27 Days Until Spring Training

There are only 27 days left until pitchers and catchers report to spring training. 

Here are some interesting facts about the number 27:

Mordecai Brown's pitching hand. (Wikipedia)

• There's the 27 Club, all of the musicians who have died at age 27. It's not necessarily a list you'd want to be on but if you find yourself on such a list, you're in good company -- Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and several others. It just so happens that I turn 27 this June, I suppose I better get my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames. 
• While many baseball players peak at age 27, it might be somewhat of a fallacy. 
• Jason Heyward, Aramis Ramirez, Matt Holliday A.J. Pierzynski and Garrett Jones hit 27 home runs last year. I've already forgotten how good Aramis was last year, hitting .300/.360/.540 with a 142 wRC+ as well as contributing with the glove leading to 6.5 fWAR, the highest mark of his career. So maybe players peak at age 34 not 27? 
• These countdowns have been littered with the Yankees (Hint: they were a pretty good baseball team back then) and 1927 won't change that trend. The '27 Yankees finished 110-44, winning the AL pennant by 19 games and the team featuring Murderers' Row is considered to be one of the best teams of all time. That team scored 975 runs and had 5 players with an OPS+ of 125 or greater. Babe Ruth hit .356/.486/.772 and belted 60 home runs while Lou Gehrig won the MVP batting .373 and leading the league with 175 RBI. Center fielder Earle Combs batted .356 and hit 23 triples. As a team the Yankees had a 127 OPS+ and a 122 ERA+. They scored 131 more runs than the next best team in the AL and allowed 103 fewer runs than the next best team. Unsurprisingly they won the World Series, sweeping the Pirates in 4 games.  
• Paul Waner of the Pirates batted .380 in 1927 while also leading the league in hits, triples and RBI en route to a MVP in his second season in the majors. Waner wouldn't win another MVP but he finished his career with 3,152 hits and a .333 career average. Waner was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1952 and was apparently nicknamed Big Poison. The nicknames we have in today's game are sub-par. If I'm a Pirates fan I'm bringing Big Poison back for Andrew McCutchen. 
• Carlton Fisk (Red Sox), Catfish Hunter (Athletics) and Juan Marichal (Giants) all wore #27 and have had their numbers retired. In 1963, Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn pitched in one of the better duels of all time. Check out the boxscore.
• In 1893, George Davis hit 27 triples but didn't lead the league because Perry Werden hit 29 of his own. Werden started as a pitcher in 1884 at age 22 going 12-1 with a 1.97 ERA but an arm injury forced him to change positions. He ended up playing first base regularly in 1890 for the Toledo Maumees of the American Association. In 1894 and 1895, playing for the Minneapolis Minnies in the minor leagues, Werden hit 88 home runs. However, if you take a look at the roster from that season everyone was hitting home runs, something tells me the Minnies stadium had some short fences. Nonetheless, it's still a cool story, bro!
• In 1988 Vince Coleman stole 81 bases, but he was also caught 27 times. Over his first six seasons, from 1985-1990, Coleman stole 549 bases averaging 92 steals a season. I hope Billy Hamilton can do a decent Vince Coleman facsimile for the Reds whenever he gets called up, that would be fun to watch.
• In 1909 Mordecai Brown won 27 games for the Chicago Cubs. Mordecai was nicknamed Three Finger because he really only had three fingers on his pitching hand due to an accident as a child growing up on a farm in Terre Haute, Indiana. Three Finger was on the Cubs in 1908 when they won the World Series, finishing 29-9 with a 1.47 ERA and as you know, the Cubs haven't won since. Brown was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1949. When life throws you lemons, make lemonade and when life cuts off your fingers, use it to your advantage to throw a wicked curve ball.