Orsulak’s Catch-22 Situation: Why Run if He’s That Good?

According to the 1992 Elias Baseball Analyst, Baltimore’s Joe Orsulak, in 1991, had one of the greatest defensive seasons ever by a major league outfielder.

According to Elias, Orsulak:

--Led the majors with 22 assists, seven more than anyone else, in only 132 games.

--In the last 50 years, only three outfielders ever led the majors by that wide a margin: Dave Parker (1977), Johnny Callison (1963) and Roberto Clemente (1961).

--The 22 assists were not only baseball’s highest total since 1985, they matched the highest total ever by a Baltimore Oriole/St. Louis Brown outfielder. The Browns’ Beau Bell had 22 in 1937.

--The last player with 22 or more assists in so few games was Dave Philley of the 1948 White Sox, who had 22 in 128 games.

--Topping it off, Orsulak made only one error.

Of course, there had to be one spoilsport critic of Elias’ statistical analysis of Orsulak’s 1991 season. It was the Baltimore Sun’s Ken Rosenthal, who indicates stats aren’t always what they seem to be.

Wrote Rosenthal: “If Orsulak’s arm truly commanded respect, he never would have compiled 22 assists. The outfielders with the best arms never collect many assists. Baserunners simply won’t test them.”

Trivia time: What do tennis player Tracy Austin, basketball player Bill Laimbeer and golfer John Cook have in common?

Mean Dean: There’s trouble in Chapel Hill.

North Carolina has lost four games in a row for the first time in 27 seasons, and Coach Dean Smith is showing signs of cracking under the strain.

Reports have it he staged an epic tantrum at halftime Sunday, when his team was trailing Maryland by 22 points. The Tar Heels eventually lost, 82-80.

Smith said afterward: “I went in, said what I wanted to say and stomped out, like a little kid. I have to admit I feel better now than I did at halftime.”

Where did he go? Missouri basketball starter Anthony Peeler was suspended one game by Coach Norm Stewart for missing a class. But Peeler didn’t even bother showing up for the Feb. 22 game, and Stewart was steamed.

Asked afterward what would happen next, Stewart replied: “We have to try to find him first.”

Were they taken? King owner Bruce McNall and his star player, Wayne Gretzky, all but bragged last year that they had gone in 50-50 on a Honus Wagner baseball card, for $451,000.

Turns out they might have overpaid--by about 100%.

A Wagner card sold for $220,000 at a New York auction Saturday.

Trivia answer: All three attended Palos Verdes Peninsula high schools that are now defunct: Austin went to Rolling Hills High, Laimbeer to Palos Verdes and Cook to Miraleste. The three schools have been consolidated into one, Peninsula High.

Quotebook: The New York Mets’ Howard Johnson, on why his switching from the infield to center field is such a big deal: “It’s big because it’s New York.”