The Case for Freddie Freeman as the Greatest First Baseman for the Atlanta Braves

  With his career WAR at 26.6 (per Baseball Reference), a strong case can be made that Freddie Freeman is the greatest first baseman in Atlanta Braves’ history. In the Atlanta era, no one can really rival him as a primary first baseman. The greatest player to play first base for Atlanta was undoubtedly Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, who manned the position for two years (1971-1972) totalling 11.2 WAR in that short space. Those two years by Aaron included the highest single-season 1B WAR in franchise history (7.25) in 1971. Even that year, however, Aaron played nearly as many games in right (60) as he did at first (71). Regardless, that was not Aaron’s primary position as a Brave. It is Freddie's.

Freddie Freeman   
(Wiki Commons)

 Freddie Freeman has played 7 years as the Braves' primary first baseman; that is already tied for third in first base longevity for the franchise. Add to this, that only Fred Tenney (1897-1909, 1911) with 39.1 WAR in 12 years primarily at first and Joe Adcock (1953-1962) with 26.6 WAR over 10 years in that role have as great a WAR as Freeman as Braves’ first basemen, and Freeman’s significance at the franchise level begins to become clearer. Other than Tenney and Adcock, only Earl Torgeson (1947-1952) with 18.6 WAR in six years can even really be part of the first base "greatest" conversation for the Braves’ franchise.

  These other three contenders for the title of ‘greatest Braves’ first baseman’ all played prior to the move to Atlanta in 1966. Since then, no one has put together a sustained run of production at first for the Braves. Historically, this has not been a position of particularly prolific production for the Braves. So, let's look at Freeman's numbers in his first eight years. Per Baseball Reference, no other primary first baseman beats Freddie in these categories during the Atlanta era: 

- Freeman is 16th in Braves' career WAR (in 8 years!) 

- He is 5th in Win Probability Added.

- He is between 10th and 22nd in 

  + HRs (12th)

  + RBIs (18th)

  + OBP (15th)

  + SLG (14th), 

  + OPS (11th)

  + walks (tied for 13th)

  + doubles (11th)

  + extra base hits (10th)

  + total bases (17th)

  + runs (21st)

  + hits (22nd)

  Freeman is prominent in numerous other less well-known offensive production categories as well. 

  At the single season level, other than Aaron's 7.25 WAR in 1971, Freeman's 6.45 WAR in 2016 is the highest WAR in franchise history at first base. Plus, his 5.67 WAR (2013) would be the sixth highest after Alou 6.29 WAR (1966), Brouthers 6.23 WAR (1889), and Torgeson 5.96 WAR (1950). 

  During the Atlanta era, other than Freeman, only Fred McGriff and Hank Aaron* have as much of 11 WAR while primarily playing first base. Freddie has over 26 WAR. On the basis of all this, I believe Freddie Freeman is easily the greatest Atlanta Braves' first baseman. 

  Joe Adcock and Fred Tenney deserve a bit of additional attention here. Having both played before the move to Atlanta, they are the significant competition that Freeman faces in terms of becoming the greatest Braves' franchise first baseman. In the categories listed above, one or both of them were often listed before Freeman. With multiple years of his normal production as he enters his age-28 season, Freeman can be expected to reach and surpass these two in most of those areas in the natural course of events. This, of course, presumes that he continues with the franchise, but why would fans anticipate anything else?

Freeman (2014)   
(WikiCommons)

Maybe most significantly for the franchise, Freeman is signed for 4 more years! He should get a meaningful chance to become the greatest Braves' first baseman in franchise history, in addition to already being the greatest Atlanta Braves' first baseman.

Notes and Tidbits:

* Hank Aaron played a total of 210 games at first.

- Freeman is 6th in franchise striketouts.

- Freeman has three years with over 4 WAR (same as Tenney), four years with over 3 WAR (same as Torgeson; Adcock had 5 years like that; Tenney had 7 years like that). (Source)

- Joe Adcock has a fascinating career filled with colorful stories. He broke up baseball's longest perfect game. He apparently holds the NL record for most consecutive games with a HR against an opponent (9 straight in 1956) (source). He also had a 4-homer, 18-base 9-inning game. He won the World Series in 1957, and he could have became a professional basketball player. (a very interesting bio with anecdotes) Besides his seven years as the Milwaukee Braves' primary first baseman, Adcock also had 3 years with between 56 and 78 games in which he played the second most games at first, due either to injury or platooning. (detailed history) 

- Sixty-one different players have led the Braves’ franchise in 1B WAR during their 142-year history. 

Come, Immanuel - a lament

 A few weeks back, while talking about Christian hymns with a friend, I mentioned that most Western believers sing very few laments. It is often a missing piece in our worship. This evening, I came again across this favorite hymn, re-arranged by a friend - as a lament. It slides beautifully into that void, helping us to mourn as we consider our need for a Savior.

 O come, O come, Immanuel...

Emotions in storytelling

 Heart or feelings or emotions are central to good storytelling, or maybe to use Forster's word, plot-telling. Consider this quote, with the emphasis I've given it:

We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. "The king died and then the queen died" is a story. "The king died, and then the queen died of grief" is a plot.

- E. M. Forster,  The Aspects of a Novel. (1956).

on Jesus' need for the Holy Spirit in his life and ministry

 Quite a while back, I came across an article about the nature of the Holy Spirit's work in Jesus' life while he was here on earth; it seemed well worth reading, but I didn't have the time then. I finally got around to reading it. It's excellent. I have pasted the key thought below, but I highly recommend the article.

... Jesus needed to live a perfectly sinless life in the power and by the grace of the Holy Spirit. It was not sufficient for Him--as the second Adam and representative of a new humanity--to merely live according to His Divine nature. What we need as fallen men is a human Redeemer who would gain a human holiness for His people and would die a human death in their place. As was true for Adam so it was for Jesus--the Last Adam. The Savior needed the Holy Spirit to sustain and empower Him to obey His Father, even to the point of death on the cross. (emphasis mine)

The author points out that few theologians have written about this particular aspect of the Trinity's interaction, but Sinclair Ferguson and John Owen do have some discussions of it. The author summarizes those, as well as R. A. Finlayson's thoughts. I was unfamiliar with him.

excerpts on "Language" from Lost in Translation

No, I’m no patriot, nor was I ever allowed to be. And yet, the country of my childhood lives within me with a primacy that is a form of love. It lives within me despite my knowledge of our marginality, and its primitive, unpretty emotions. Is it blind and self-deceptive of me to hold on to its memory? I think it would be blind and self-deceptive not to. All it has given me is the world, but that is enough. It has fed me language, perceptions, sounds, the human kind. It has given me the colors and the furrows of reality, my first loves.

***

The very places where language is at its most conventional, where it should be most taken for granted, are the places where I feel the prick of artifice.

***

Telling a joke is like doing a linguistic pirouette. If you fall flat, it means not only that you don’t have the wherewithal to do it well but also that you have misjudged your own skill, that you are fool enough to undertake something you can’t finish – and that lack of self-control or self-knowledge is a lack of grace.

***

So each language has its own distinctive music, and even if one doesn’t know its separate components, one can pretty quickly recognize the propriety of the patterns in which the components are put together, their harmonies and discords.

***

When I speak Polish now, it is infiltrated, permeated, and inflected by the English in my head. Each language modifies the other, crossbreeds with it, fertilizes it. Each language makes the other relative. Like everybody, I am the sum of my languages – the language of my family and childhood, and education and friendship, and love, and the larger, changing world – though perhaps I tend to be more aware than most of the fractures between them, and of the building blocks.

Hoffman, Eva. Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language (p. 74, 106, 118, 123, 273). 

And, a thought from this immigrant child, concerning writing "home"...

There is no way, I know, that I can convey the nature of my new life to her, and besides, she is one of the many affections that are only causing me the pain of nostalgia, and that I therefore try to numb or extract from myself like some gnawing scruple, or splinter lodged in a thumb.

Hoffman, Eva. Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language (p. 23). 

On Eternal Occupation (excerpts)

On half a dozen occasions, I have commented on Kevin Bauder's writings on this blog. This week's essay from him had some beautiful thoughts that I want to share.

In fact, part of the way that humans were intended to enjoy and glorify God meant looking away from Him rather than looking at Him.

If Adam had refused to shift his gaze from the divine presence, then he would actually have missed an occasion to worship and serve God.

We humans discover God’s character by looking at what God does. His mighty works of creation and redemption are the arena within which He puts Himself on display. That is why most of the Bible is a story, and all of the rest of the Bible is reflection upon that story.

We worship God, not merely by enjoying His presence and offering Him our praises, but also by serving Him. Serving Him requires us to focus, not upon God Himself, but upon the task that we are performing for His glory. 

Our Recreation

Worth reading in its context in Charles Spurgeon's Sermon #2189, page 2.

"Our rest is in the Lord's service; 

our recreation is in change of occupation."

Chiasm and Biblical Narrative, simplified

 Jackson Wu's blog post on chiasm, the biblical narrative, and Western culture's difficulty with using and embracing chiasm is informative as well as thought-provoking. I particularly appreciated his graphic showing the narrative structure of chiasm. I recommend it to my friends who are students of biblical literature especially, but it may be equally useful to those who pursue the study of other literature and of storytelling, biblical or otherwise.

Boston in 2 hours: with ecclesiastical and humanistic comments

 I got the chance this month to explore Boston for a couple hours before boarding my plane. Below are a few pictures of things that I noted as I wandered through one section of the city. 

Two comments:
1. Harvard station
2. A subway is a subway is a subway. 

The next 4 pictures below were taken at the historic Park Street Church.

Lowell Mason: an influential hymnwriter whom I was unfamiliar with
Apparently he is considered the "Father of American Church Music" with over 1,500 hymns, at least 70 of which are still sung. His most famous hymn is "Nearer My God to Thee." He was the first organist at Park Street Church in 1829, as well as being influential in bringing music into the Boston public school system.

Ockenga and Graham, leaders of (the New) Evangelicalism of the '50s and beyond

As a student of theology, I know why I stepped inside. But why do others visit this building, especially when they are walking "The Freedom Trail"? 

The pipe organ looked very impressive, but only the piano and violin were being practiced. Too bad.

Tremont Temple Baptist Church: the first integrated church in America
It was founded in 1838, free to attend by any race, free of cost.
It wasn't open to the public.

the Old Massachusetts State House
a place of rebellion

the site of the Boston Massacre
The history of this particular event seems, to me, to find echoes in modern society.

Lincoln's Childhood Area

Replica farm house on Tom Lincoln's land

 The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Indiana was an interesting little place to visit. The kids loved it, because it includes real life stuff. I was a bit amused to be visiting a place of myth on this trip - understanding that 'myth' does not relate to the truth or falseness of an event or figure - but it was actually fascinating because while the site itself is associated with Thomas Lincoln, Abe's father, it is simply presented as an example of a living farm of the era with many fascinating features. The people who staff and serve on this farm were extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful.

more of the farm

  Also, I appreciated the public recognition of the 'myth' aspect of Lincoln as the sign said that this  park was to show "respect and reverence." Indeed, I suspect that he, along with Washington and MLK, is one of the most reverenced myths in American history.