

Here, then, are the top 10 batters from 2010-2016, according to VORP:

 1  Jason Heyward    577.79
 2  Pablo Sandoval   521.23
 3  Albert Pujols    475.57
 4  Hanley Ramirez   432.07
 5  Troy Tulowitzki  392.46
 6  Prince Fielder   390.49
 7  Jose Reyes       367.31
 8  Matt Kemp        355.95
 9  Colby Rasmus     349.87
10  Joey Votto       344.57

Numbers 11-20, in order, are Brian McCann, Evan Longoria, Kyle Blanks, Ryan Braun, Brett Wallace, Chase Utley, Jesus Montero, Joe Mauer, Matt Wieters, and Ryan Zimmerman.

The ten most productive pitchers over the same seven seasons, according to VORP, are:

 1  Tim Lincecum       470.62
 2  Stephen Strasburg  338.43
 3  Cole Hamels        336.78
 4  Madison Bumgarner  317.56
 5  Jon Lester         316.47
 6  Adam Wainwright    315.85
 7  Josh Johnson       307.76
 8  Zack Greinke       297.37
 9  Yovani Gallardo    273.04
10  Felix Hernandez    272.33

Numbers 11-20, in order, are Aroldis Chapman, Brandon Webb, Jair Jurrjens, Ricky Nolasco, Chad Billingsley, David Price, Cliff Lee, Ubaldo Jimenez, Neftali Feliz, and Bud Norris.

[Big Six]

Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 11, 2017

Mr. and Mrs. John P. O'Farrell of Richmond announce the engagement of their daughter, Miss Patricia Malloy O'Farrell, to Mr. Thomas Victor Haley of Atlanta, Georgia.

Miss O'Farrell is a graduate of the Collegiate School and Emory University. She received her Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Emory University, and is employed by The Lovett School in Atlanta.

Mr. Haley is the son of Dr. and Mrs. Ronald T. Haley of Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. He is a graduate of Weldon Secondary School, and attended the University of Virginia. Mr. Haley is a professional baseball player for the Atlanta Braves.

The couple plans to marry in December 2017.

[muted79]

Thanks for the stats break down, fascinating to read how the bigger current names in baseball finished/are finishing their careers.

And of course, congratulations to the happy couple. The O'Farrell fa,ily sure know how to throw a shindig so should be a great wedding.

[Big Six]

Originally Posted by muted79

Thanks for the stats break down, fascinating to read how the bigger current names in baseball finished/are finishing their careers.

And of course, congratulations to the happy couple. The O'Farrell family sure know how to throw a shindig so should be a great wedding.

Thanks, muted.

I realize I left a few guys off my lists of active players and their accomplishments.

A few more pitchers deserve some props. Well-traveled Jake Peavy, now with the Angels, has 173 wins at age 35; Zack Greinke, the ace of the Red Sox, won 21 games in '16 and took home the AL Pitcher of the Year. He's got 150 wins at age 33. And Brandon Webb of the Orioles, now 37, has 171 career wins.

It's a shame Pat O'Farrell isn't around for this party. I think he'd have a great time, and I have a feeling he'd grab a bat and challenge his future great-great-grandson-in-law to try to strike him out.

[Big Six]

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 19, 2017

Braves lose Ranaudo to Yankees
Star righthander accepts $119 million deal

The Atlanta Braves might have liked to keep Anthony Ranaudo, but they weren't willing to pay him nearly $30 million a year to do so.

Ranaudo signed a contract with the New York Yankees yesterday that will pay him $29.84 million a year for the next three seasons.

The Yankees, who haven't finished higher than fourth in four seasons, are willing to spend a lot of money in an attempt to reverse that trend. The Braves negotiated with Ranaudo, but his demands were more than the team was willing to meet.

The Braves did, however, sign first baseman Freddie Freeman to a contract extension that will keep him in Atlanta through the 2022 season. Freeman, a consistent .285 hitter with some power and a great glove, will receive just over $9.5 million per year.

The only other free agent the Braves have signed is veteran pitcher Heath Bell, who accepted a two-year, $17.74 million contract last week...

[muted79]

reminds me of when Mike first came up with the Red Sox, wasn't that the big question on everyone's mind? How would he fare against his dad?

[Big Six]

Originally Posted by muted79

reminds me of when Mike first came up with the Red Sox, wasn't that the big question on everyone's mind? How would he fare against his dad?

You're right. I think it was an unavoidable question. Mike graciously admitted Pat would have worn him out, but that was hardly an insult. Pat hit .327/.428/.502 lifetime, with 3668 hits. He played in eleven World Series, and compiled a 1.074 OPS. Pat pretty much wore everybody out.

Mike had emerged as a star pitcher when his story ended in 1941, the victim of a problem that occurred two years ago, when I tried to save the league files onto a flash drive and transfer them to my new laptop. I often wish I had been able to follow Mike's story to the end, so we could find out what kind of career he might have had.

[Big Six]

February 11, 2017

Dear Mr. Haley,

My name is Jonah White, and I am 11 years old. I'm in the fifth grade at The Lovett School. My younger sister Ella is in Miss O'Farrell's class, and when she told me her class was writing letters to you, I asked Miss O'Farrell if it was OK for me to write to you too. She said yes, and I thanked her very much.

I play football, basketball, and baseball, but baseball is my best sport. It's my favorite sport too. I enjoy pitching the most.

Right now, the only pitch I know how to throw is a fastball. I would like to learn at least one other pitch, maybe a curve. I know a lot of great pitchers throw a slider, too. Do you think I'm too young to learn how to throw a curve or a slider? Some people say I am, but others say it's probably fine for me to start practicing them. What do you think?

I am 4 feet 10 inches tall and I weigh 86 pounds.

Anyway, thank you for reading my letter. If you would write me back, that would be great.

Your fan,
Jonah White

P.S. I hope you and the Braves have a great season this year.

[Big Six]

February 17, 2017

Dear Jonah,

Thank you for your letter! It was great to hear from you, and I'm glad you're a Braves fan. I always like hearing from great fans like you.

First of all, I think it's really great that you play more than one sport. When I was a teenager, I played baseball, hockey, and lacrosse. Hockey was actually my favorite sport when I was young. Even after I realized I was a lot better at baseball, I still played hockey all through school. Keep playing football and basketball as long as you enjoy them, Jonah. You'll have a lot of fun with your friends and teammates, and you won't be as likely to get bored.

I think it's probably too early for you to worry about learning to throw a curve. Here are two things you can do instead that will help make you a better pitcher.

First of all, work on learning to command your fastball. Your fastball will probably always be your #1 pitch. Even a pitcher like Tim Lincecum, who has a great curveball, throws his fastball more often. If you can learn to throw it for strikes and, even better, to move it around the strike zone, you will have a lot of success.

Second, you can learn to throw a changeup. The best hitters you face will probably be able to hit your fastball, no matter how hard you throw. If you throw a changeup, you can upset their timing. It's great to see a hitter who guesses you'll throw a fastball swing way too early and miss when he gets a changeup from you instead. The changeup is easier on your arm than a curveball or a slider, too. If you can learn to change speeds and command your pitches, you will have a lot of success as a pitcher.

Right now, I only throw fastballs and changeups. I learned to throw a curve when I was 15, and I threw it in high school and college. I stopped using it when I got to pro ball, though, because even Rookie League hitters could mash it.

Thanks again for writing to me, Jonah. I hope you have a great baseball season this year, and keep pulling for the Braves.

From one pitcher to another,
Tom Haley


Tom enclosed an autographed 8x10 photo of himself, an action shot of him firing a fastball.

[muted79]

it would have been great to have seen Mike's story to the end, as well as Pat's other sports playing kids/grandkids , but the next generation is just as fascinating even if Tom isn't an O'Farrell yet.

[Big Six]

To: Trish O'Farrell (ofarrellp@lovett.org)
From: Tom Haley (thaley120791@jetmail.ca)

April 2, 2017


Dearest Trish,

I am so ready for spring training to be over! I'm feeling great, I'm pitching well, and I'm eager to get the season started.

I came into today's game against the Reds with one out in the ninth and a runner on first. I gave up a single to Mariekson Gregorius (great name, isn't it? He's Dutch). Then I got the next two guys on a fly ball and a ground out, and that did it. We won, 6-3, and we now have the best spring training record in the National League. Even though it's spring training, I'd rather see us win than lose.

I've become good friends with one of the guys we signed as a minor league free agent this year, a pitcher named Ty Williams. He's unique because he throws a knuckleball! As far as I know, there's only one guy in the major leagues who throws a knuckler: Charlie Zink with the Orioles, and Zink is up and down between the majors and AAA pretty constantly.

Ty is going to start the year at AAA as well, but hopefully he's going to get a shot at the majors this year. He's married, and he invited us to have dinner and hang out with him and his wife once we're all back in the Atlanta area.

I can't wait to see you, Trish. I've missed you more than ever. Spring training is the longest we're apart from each other, after all. No wonder I'm so anxious for it to be over!

Love,
Tom


Tom pitched extremely well in spring training this year. In 11 appearances, he worked 10 1/3 innings, allowing only six hits and one earned run. He struck out nine men and didn't walk anyone, and he saved 10 games, more than any pitcher in either league during the spring.

[Big Six]

A side note: I thought it was just too cool that the game generated a knuckleballer!!

Ty Williams also throws a fastball, but his knuckler is crazy good. Right now, it's a 15/20, but its potential is a cool 20/20.

I'm really looking forward to playing out one of Ty's starts, to see how often he throws the knuckler. His fastball is pretty bad--only 7/20--so if he doesn't throw lots of floaters, he's going to get shelled on a regular basis.

Anyway, it will be lots of fun to watch, so I decided to make Ty part of the storyline.

[muted79]

looking forward to seeing Ty and any other characters incorporated into the story. The secondary chracters, from Bill Carrigan to Moonlight Graham etc were a great part of Pat's story, too.

[Tyke]

I agree with muted! This is developing really well.

[Big Six]

BravesNation blog, April 8, 2017

The Positional Strength lists are always lots of fun to look at, and as the season begins, the list is even more intriguing than usual...

After a promising half-season or so of work, our closer, Tom Haley, is ranked #3 in MLB. Ahead of him on the list are Chad Smith of the Red Sox and Jose Escamilla of the Reds.

Smith is a beast, and his career path looks a lot like Haley's. In 2012, Chad won a spot in the Red Sox bullpen at age 23, working in middle relief and as a setup man. The next year, he became the Sox' closer, made the All-Star game, and hasn't looked back. His stuff is sick: a 99 MPH fastball and the best splitter in the game. He's a little wild, but the Red Sox can deal with that.

Tom made the Show at 23, got the closer gig at 24, and pitched like an All-Star during the second half of the year. He dials up triple digits on the radar gun with his fastball--Greg Beltran of the Tigers and Jonathan Broxton of the Phillies throw as hard, but nobody throws harder. His changeup isn't as wicked at Smith's splitter, but Tom's control is probably better than Chad's now.

What I'm saying is that Tom Haley might turn into Chad Smith, and that would be a very, very good thing...

[Big Six]

To: The Haley Family (fivehaleys@jetmail.ca)
From: Tom Haley (thaley120791@jetmail.ca)


June 5, 2017

Hi everybody,

I'm sorry if I seem down right now. It's been a very frustrating season so far.

I couldn't blame the other guys on the team if they went on strike until the Braves got a new pitching staff. Statistically, we're the worst in the National League. Meanwhile, we lead the league in on base percentage, slugging, and OPS. Put it together, and you have a fourth place team that's below .500, and we should be a lot better than that.

Today I joined in the fun. Kris Medlen had pitched beautifully--six shutout innings. We're ahead of the Phillies 6-1, and I come in because I hadn't pitched since the 31st. I walk the first batter, strike a guy out, give up a single and a double, and two guys score.

That's all for me. Heath Bell comes in and allows another hit, so my runner on second scores, too. What should have been a 6-1 game turns into a 6-5 squeaker.

Then Jonathan Papelbon tells a reporter that it might be time to think about "shaking up the bullpen a little bit." The guy pursues the story and asks him "Do you think you should be the closer?" Papelbon says "I've been an effective closer in this league for a lot of years."

Of course, the guy heads to talk to me next, and he asks me if I think it's time for some changes in the bullpen, since we have guys who have experience closing out games waiting in the wings. What do I say to that? I told him that I respect what our veteran pitchers have accomplished during their careers, and that I hope mine is as successful. But I'm a little hacked off about this, too, and I tell him that I have what it takes to be a big-league closer, and that I'm confident that I can do the job, too.

Next thing you know, Papelbon is saying that he wants to be traded. This isn't like him at all, so I'm chalking it up to the fact that he wants to win, too. But at the same time, it's distracting, and we don't need that now.

Again, I'm sorry I'm so down.

Love,
Tom


The Braves were 24-26 on June 4. Tom's ERA rose to 4.57 after his rough outing that day; his record is 0-3, with 10 saves in 12 opportunities.

[Big Six]

St. Louis Cardinals Radio Network
Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals
June 10, 2017

Play-by-Play Man: Two down now, and here's Albert Pujols. He's getting an even bigger ovation than usual, because everyone in the ballpark knows he's sitting on 2999 hits as he stands in to face Kershaw.

Color Man: All over the ballpark, the fans are on their feet with their cameras. They'll take a picture of every pitch until Albert gets 3000.

PBPM: I hope that happens right here...Kershaw's first pitch to Albert is low and away for ball one. Albert's hitting .289, with 13 homers and 26 RBI on the year. Kershaw winds and deals...fouled back against the screen. Count even, one and one.

CM: Kershaw's fastball has good life tonight.

PBPM: Martin gives the sign, Kershaw looks in and deals. Pujols takes a ball outside, and he's ahead, two and one. Nobody on, two outs, bottom of the first on a beautiful night for baseball here in St. Louis.

Kershaw delivers...JUST misses low for ball three.

CM: Kershaw probably gets that call against most hitters, but a great hitter like Pujols will get the benefit of the doubt...he's earned it.

PBPM: Here's the 3-1 to Pujols...swung on and blooped into shallow right...Dailey going back, Russell racing in...it drops in!

CM: He's done it!

PBPM: Everyone in the stadium is standing, saluting one of the greatest players of all time, Albert Pujols. That's the 3000th hit of Pujols' fantastic career! Albert is lifting his cap to the crowd...there's a huge smile on his face. One of the most popular players in the Cardinals' long history is enjoying a special moment here at Busch Stadium today...