Recondite Baseball

All Good Things...

2009-11-15T20:36:00.003-06:00

I don't want to be sucked into an excuse-making apologia, so I'll be blunt: you've undoubtedly noticed a lack of regular updates on this blog, stretching back over a period of months. While I still enjoy the obscure minutia of baseball history, and I do still write occasionally at Brew Crew Ball, I am not able to devote as much time to research as I used to. Call it a lack of inspiration, a dwindling of desire, or whatever you will, but it's time to give up the illusion that I'll post regularly again.

If you've got questions or comments about previous posts or have something you want me to research, drop me a line. It's worth noting that my top research tool over the past few years has been the Baseball-Reference.com Play Index. It has expanded greatly over time and features a free trial until November 20th, so play around and see what you can find.

Thanks for reading and providing input over the past two years.

60+ Steals of Second Base

2009-11-01T21:47:00.003-06:00

Since 1898*, only four players have stolen 100 bases in a season. Maury Wills swiped 104 bags in 1962, Lou Brock took 118 in 1974, and Rickey Henderson and Vince Coleman did it multiple times in the 1980s. Of those four speedsters, only Lou Brock had at least 100 steals of second base in that season. In fact, a stunning 112 of his 118 swipes were of second base.

Below is the leaderboard of the most steals of second base in a season since 1954.

Rank	Name	Year	2B SB	Total SB
1	Lou Brock	1974	112	118
2	Rickey Henderson	1982	94	130
3	Omar Moreno	1980	91	96
4	Maury Wills	1962	86	104
5	Vince Coleman	1987	85	109
	Tim Raines	1983	85	90
7	Rickey Henderson	1980	82	100
8	Ron LeFlore	1980	80	97
9	Rickey Henderson	1983	79	108
	Willie Wilson	1979	79	83
11	Vince Coleman	1985	78	110
	Maury Wills	1965	78	94
13	Vince Coleman	1986	76	107
	Rudy Law	1983	76	77
15	Tim Raines	1982	74	78
16	Omar Moreno	1979	73	77
	Ron LeFlore	1979	73	78
18	Rickey Henderson	1986	72	87
	Lou Brock	1966	72	74
20	Tim Raines	1984	71	75
	Dave Collins	1980	71	79
22	Willie Wilson	1980	69	79
23	Rickey Henderson	1985	65	80
	Davey Lopes	1975	65	77
25	Eric Davis	1986	64	80
	Tim Raines	1985	64	70
27	Tony Womack	1999	63	72
	Omar Moreno	1978	63	71
	Ron LeFlore	1978	63	68
	Lou Brock	1973	63	70
31	Jose Reyes	2007	62	78
	Rickey Henderson	1988	62	93
	Joe Morgan	1975	62	67
	Mickey Rivers	1975	62	70
35	Kenny Lofton	1993	61	70
	Joe Morgan	1973	61	67
37	Chone Figgins	2005	60	62
	Scott Podsednik	2004	60	70
	Brian Hunter	1997	60	74
	Tim Raines	1986	60	70
	Juan Samuel	1984	60	72
	Lonnie Smith	1982	60	68
	Tim Raines	1981	60	71
	Billy North	1976	60	75

Retrosheet data splitting players' stolen bases out by base only goes back to 1954, so early twentieth-century basestealers like Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins, Clyde Milan, and Bob Bescher are unfortunately ignored. It is likely at least one of them (and/or another player) belongs somewhere on the above list.

* - the modern definition of the stolen base did not come into being until 1898. For more information about the change in definition over time, the wikipedia entry on the stolen base rule's evolution is here.

.300 Hitters Who Didn't Stick

2009-10-24T13:50:00.009-05:00

One of baseball's "big" numbers is .300. If you hit .300 or better, you're a good hitter. As the following players can attest, however, hitting .300 isn't always enough to stick in the major leagues.

Since 1954, thirteen players have hit .300 in more than 50 but fewer than 500 career plate appearances. Players who appeared in the majors during 2009 were not included. I chose fifty PA as the minimum because it takes at least ten starts to rack up that many times at the plate. Impressive as John Paciorek's career was, it doesn't fit the spirit of this post. By the end of this post, you'll see why I used 500 as the maximum.

Name	Year(s)	Age	Team(s)	Pos	PA	AB	AVG/OBP/SLG
Kevin Rhomberg	1982-1984	26-28	CLE	LF	52	47	.383/.423/.447
Randy Asadoor	1986	23	SDP	3B	60	55	.364/.397/.455
Rudy Pemberton	1995-1997	25-27	DET BOS	RF	147	134	.336/.395/.515
Joe Hall	1994-1995 1997	28-31	CHW DET	LF	52	47	.319/.385/.468
Norris Hopper	2006-2008	27-29	CIN	CF	440	396	.316/.367/.371
Victor Mata	1984-1985	23-24	NYY	CF	83	77	.312/.316/.416
Bob Hazle	1955 1957-1958	24-27	CIN MLN DET	RF	297	261	.310/.390/.467
D.T. Cromer	2000-2001	29-30	CIN	1B	114	104	.308/.327/.577
Eddy Garabito	2005	28	COL	2B	102	88	.307/.384/.398
Bob Henley	1998	25	MON	C	132	115	.304/.377/.470
Andy Barkett	2001	26	PIT	LF	51	46	.304/.373/.413
Jose Ortiz	1969-1971	22-24	CHW CHC	CF	136	123	.301/.358/.390
Gerry Davis	1983 1985	24-26	SDP	RF	82	73	.301/.370/.397

The position listed is where the player spent the most time. Almost every player on the list played two or more positions.

Bob Hazle is probably the most famous name on this list. He hit .403 down the stretch in 1957 to help the Braves win the NL pennant. A slow start in 1958 doomed his career. Norris Hooper may still appear again in the majors. He played in AAA for the Reds, White Sox, and Nationals in 2009.

It's worth noting that two pitchers also qualified under the 50-500 PA criteria. Terry Forster, who pitched for five teams from 1971 to 1984, hit .397/.413/.474 over 86 plate appearances during his career. He was one for four as a pinch hitter. Renie Martin, who pitched for three teams from 1979 to 1984, hit .301 over 90 plate appearances. He was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.

Obviously, small sample size applies to all of these players. Who knows if they would have been able to hit .300 over a longer career. The fact remains, however, that they hit well in the few opportunities they were given.

I thought it would be interesting to post the following list as well. If you take out active players, here are the .300 hitters who debuted in 1954 or later with the fewest career plate appearances (min. 400):

Norris Hopper, 440 (.316)
Lyman Bostock, 2214 (.311)
Reggie Jefferson, 2300 (.300)
Manny Mota, 4227 (.304)
Rusty Greer, 4420 (.305)
Hal Morris, 4443 (.304)
John Kruk, 4603 (.300)
Mike Greenwell, 5166 (.303)
Ralph Garr, 5456 (.306)
Pedro Guerrero, 6115 (.300)

It looks like Norris Hopper has found a uncomfortable niche between flash in the pan and solid regular.

Most Career PA, Zero Triples

2009-10-18T21:18:00.002-05:00

Admittedly I don't watch him all that often, but Ryan Howard doesn't seem like a very fast ballplayer to me. Call it an assumption about large first basemen. Howard hit a triple in tonight's NLCS game and I figured it had to be one of only a few in his career. It turns out it was his first in postseason play, but twelfth overall in his major league career. Not only that, but he stole eight bases this year. You learn something new every day, I suppose.

It seems as though if a player plays long enough, he'll wind up hitting a triple. Cecil Fielder had six triples by the time he swiped his first base, over 1000 games into his career. Javier Valentin may never have attempted to steal a base but he legged out five triples in his career. Bill Schroeder, a run-of-the-mill 1980s catcher, brags about how his only career triple, also his first major league hit, must have screwed up scouting reports on him for a while.

But not every player is lucky enough to accomplish the career cycle. The following players just couldn't hit it far enough away from the defense to run 270 feet.

Most Career PA, Zero Triples
(position players)

Johnny Estrada, 2244
Jason Phillips, 1537
Mark Parent, 1428
Craig Worthington, 1423
Ramon Castro, 1400*
Sal Fasano, 1245*
Earl Averill, 1217
Aaron Guiel, 1099
Kelly Shoppach, 1043*
Doc Edwards, 973
Jim Traber, 897
Geronimo Gil, 887
Chris Coste, 885*
Jeff Mathis, 861*
Troy Neel, 861
Bob Uecker, 843
Brian Giles, 791
Hawk Taylor, 766
Bob Burda, 723
Scott Hemond, 687

* - active player (majors or minors in 2009)

Worthington (3B), Guiel (RF), Traber (1B), Neel (1B), Giles (2B), and Burda (1B) are the non-catchers on the above list. Giles, not related to the current Padre, actually stole seventeen bases one season. Of course, he was caught ten times that year. The active non-catcher leader is Scott Thorman, with 440. Thorman spent 2009 in AAA with Kansas City and Texas. Among players who appeared in the majors in 2009, Paul Janish is the active leader with 381. Robert Andino is seven behind Janish.

Most Career PA, Zero Triples
(pitchers)

Gaylord Perry, 1220
Whitey Ford, 1208
Tommy John, 1030
Lefty Gomez, 1024
Bob Buhl, 952
Burt Hooten, 913
Curt Davis, 904
Andy Benes, 880
Larry Dierker, 876
Sandy Koufax, 858
Dave McNally, 848
Rick Rhoden, 830
Andy Messersmith, 826
Mike Krukow, 819
Dick Donovan, 801
Darryl Kile, 786
Ken Raffensberger, 779
Dean Chance, 759
Pat Malone, 752
Mike Scott, 743

No active players are in the top twenty. The active leader is Jason Schmidt with 712. Randy Johnson is at 691 and Roy Oswalt is third with 670. One notable in the above list: Bob Buhl's 0 for 70 in 1962 is a record for hitting futility.

Three True Outcomes Per Plate Appearance, 1913-2009

2009-10-09T22:04:00.002-05:00

An update to my Three True Outcomes (TTO) posts of January 2008 and July 2009. This version is complete through 2009. Once again, I have expanded the board by five more places.

Most Career TTO/PA, 1913-2009, min. 3000 PA

Rank	Name	PA	SO	BB	HR	TTO/PA
1	Adam Dunn	5417	1433	913	316	.4914
2	Rob Deer	4512	1409	575	230	.4907
3	Ryan Howard	3145	878	406	222	.4789
4	Jim Thome	9463	2313	1619	564	.4751
5	Mark McGwire	7660	1596	1317	583	.4564
6	Carlos Pena	3713	973	495	202	.4498
7	Mickey Tettleton	5745	1307	949	245	.4353
8	Pat Burrell	5864	1392	842	265	.4262
9	Jay Buhner	5927	1406	792	310	.4231
10	Gorman Thomas	5486	1339	697	268	.4200
11	Brad Wilkerson	3753	947	492	122	.4159
12	Danny Tartabull	5842	1362	768	262	.4094
13	Don Lock	3116	776	373	122	.4079
14	Jose Canseco	8129	1942	906	462	.4072
15	Troy Glaus	5872	1277	791	304	.4040
16	Jason Bay	3897	896	491	185	.4034
17	Mickey Mantle	9909	1710	1733	536	.4016
18	Reggie Jackson	11416	2597	1375	563	.3972
19	Nick Swisher	3119	665	439	133	.3966
20	Darryl Strawberry	6326	1352	816	335	.3957
21	Gene Tenace	5525	998	984	201	.3951
22	Pete Incaviglia	4677	1277	360	206	.3941
23	Richie Sexson	5604	1313	588	306	.3938
24	Eric Davis	6147	1398	740	282	.3937
25	Jim Edmonds	7307	1669	974	382	.3924
T-26	Cecil Fielder	5939	1316	693	319	.3920
T-26	Ray Lankford	6674	1550	828	238	.3920
28	Mike Schmidt	10062	1883	1507	548	.3914
29	Harmon Killebrew	9831	1699	1559	573	.3897
T-30	Sammy Sosa	9896	2306	929	609	.3884
T-30	Mike Cameron	7435	1798	825	265	.3884

If you carry it out beyond four decimal places the ties go away but, hey, I wanted an excuse to include another active player.

Russell Branyan is poised to jump atop the table with 176 more plate apperances. Through 2824 career PA, he has 946 strikeouts, 339 walks, and 164 home runs, good for a .5131 TTO/PA. If you add the necessary 176 TTO-less PA to get to 3000, he still places third with .4830. Not bad. Bo Jackson, of all people, pops up between Pete Incaviglia and Richie Sexson by the same method.

Another player who should make his way into the table next year is Brad Hawpe. He sits at .3983 after 2807 career plate appearances. If Tony Clark signs on somewhere next season, he might work his way back onto the list. He's currently 32nd at .3881.

Most Runs Allowed in a Season, All Earned

2009-10-08T19:21:00.004-05:00

In 2009, Houston's Roy Oswalt allowed 83 runs in 181 1/3 innings pitched. Every single one of his runs were earned. He became just the twentieth pitcher in major league history to allow more than 70 runs in a season with all of them earned. The full list:

Joel Pineiro, 2005 SEA, 118 R
Dick Ruthven, 1976 ATL, 112 R
Frank Tanana, 1990 DET, 104 R
Brian Anderson, 1998 ARI, 100 R
Daisuke Matsuzaka, 2007 BOS, 100 R
Rick Sutcliffe, 1988 CHC, 97 R
Kelvim Escobar, 2004 ANA, 91 R
Curt Schilling, 2006 BOS, 90 R
Bobby Jones, 1998 NYM, 88 R
John Thomson, 1998 COL, 86 R
Omar Olivares, 1992 STL, 84 R
Roy Oswalt, 2009 HOU, 83 R
Scott Erickson, 2000 BAL, 81 R
Art Decatur, 1927 PHI, 78 R
Dennis Ribant, 1967 PIT, 78 R
Hideki Irabu, 1998 NYY, 78 R
Ryan Dempster, 1999 FLA, 77 R
Hideo Nomo, 2004 LAD, 77 R
John Farrell, 1993 CAL, 74 R
Phil Regan, 1961 DET, 70 R

Grand Slams by Pitchers

2009-10-06T18:18:00.005-05:00

Here is a list of all the grand slams hit by pitchers since 1954:

Date	Batter	Tm	Opp	Pitcher	Inn	Score
4/22/1956	Don Larsen	NYY	BOS	Frank Sullivan	4	2-1
7/10/1958	Lew Burdette	MLN	@LAD	Johnny Podres	4	0-0
4/15/1959	Bob Grim	KCA	@CHW	Barry Latman	3	4-0
8/1/1959	Bob Purkey	CIN	CHC	John Buzhardt	3	5-2
8/14/1960	Camilo Pascual	WSH	@NYY	Bob Turley	6	1-1
8/9/1961	Don Drysdale	LAD	MLN	Don Nottebart	2	1-1
5/30/1962	Pedro Ramos	CLE	@BAL	Chuck Estrada	6	3-0
8/2/1962	Art Mahaffey	PHI	@NYM	Craig Anderson	3	2-1
5/31/1963	Orlando Pena	KCA	WSA	Claude Osteen	5	4-3
7/15/1963	Carl Willey	NYM	HOU	Ken Johnson	2	1-2
4/27/1965	Camilo Pascual	MIN	@CLE	Stan Williams	1	3-0
7/20/1965	Mel Stottlemyre	NYY	BOS	Bill Monbouquett	5	2-1
9/29/1965	Bob Gibson	STL	@SFG	Gaylord Perry	8	4-0
7/3/1966	Tony Cloninger	ATL	@SFG	Bob Priddy	1	3-0
7/3/1966	Tony Cloninger	ATL	@SFG	Ray Sadecki	4	9-0
8/13/1966	Earl Wilson	DET	@BOS	Dan Osinski	7	6-1
5/20/1967	Jack Hamilton	NYM	STL	Al Jackson	2	0-0
6/1/1967	John O'Donoghue	CLE	@DET	Denny McLain	6	2-0
5/5/1968	Gary Peters	CHW	NYY	Al Downing	4	1-0
7/28/1968	Al McBean	PIT	STL	Larry Jaster	5	3-1
8/26/1968	Dave McNally	BAL	OAK	Chuck Dobson	1	3-0
7/9/1969	Fred Talbot	SEP	CAL	Eddie Fisher	6	3-0
9/4/1970	Mike Corkins	SDP	@CIN	Jim Merritt	4	3-0
5/11/1971	Steve Dunning	CLE	OAK	Diego Segui	2	1-0
8/28/1971	Rick Wise	PHI	SFG	Don McMahon	7	3-3
9/16/1972	Burt Hooton	CHC	NYM	Tom Seaver	3	4-1
7/26/1973	Bob Gibson	STL	NYM	John Strohmayer	5	6-1
8/21/1973	Rick Wise	STL	@ATL	Roric Harrison	3	3-0
6/24/1974	Jim Lonborg	PHI	@MON	Chuck Taylor	3	4-0
7/6/1977	Don Stanhouse	MON	@CHC	Bill Bonham	2	1-1
9/27/1977	Larry Christenson	PHI	@CHC	Dennis Lamp	7	7-2
8/26/1979	Bruce Kison	PIT	@SDP	Bob Shirley	2	1-0
10/1/1980	Enrique Romo	PIT	@NYM	Roy Lee Jackson	8	6-3
9/11/1982	Scott Sanderson	MON	@CHC	Randy Martz	3	3-1
5/15/1984	Joaquin Andujar	STL	ATL	Jeff Dedmon	8	5-1
5/16/1984	Steve Carlton	PHI	@LAD	Fernando Valenzu	4	1-1
9/12/1985	Don Robinson	PIT	CHC	Warren Brusstar	8	6-2
8/10/1986	Bob Forsch	STL	PIT	Mike Bielecki	5	1-0
5/29/1995	Chris Hammond	FLA	HOU	Shane Reynolds	2	0-2
6/27/1995	Denny Neagle	PIT	@CHC	Jim Bullinger	6	2-2
8/25/1995	Jeff Juden	PHI	LAD	John Cummings	4	10-2
9/7/1996	Donovan Osborne	STL	SDP	Andy Ashby	5	1-1
7/20/1998	Kevin Tapani	CHC	@ATL	Denny Neagle	3	1-0
9/2/1998	Kent Mercker	STL	@FLA	Jesus Sanchez	4	3-0
5/24/2000	Shawn Estes	SFG	MON	Mike Johnson	5	7-0
9/29/2001	Denny Neagle	COL	MIL	Jimmy Haynes	4	9-6
6/2/2002	Robert Person	PHI	MON	Bruce Chen	1	3-0
7/7/2006	Dontrelle Willis	FLA	@NYM	Jose Lima	4	3-0
6/23/2008	Felix Hernandez	SEA	@NYM	Johan Santana	2	0-0
9/22/2008	Jason Marquis	CHC	@NYM	Jonathon Niese	4	2-2
10/1/2009	Chris Carpenter	STL	@CIN	Kip Wells	2	1-0

UPDATE: Two pitchers have hit postseason grand slams. Both were on the same team in the same year. On October 3, 1970, Baltimore's Mike Cuellar hit one off Minnesota's Jim Perry in Game 1 of the ALCS. Ten days later, Dave McNally hit one in Game 3 of the World Series off Cincinnati's Wayne Granger.

Most SB in a Season with 0 CS

2009-10-04T19:54:00.005-05:00

On February 22, 2008, I posted about players who stole the most bases in a season without being caught. Since the regular season is now over for all but two teams, it's time to put the new record holder atop the list. As noted in the previous post, the AL has recorded caught stealings since 1920. The NL has did not consistently record caught stealings until 1951.

Most Stolen Bases in a Season, 0 Caught Stealings

Chase Utley, 2009, 23
Kevin McReynolds, 1988, 21
Paul Molitor, 1994, 20
Gary Thurman, 1989, 16
Jimmy Sexton, 1982, 16
Davey Lopes, 1984, 15
Terry Shumpert, 1999, 14
Sean Berry, 1994, 14
Carlos Beltran, 2000, 13
Desi Relaford, 2000, 13
Rex Hudler, 1995, 13
Tim Raines, 1994, 13
Lee Tinsley, 1994, 13
Tom Tresh, 1964, 13
Leon Culberson, 1943, 13
Johnny Damon, 2009, 12
David Dellucci, 2003, 12
Paul Molitor, 1995, 12
Fred Lynn, 1980, 12
Miguel Dilone, 1977, 12
Alexei Casilla, 2009, 11
Albert Belle, 1996, 11
Joe Carter, 1994, 11
Tony Bernazard, 1982, 11
Johnny Bench, 1975, 11
Jesse Hill, 1936, 11
Jason Bay, 2008, 10
Michael Young, 2008, 10
Mark Teahen, 2006, 10
Miguel Tejada, 2003, 10
Jim Eisenreich, 1995, 10
John Jaha, 1992, 10
Frank Duffy, 1976, 10
Dan Meyer, 1976, 10
Red Wilson, 1958, 10
Charlie Gehringer, 1940, 10

Congratulations to Chase Utley for setting a new record. Utley isn't the only new addition to the list. Johnny Damon and Alexei Casilla also joined this year. Jason Bay and Michael Young should have been added after 2008 (oops).

Thanks to Tom for commenting on my February 2008 post and bringing this to my attention.

Who Needs Lefties, Part Two

2009-09-29T21:00:00.003-05:00

In my last post, I looked at teams that used only two lefthanded pitchers in a season. In response to a comment on that post, I figured it would be worthwhile to look at teams that didn't use any lefties. If you go back to the early days of professional baseball, it would be easier to list teams that did use a lefty - the 1876 NL had no confirmed lefthanders (three clubs had pitchers of unknown handedness). Teams remained lefty-averse (or at least didn't employ memorably-handed hurlers) through the early 1890s.

Only four teams since 1900 have gone through an entire season without a single lefthander:

1901 Boston Beaneaters (69-69) - used five pitchers in 140 games.
1903 New York Giants (84-55) - used seven pitchers in 142 games.
1918 Philadelphia Phillies (55-68) - used eleven pitchers in 125 games.
1934 Chicago White Sox (53-99) - used fourteen pitchers in 153 games.

But does it really matter how many lefties you have if you never use them anyway? Here are the teams since 1954 with the fewest batters faced by lefthanders:

1974 Montreal Expos (79-82) - 81 BF by Balor Moore and Terry Enyart
2006 Arizona Diamondbacks (76-86) - 113 BF by Randy Choate, Doug Slaten, and Terry Mulholland
2000 Kansas City Royals (77-85) - 240 BF by Jose Rosado, Scott Mullen, Paul Spoljaric, and Tim Byrdak
1993 Los Angeles Dodgers (81-81) - 275 BF by Omar Daal and Steve Wilson
1983 Toronto Blue Jays (89-73) - 276 BF by Dave Geisel and Stan Clarke
1954 Baltimore Orioles (54-100) - 287 BF by Bob Kuzava, Billy O'Dell, Dave Koslo, Dick Littlefield, and Jay Heard
2001 Milwaukee Brewers (68-94) - 287 BF by Ray King, Lance Painter, and Valerio de los Santos
1957 Boston Red Sox (82-72) - 294 BF by Dean Stone, Frank Baumann, and Jack Spring
1996 Chicago Cubs (76-86) - 320 BF by Bob Patterson and Larry Casian
2000 Houston Astros (72-90) - 343 BF by Billy Wagner, Yorkis Perez, and Wayne Franklin
1996 New York Mets (71-91) - 350 BF by John Franco, Bob MacDonald, and Pedro Martinez

Note: the 1994 Los Angeles Dodgers (206 BF), 1994 Oakland Athletics (314 BF), 1981 Cincinnati Reds (344 BF), and 1994 Cleveland Indians (346 PA) played in strike-shortened seasons.

With six games left to play, the 2009 Cardinals duo of Trever Miller and Dennys Reyes has faced a combined 335 batters.

This year's Cardinals and a couple other teams above spoil my ending a bit, but it sure looks to me like the answer to "Who needs lefties?" is "winning teams."

Who Needs Lefties?

2009-09-15T19:07:00.006-05:00

With just seventeen games to go this season, the St. Louis Cardinals have used only two lefthanded pitchers, Trever Miller and Dennys Reyes. Miller and Reyes are the only lefties on their current roster, so it is unlikely a third lefty will make an appearance for the club.

Since expansion in 1961, only nineteen other teams have made it through a season with only two lefthanders:

1961 Baltimore Orioles: Steve Barber & Billy Hoeft
1965 Boston Red Sox: Dennis Bennett & Arnold Earley
1969 Los Angeles Dodgers: Jim Brewer & Claude Osteen
1971 Montreal Expos: Dan McGinn & John O'Donoghue
1974 Montreal Expos: Terry Enyart & Balor Moore
1976 Oakland Athletics: Vida Blue & Paul Lindblad
1977 Houston Astros: Floyd Bannister & Joe Sambito
1981 Cincinnati Reds: Charlie Liebrandt & Joe Price
1982 Chicago Cubs: Willie Hernandez & Ken Kravec
1982 Toronto Blue Jays: Jerry Garvin & Dave Geisel
1983 Cincinnati Reds: Joe Price & Bill Scherrer
1983 Toronto Blue Jays: Stan Clarke & Dave Geisel
1984 Chicago Cubs: Ron Meridith & Steve Trout
1993 Los Angeles Dodgers: Omar Daal & Steve Wilson
1996 Chicago Cubs: Larry Casian & Bob Patterson
2004 Anaheim Angels: Dusty Bergman & Jarrod Washburn
2006 LAnaheim Angels: J.C. Romero & Joe Saunders
2007 LAnaheim Angels: Darren Oliver & Joe Saunders
2008 LAnaheim Angels: Darren Oliver & Joe Saunders

With Brian Fuentes newly installed as closer, it took the Angels until the second game of the 2009 season to have three different lefties pitch.

The 1947 Philadelphia Athletics were the last team to use only one lefty. Lou Brissie started all of one game that year, allowing five runs in seven innings.

SO > TB, Minimum 200 AB

2009-09-06T21:18:00.002-05:00

This post details one of my personal favorite "teams." It's weird, comparing strikeouts to total bases, but whatever. I guess it springs out of the generalization that strikeouts are okay if you trade them for power. These players just couldn't break even.

The full list since 1901 can be found by following the above link. Andruw Jones and Tony Pena Jr. were new additions last season. The following players have a chance to join them in 2009:

Chris Davis, 128 K, 126 TB, 303 AB
Bill Hall, 95 K, 94 TB, 270 AB
Kelly Shoppach, 90 K, 91 TB, 235 AB
Koyie Hill, 67 K, 71 TB, 212 AB
Jeff Mathis, 64 K, 64 K, 198 AB

Jeff Mathis had as many strikeouts as total bases in 2008 as well. At least he's consistent.

Update: Last Position Players to Pitch by Team

2009-08-30T14:50:00.003-05:00

Previous installments can be found here: April 2008, May 2009.

With September call-ups a couple days away, it is likely the days of position players pitching are over for another season. Here is the full list of 2009 position player pitchers:

Ross Gload (FLA) - May 22
Nick Green (BOS) - August 27
Paul Janish (CIN) - May 6 & July 6
Mark Loretta (LAD) - July 28
Cody Ross (FLA) - April 26
Nick Swisher (NYY) - April 13
Jonathan Van Every (BOS) - April 30
Josh Wilson (ARI & SDP) - May 11 & June 7

Here's the updated list by team:

Last Position Player to Pitch by Team
(through 8/30/2009)

Team	Name	Date
Arizona Diamondbacks	Josh Wilson	5-11-2009
Atlanta Braves	John Russell	6-25-1989
Baltimore Orioles	Manny Alexander	4-19-1996
Boston Red Sox	Nick Green	8-27-2009
Chicago Cubs	Gary Gaetti	7-3-1999
Chicago White Sox	Dave Martinez	8-4-1995
Cincinnati Reds	Paul Janish	7-6-2009
Cleveland Indians	Tim Laker	4-20-2004
Colorado Rockies	Todd Zeile	9-14-2002
Detroit Tigers	Shane Halter	10-1-2000
Florida Marlins	Ross Gload	5-22-2009
Houston Astros	Tim Bogar	6-24-2000
Kansas City Royals	Tony Pena	6-21-2008
Los Angeles Angels	Chili Davis	6-17-1993
Los Angeles Dodgers	Mark Loretta	7-28-2009
Milwaukee Brewers	Trent Durrington	4-17-2004
Minnesota Twins	John Moses	7-31-1990
New York Mets	Todd Zeile	7-26-2004
New York Yankees	Nick Swisher	4-13-2009
Oakland Athletics	Frank Menechino	7-18-2000
Philadelphia Phillies	Tomas Perez	5-13-2002
Pittsburgh Pirates	Abraham Nunez	5-30-2004
San Diego Padres	Josh Wilson	6-7-2009
Seattle Mariners	Jamie Burke	7-6-2008
San Francisco Giants	Greg Litton	7-4-1991
St. Louis Cardinals	Aaron Miles	6-13-2008
Tampa Bay Rays	Josh Wilson	6-8-2007
Texas Rangers	Scott Sheldon	9-6-2000
Toronto Blue Jays	Frank Menechino	8-28-2004
Washington Nationals	Junior Noboa	7-20-1990*

* - Fellow position player Dave Martinez pitched right before Noboa in the same game.

20+ Home Runs

2009-08-26T18:57:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine brought this to my attention. Robinson Cano hit his twentieth home run of the season last night, making him the sixth Yankees hitter to reach that number in 2009. With one more 20 HR player, the Yankees will tie the record for most players with 20+ HR on one team. The current record holders:

1996 Baltimore Orioles
Brady Anderson - 50
Rafael Palmeiro - 39
Bobby Bonilla - 28
Cal Ripken, Jr. - 26
Chris Hoiles - 25
Roberto Alomar - 22
B.J. Surhoff - 21
2000 Toronto Blue Jays
Carlos Delgado - 41
Tony Batista - 41
Brad Fullmer - 32
Jose Cruz, Jr. - 31
Raul Mondesi - 24
Shannon Stewart - 21
Darrin Fletcher - 20
2005 Texas Rangers
Mark Teixeira - 43
Alfonso Soriano - 36
David Dellucci - 29
Kevin Mench - 25
Hank Blalock - 25
Michael Young - 24
Rod Barajas - 21

The Yankees have two more players who may well end up with 20 home runs. Derek Jeter has 16 and Jorge Posada hit his 17th earlier tonight.

It's Lenn Sakata Day

2009-08-24T20:41:00.002-05:00

Lenn Sakata should have been one of those ballplayers that spent a few seasons in the majors, had a few timely hits, played decent defense, and then slipped out of baseball consciousness.

For the most part, that is the type of ballplayer he was. Mention the name Sakata to baseball fans today and you probably won't get much of a reaction. A few might think the name is familiar, and some diehards might remember seeing him play. Like so many background players, if he is remembered today, it is because of his role in some strange part of baseball history. Would anyone remember Bill Wambsganss today without his triple play? Would Brewers fans remember Rick Manning if he hadn't gotten the walk-off hit robbing Paul Molitor of a final chance to extend his hitting streak? So it is with Lenn Sakata...

Lenn Sakata was born in 1954 in Honolulu, Hawaii, and graduated from Kalani High School in that city in 1971. He played college ball as an infielder at Gonzaga University, earning All-Big Sky conference honors in 1973 and 1974 and second team All-American honors in the latter year. In 1974, he set a school record for RBI (68) that would stand until some guy named Jason Bay broke it in 1999. After his excellent 1974 season, Sakata was selected in the fifth round of the 1974 draft by the San Diego Padres but did not sign. Back then, baseball had a secondary draft in January for players who either did not sign or were not eligible to be drafted in June. In the January 1975 draft, the Milwaukee Brewers saw fit to select Sakata with the tenth pick. He began his professional career later that spring.

He began his minor league career about as far from Hawaii as he could get in organized baseball. He was assigned to the Brewers AA affiliate in Thetford Mines, Quebec. Once a hotbed of asbestos mining, Thetford Mines is about 120 miles (190 km) northeast of Montreal. Sakata, playing second base, shared the infield with future Brewer Jim Gantner. Both players hit .257 in the Eastern League, but only Sakata was promoted to AAA Spokane for the 1976 season. Back in his college town, Sakata hit .280 with ten home runs. He followed that up by hitting .304 in 1977 and earning a callup to the majors. When Sakata took the field in the first game of a July 21 doubleheader, Sakata became only the second Japanese-American to play in a major league game (the first was Ryan Kurosaki, a Cardinals pitcher).

Sakata struggled as a Brewer, hitting .162/.209/.214 in 53 games for Milwaukee. He started the 1978 season with Milwaukee, but a poor .192 average in 86 plate appearances earned him a ticket to Spokane. His final shot in Milwaukee came in September 1979 after he once again hit .300 in AAA. Seizing his chance, Sakata went 7 for 14 with two doubles in four games at the end of the year. The Brewers were so impressed they promptly shipped Sakata to Baltimore for righthanded reliever John Flinn. Flinn spent one unimpressive year in Milwaukee, but Sakata spent six seasons with the Orioles. After tearing up the International League for a month, Sakata was called up to Baltimore and hit his usual .190. He played a little shortstop for the first time in his pro career, however, and that earned him a spot on the 1981 Baltimore squad. He finally cracked .200 that year and had his best season in 1982, hitting .259/.323/.370 in nearly 400 plate appearances while playing second and short. In fact, he was the starting shortstop until a guy named Cal Ripken moved over from third in July. Undoubtedly Sakata would have started again at short had Ripken needed a day off. So much for that idea.

Sakata was once again a backup second baseman in 1983, but it was his appearance at a different position that year that remains memorable. Coming into play on August 24, the Orioles were 1/2 game behind Milwaukee for first place and one of four teams within 4 games of the division lead. Baltimore was hosting Toronto, the third place team. Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh with one out and the bases loaded, manager Joe Altobelli pinch-hit for starting catcher Rick Dempsey. The move didn't work and the Orioles didn't score that inning. After the inning, Lenn Sakata came into the game at second base and thus was around for the Orioles' ninth-inning rally. Sakata walked and later scored the tying run, but not before Benny Ayala pinch-hit for backup catcher Joe Nolan. The Orioles couldn't plate the winning run. Lacking catchers, the Orioles were forced to use Sakata behind the plate, outfielder Gary Roenicke at third, and outfielder John Lowenstein at second base.

The first batter, Cliff Johnson, hit a go-ahead home run and the second batter, Barry Bonnell, singled to center. That was it for pitcher Tim Stoddard, and lefthander Tippy Martinez came in to stem the tide. Eager to steal off non-catcher Sakata, Bonnell was promptly picked off first. Dave Collins then walked and, also eager to test Sakata, was promptly picked off. Willie Upshaw then hit an infield single to second. Following the example of his teammates, he leaned too far and was also picked off first.

In the bottom of the tenth, Cal Ripken tied the game with a leadoff home run. A walk, groundout, intentional walk, and strikeout set it up for Lenn Sakata to step in the box. Randy Moffitt, a pitcher Sakata had never faced in the majors, was on the mound. In this weirdest of games, what happened next only made sense. Sakata hit his second home run of the season to win the game.

Baltimore went on to win the division by six games and won the World Series in five games over Philadelphia. Sakata spent two more years as a backup second baseman in Baltimore, hitting .191 and 227. He had a couple last gasps in 1986 and 1987 with Oakland and New York, but he finished his career four hits short of 300 with a .230 average. Sakata went on to coaching, both in America and Japan, setting a record for most wins in the California League, and currently manages the Japanese Chiba Lotte Marines farm team.

Depending on how his coaching career progresses, Sakata may eventually be known for more than being behind the plate while Tippy Martinez set a pickoff record or being the second Japanese-American to play in the majors. No matter what Sakata does going forward, however, the August 24, 1983, game between Toronto and Baltimore (and Sakata himself) will be remembered for both dramatic moments and a trivia-producing extra inning.

More reading about Sakata and the game:
Lenn Sakata at baseball-reference.com
Lenn Sakata at The Baseball Cube
Box score and play-by-play of August 24, 1983 Toronto-Baltimore game
The Baltimore Sun remembers the game with some great quotes
Seattle Times about Sakata's current situation and view of baseball
Press release for Sakata setting California League wins record
New York Times article about Don Wakamatsu with some Sakata information

Unassisted Triple Play

2009-08-23T16:18:00.004-05:00

Eric Bruntlett made only the fifteenth unassisted triple play in baseball history today. It ended the game, only the second unassisted triple play to do so.

You can watch the highlight here: http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=6256159
Direct link to video: http://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/2009/08/23/mlbtv_phinyn_6256159_800K.mp4

The Last Left-Handed Catcher

2009-08-16T16:45:00.002-05:00

The New York Times looks at Benny Distefano and the dearth of left-handed catchers. Distefano's appearance behind the plate on August 18, 1989 (box score) remains the last time a lefty has donned the tools of ignorance.

Hat tip to Bucs Dugout.

Getting Hit Hard in 2009

2009-08-13T20:13:00.004-05:00

What do Trevor Cahill and Jeff Suppan have in common? They are the only two pitchers qualified for the ERA title (1 IP per team game) who have allowed opponents to slug .500 or more this season. Suppan sits at .512 while Cahill is at .505. Suppan will shortly fall off the qualified list, as he is currently injured and hasn't pitched since July 27. His fellow Brewer, Braden Looper, is poised to take his place on the list as he has allowed opponents to slug .499 this year. Jeremy Guthrie (.499), Armando Galarraga (.494), and Jamie Moyer (.491) are also nearby.

Since 1954, forty-four qualified pitchers have allowed opponents to slug .500 over a season. Twenty have cracked the .520 plateau:

Name	Year	Team	SLG
Jim Deshaies	1994	MIN	.583
Jose Lima	2000	HOU	.578
Darrell May	2004	KCR	.555
Bill Gullickson	1994	DET	.552
Brian Anderson	2004	KCR	.545
Dave Mlicki	2001	DET/HOU	.545
Brandon Backe	2008	HOU	.544
Jose Lima	2005	KCR	.544
Eric Milton	2005	CIN	.543
Terry Mulholland	1994	NYY	.539

The abbreviated 1994 season and Jose Lima are both well-represented. Pitchers just didn't have as much time to a) drop their slugging percentage to something more respectable or b) get replaced before reaching the usual 162 innings to qualify. The other seven seasons all took place this decade, which makes sense as slugging percentages league-wide have reached new heights. Here's the .500+ opponent slugging allowed list prior to 1994:

Name	Year	Team	SLG
Don Newcombe	1958	LAD/CIN	.514
Jack Lamabe	1964	BOS	.507
Bob Knepper	1987	HOU	.502

Yep, that's it.

A high slugging percentage allowed is fueling Jeff Suppan's run at another distinction. He likely will not reach the required 162 innings, but if the season ended today he would be only the ninth qualifying pitcher to allow an OPS of .900 or higher. The current list of eight is the highest slugging allowed list jumbled a bit:

Name	Year	Team	OPS
Jim Deshaies	1994	MIN	.965
Jose Lima	2000	HOU	.942
Dave Mlicki	2001	DET/HOU	.927
Brandon Backe	2008	HOU	.920
Jose Lima	2005	KCR	.917
Bill Gullickson	1994	DET	.912
Brian Anderson	2004	KCR	.911
Darrell May	2004	KCR	.906

Suppan has allowed opponents to put up a .900 OPS this year. Cahill, if you're wondering, is second with an .856 OPS allowed.

Games Finished & Saves

2009-08-04T19:59:00.004-05:00

As most baseball fans know, Trevor Hoffman is the all-time saves leader with 578 over the length of his career. His 578th save came last night against the Los Angeles Dodgers after a rocky ninth inning. While each save obviously sees him extend his own saves record, last night he tied another career mark. It was his 802nd career game finished, tying him with former saves leader Lee Smith.

Games finished (GF) is, really, a useless counting stat. All it tells you is that such-and-such pitcher was the last reliever to appear in a game for his team. That's not that impressive, right? After all, a guy who mops up blowouts can rack up games finished just as easily as a closer. Then again, chances are that guy mopping up blowouts probably won't stay in the league very long. So, one game finished isn't very impressive, but you have to be pretty darn good to get up to 500-600-700 GF.

With that in mind, here are the sixteen pitchers with over 600 games finished through August 3:

Lee Smith, 802
Trevor Hoffman, 802
John Franco, 774
Mariano Rivera, 753
Rollie Fingers, 709
Jeff Reardon, 695
Rich Gossage, 681
Roberto Hernandez, 667
Hoyt Wilhelm, 651
Doug Jones, 640
Kent Tekulve, 638
Billy Wagner, 637
Sparky Lyle, 634
Jose Mesa, 633
Todd Jones, 619
Gene Garber, 609

Three pitchers on that list are still active. Behind them, Troy Percival sits in 27th place with 546 and Jason Isringhausen is 37th with 467. The next healthy player is Francisco Cordero, 55th with 407. The top 1000 can be found here.

Many closers in need of work are used in the ninth inning even when it's not a save situation, so they end up with more games finished than saves. For players who became closers early in their career and never relinquished the role, a large percentage of their relief appearances result in games finished. Here are the top all-time pitchers in terms of game finished per relief appearance (min. 200 GF):

Kazuhiro Sasaki, 201 of 228, 88.2%
John Wetteland, 523 of 601, 87.0%
Bobby Jenks, 228 of 254, 86.8%
Rick Aguilera, 643 of 732, 86.6%
Bryan Harvey, 278 of 322, 86.3%
Robb Nen, 548 of 639, 85.8%
Billy Koch, 325 of 379, 85.8%
Tom Henke, 548 of 642, 85.4%
Jonathan Papelbon, 208 of 244, 85.2%
Mariano Rivera, 753 of 885, 85.1%

Hoffman has finished 802 of his 963 appearances, good for 83.3%.

Fewest Team HR at a Position in 2009

2009-07-29T21:03:00.004-05:00

Nearly two-thirds of the way through the season, Jason Kendall of the Brewers is hitting .239 and slugging .283. As you might guess, he doesn't have many extra base hits. He has twelve, to be exact, eleven doubles and one triple. He has started 86 of the Brewers 101 games and backup Mike Rivera also is homerless on the year, meaning the Brewers haven't had a single round-tripper from their backstops. What other teams have suffered a homer drought at one position on the diamond? I did not include NL DHs or pitchers.

Fewest Team HR at a Position in 2009
(through 7/28)

Milwaukee Brewers, C - 0
New York Mets, 2B - 0
San Diego Padres, 2B - 1
Baltimore Orioles, SS - 2
Cincinnati Reds, CF - 2
Florida Marlins, 3B - 2
Kansas City Royals, SS - 2
Minnesota Twins, 2B - 2
Minnesota Twins, CF - 2
New York Mets, SS - 2
San Francisco Giants, SS - 2
Washington Nationals, 2B - 2

Buehrle's Streak

2009-07-28T20:48:00.004-05:00

Mark Buehrle retired 45 batters in a row to set a new major league record:

(July 18 vs. BAL) Markakis flied out to center fielder Wise.
(July 23 vs TBR) Upton grounded out, second baseman Nix to first baseman Fields.
Crawford grounded out, pitcher Buehrle to first baseman Fields.
Longoria struck out.
Pena fouled out to first baseman Fields.
Zobrist struck out.
Burrell flied out to right fielder Dye.
Kapler flied out to left fielder Quentin.
Hernandez grounded out, shortstop Ramirez to first baseman Fields.
Bartlett flied out to left fielder Quentin.
Upton struck out.
Crawford flied out to left fielder Quentin.
Longoria lined out to shortstop Ramirez.
Pena grounded out, first baseman Fields to pitcher Buehrle.
Zobrist grounded out, shortstop Ramirez to first baseman Fields.
Burrell struck out.
Kapler grounded out, third baseman Beckham to first baseman Fields.
Hernandez grounded out, third baseman Beckham to first baseman Fields.
Bartlett grounded out, shortstop Ramirez to first baseman Fields.
Upton grounded out, shortstop Ramirez to first baseman Fields.
Crawford grounded out, pitcher Buehrle to first baseman Fields.
Longoria flied out to right fielder Dye.
Pena struck out.
Zobrist fouled out to third baseman Beckham.
Burrell lined out to third baseman Beckham.
Kapler flied out to center fielder Wise.
Hernandez struck out.
Bartlett grounded out, shortstop Ramirez to first baseman Fields.
(July 28 vs MIN) D.Span grounded out, first baseman Konerko to pitcher Buehrle.
Mauer grounded out, second baseman Getz to first baseman Konerko.
Morneau flied out to right fielder Dye.
Cuddyer grounded out, third baseman Beckham to first baseman Konerko.
Crede popped out to second baseman Getz.
B.Harris grounded out, shortstop Al.Ramirez to first baseman Konerko.
C.Gomez struck out.
Punto grounded out, third baseman Beckham to first baseman Konerko.
A.Casilla grounded out, third baseman Beckham to first baseman Konerko.
D.Span grounded out, first baseman Konerko to pitcher Buehrle.
Mauer struck out.
Morneau grounded out, second baseman Getz to first baseman Konerko.
Cuddyer struck out.
Crede grounded out, shortstop Al.Ramirez to first baseman Konerko.
B.Harris grounded out, shortstop Al.Ramirez to first baseman Konerko.
C.Gomez fouled out to third baseman Beckham.
Punto grounded out, second baseman Getz to first baseman Konerko.

Buehrle broke the record of 41 in a row that was shared by Jim Barr, a Giants starter in the 1970's, and Buehrle's teammate Bobby Jenks.

Barr retired 41 batters over two starts in 1972 but didn't get a no-hitter out of the deal: pitcher Bob Moose led off an inning with a walk before Barr retired 21 in a row to finish a shutout against the Pirates. Barr retired the first 20 he faced in St. Louis six days later. Bernie Carbo doubled to left to snap the streak.

Jenks, as a closer, did it over 14 games in the summer of 2007. After Ryan Garko homered on July 17, Jenks mowed through everyone until Joey Gathright snapped his streak with a ground ball single to left on August 20.

Fifteen perfect innings. Good job Mark.

Jamie Moyer's Milestone

2009-07-20T21:25:00.004-05:00

Jamie Moyer is slated to take the mound for the Phillies on Wednesday night against the Chicago Cubs. It will be the 603rd start of his career, moving him into a tie with Randy Johnson for 20th all-time. Moyer is also knocking on the door of the top ten in career earned runs allowed, 24 behind #10 Bert Blyleven (1830). He's also getting close to 2000 career runs allowed.

However, neither run record will occur in the immediate future. He will, however, soon reach a milestone that may not be reached for a very long time, if ever. The seventh hit he allows Wednesday night (or from this point forward) will be the 4000th hit allowed of his career. He'll be the 39th pitcher in baseball history to reach that mark and the first since Tom Glavine in 2006. Behind Moyer, there's no one even close to 4000.

Randy Johnson is currently at 3339 hits allowed. John Smoltz just passed 3000, 37-year-old Andy Pettitte is at 2990. Always hittable Livan Hernandez is still five seasons of 200+ hits away from the mark. The top pitchers 30 and younger are Mark Buehrle (30) at 2043, Jon Garland (29) at 1850, and CC Sabathia (28) at 1656. It's hard to stay around long enough to give up 4000 hits, especially with the increase in strikeouts these days compared to the past.

Here are the last ten pitchers to reach the 4000 hit plateau:

Name	Date	Hitter (hit)
Tom Glavine	September 19, 2006	Josh Willingham (single)
Roger Clemens	June 22, 2006	Jason Kubel (double)
Greg Maddux	July 31, 2005	Chad Tracy (double)
Frank Tanana	August 8, 1993	Carlos Garcia (single)
Bert Blyleven	July 14, 1988	Ken Gerhart (single)
Don Sutton	April 22, 1985	Bobby Grich (single)
Tommy John	July 21, 1984	Jackie Gutierrez (single)
Steve Carlton	April 8, 1984	Nick Esasky (double)
Fergie Jenkins	May 1, 1983	Mike Scioscia (single)
Phil Niekro	September 22, 1982	Alan Ashby (single)

Even if someone does reach 4000 hits after Moyer, I have to believe Phil Niekro will be the last pitcher to give up 5000 hits in his career.

Three True Outcomes per Plate Appearance, 1913-2008

2009-06-16T19:08:00.003-05:00

An update to my Three True Outcomes (TTO) post of January 2008. As mentioned there, batting strikeouts weren't consistently recorded until 1913, so I start counting TTO from there.

Most Career TTO/PA, 1913-2007, min. 3000 PA

Rank	Name	PA	SO	BB	HR	TTO/PA
1	Adam Dunn	4749	1256	797	278	.4908
2	Rob Deer	4512	1409	575	230	.4907
3	Jim Thome	9029	2190	1550	541	.4741
4	Mark McGwire	7660	1596	1317	583	.4564
5	Carlos Pena	3143	810	408	163	.4394
6	Mickey Tettleton	5745	1307	949	245	.4353
7	Pat Burrell	5388	1273	785	251	.4285
8	Jay Buhner	5927	1406	792	310	.4231
9	Gorman Thomas	5486	1339	697	268	.4200
10	Brad Wilkerson	3753	947	492	122	.4159
11	Danny Tartabull	5842	1362	768	262	.4094
12	Don Lock	3116	776	373	122	.4079
13	Jose Canseco	8129	1942	906	462	.4072
14	Troy Glaus	5840	1269	788	304	.4043
15	Mickey Mantle	9909	1710	1733	536	.4016
16	Reggie Jackson	11416	2597	1375	563	.3972
17	Darryl Strawberry	6326	1352	816	335	.3957
18	Gene Tenace	5525	998	984	201	.3951
19	Pete Incaviglia	4677	1277	360	206	.3941
20	Richie Sexson	5604	1313	588	306	.3938
21	Eric Davis	6147	1398	740	282	.3937
22	Jason Bay	3259	734	397	149	.3928
23	Jim Edmonds	7307	1669	974	382	.3924
24	Cecil Fielder	5939	1316	693	319	.3920
25	Ray Lankford	6674	1550	828	238	.3920

Adam Dunn finally edged Rob Deer out of the top spot.

I expanded the board to the top 25 for this post. Carlos Pena joined the top 20 this year, as did Richie Sexson. Eric Davis and Jim Edmonds fell out of the top 25, but stay in the top 25 with a new addition between them. Reggie Jackson remains the only member of the club with 10000 PA, though Jim Thome is getting close. Mike Schmidt narrowly missed joining him with his .3914 TTO/PA in 10062 PA.

In case you were wondering, the lowest career TTO% table didn't change. Here is a simple list of the bottom ten active players, minimum 3000 PA:

Juan Pierre, .1128
Placido Polanco, .1316
Cesar Izturis, .1424
David Eckstein, .1462
Paul Lo Duca, .1490
Bengie Molina, .1561
Ichiro Suzuki, .1651
Jason Kendall, .1684
Orlando Cabrera, .1687
Miguel Cairo, .1690

First Career Home Runs

2009-06-14T21:37:00.003-05:00

Mark Buehrle hit his first career home run today. Later in the same game, he gave up Casey McGehee's first major league home run. I tried looking it up and I believe it's the first time since August 23, 2004 that a pitcher hit his first career home run and gave up another player's first career home run in the same game. That 2004 game featured John Van Benschoten hitting a homer and giving one up to Chris Snyder.

Fewest IP Per Win & Most IP Without a Win

2009-06-14T15:11:00.001-05:00

In the low minor leagues, teams have begun intensely limiting pitcher workloads. For a lot of young starting pitchers, this can make it tough to last the five innings necessary for a win. A necessary result is an increased number of wins going to relievers. Some of the more obvious examples: Dan Meadows of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers has 10 wins in 47 1/3 innings. Eddie Gamboa of the Delmarva Shorebirds has six wins in 33 1/3 innings. Joey Williamson has seven wins in 41 1/3 innings.

The majors are obviously a different story as starting pitchers who don't last five innings are quickly washed out of the rotation. Those pitchers certainly have difficulty racking up wins as well. However, some pitchers in the majors actually have picked up wins while throwing relatively few innings.

Fewest Innings Pitched Per Win in a Season
(minimum 5 wins)

Name	Year	Record	IP	IP/W
Roy Face	1965	5-2	20 1/3	4.1
Scott Eyre	2008	5-0	25 2/3	5.1
Roy Face	1959	18-1	93 1/3	5.2
Gene Stechschulte	2002	6-2	32	5.3
Yhency Brazoban	2004	6-2	32 2/3	5.4
John Franco	1992	6-2	33	5.5
Johnny Murphy	1943	12-4	68	5.7
Bill Risley	1994	9-6	52 1/3	5.8
Arthur Rhodes	1996	9-1	53	5.9
Tom Gordon	2008	5-4	29 2/3	5.9

Roy Face's career is pretty impressive. Despite standing only 5'8", he was the Pirates' closer before closers and saves were invented, Face appeared in 57 games, finishing 47 of them. Retroactively assigning saves through his career gives him a total of 193, good for second all-time when his career finished. Obviously in 1959 and 1965, he benefited from timely offense behind him.

Of course, for every pitcher like those above, there has been one that couldn't buy a win.

Most Innings Pitched in a Season Without a Win

Terry Felton, 1982 Twins, 117 1/3
Stump Weidman, 1880 Buffalo, 113 2/3
Diego Segui, 1977 Mariners, 110 2/3
Russ Miller, 1928 Phillies, 108
Steve Sparks, 2003 Tigers/Athletics, 107
Bob Moorhead, 1962 Mets, 105 1/3
Bob Shirley, 1986 Yankees, 105 1/3
Steve Gerkin, 1945 Athletics, 102
John Malarkey, 1895 Washington, 100 2/3
Wes Stock, 1965 Athletics, 99 2/3

Moorhead had the fewest decisions of all those pitchers, going 0-2 with a 4.53 ERA, mostly in relief. Shirley and Stock were both 0-4.

Musing

2009-06-14T14:57:00.004-05:00

A couple days ago I was reading baseball news and came across this AP story about the Twins activating Nick Punto on Yahoo. The part that caught my eye:

The switch-hitter has been a valuable utility player for the Twins since 2005.

I saw that and chuckled about his abysmal hitting in 2007 and so far this year (until missing time he had the lowest SLG among qualifiers by about 40 points). Taking a further look, though, I wonder if he just has a serious aversion to odd-numbered years. Punto's batting lines each season since 2005:

2005: 439 PA, .239/.301/.335, 68 OPS+
2006: 524 PA, .290/.352/.373, 90 OPS+
2007: 536 PA, .210/.291/.271, 52 OPS+
2008: 377 PA, .284/.344/.382, 99 OPS+
2009: 157 PA, .202/.303/.225, 47 OPS+

Strange.

2009 Team Unearned Runs

2009-06-07T10:43:00.002-05:00

On Friday I cross-posted something I wrote for Brew Crew Ball regarding earned and unearned runs in an inning with errors and pitching changes. One of the topics that came up was team unearned runs.

The concept of team unearned runs comes from Official Rule 10.16(i).

When pitchers are changed during an inning, the relief pitcher shall not have the benefit of previous chances for outs not accepted in determining earned runs.

You can read my Friday post for an example of this rule being applied. Team unearned runs come into play if a reliever allows earned (to him) runs to score after the team should have been out of the inning. They're relatively rare, since errors, pitching changes, and ineffective relief pitching all have to present for one to result.

Team unearned runs can have an effect on baseball statistics, though. Since they are charged as earned runs to relief pitchers but unearned runs to the team, summing up earned runs allowed by a team's pitchers can make a team's ERA look higher than it should. Baseball-Reference.com calculates team ER and team ERA by summing the earned runs allowed of the team's pitchers, so that's at least one often-used site that can be off. As noted Friday, Cleveland is one example of this. Unfortunately, there are ten other teams in the same boat through June 6.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Baseball-Reference ER/ERA: 252/4.48 - Correct ER/ERA: 250/4.45

May 25 - 8th inning - Jon Rauch charged with two earned runs (both team unearned)
Baltimore Orioles
Baseball-Reference ER/ERA: 293/5.37 - Correct ER/ERA: 290/5.32

April 15 - 4th inning - Radhames Liz charged with three earned runs (all team unearned)
Chicago Cubs
Baseball-Reference ER/ERA: 211/4.05 - Correct ER/ERA: 210/4.04

June 2 - 8th inning - Carlos Marmol charged with one earned run (team unearned)
Cleveland Indians
Baseball-Reference ER/ERA: 298/5.27 - Correct ER/ERA: 297/5.25

May 12 - 7th inning - Tony Sipp charged with one earned run (team unearned)
Colorado Rockies
Baseball-Reference ER/ERA: 252/4.71 - Correct ER/ERA: 250/4.67

April 18 - 7th inning - Ryan Speier charged with one earned run (team unearned)
May 17 - 7th inning - Manuel Corpas charged with one earned run (team unearned)
Detroit Tigers
Baseball-Reference ER/ERA: 217/4.09 - Correct ER/ERA: 209/3.94

April 7 - 8th inning - Brandon Lyon charged with three earned runs (two team unearned)
April 28 - 7th inning - Nate Robertson charged with four earned runs (all team unearned); Brandon Lyon charged with two earned runs (both team unearned)
Florida Marlins
Baseball-Reference ER/ERA: 259/4.51 - Correct ER/ERA: 257/4.47

May 19 - 7th inning - Renyel Pinto charged with one earned run (team unearned)
June 3 - 5th inning - Hayden Penn charged with one earned run (team unearned)
Milwaukee Brewers
Baseball-Reference ER/ERA: 223/4.07 - Correct ER/ERA: 222/4.05

May 18 - 7th inning - Mark DiFelice charged with one earned run (team unearned)
Oakland Athletics
Baseball-Reference ER/ERA: 235/4.30 - Correct ER/ERA: 234/4.28

April 28 - 6th inning - Andrew Bailey charged with one earned run (team unearned)

This is further notable because of an error in the Baseball-Reference box score/play-by-play. Bailey entered the game due to injury with a 2-0 count on Michael Young. The box score/play-by-play lists Young's walk (and later run) as belonging to Bailey when in fact it should belong to Anderson per Official Rule 10.16(h). Curiously, the walk and run do not count against his total on his player page but they are still there in his game log.
San Diego Padres
Baseball-Reference ER/ERA: 245/4.49 - Correct ER/ERA: 244/4.47

April 29 - 6th inning - Arturo Lopez charged with one earned run (team unearned)
Tampa Bay Rays
Baseball-Reference ER/ERA: 251/4.49 - Correct ER/ERA: 247/4.42

May 25 - 9th inning - Grant Balfour charged with two unearned runs (both team unearned); Jason Isringhausen charged with two unearned runs (both team unearned)

Obviously the difference will mean less as the season goes on. Where one team unearned run might cause a difference of 0.02 in a team's ERA now, it might not cause an apparent difference in a team's ERA at the end of the season. However, that's no reason to ignore the fact there is a difference. Who knows, maybe those eight team unearned runs will be the difference between Detroit finishing first, second, or third in the team ERA standings.

Elias Gets Snippy

2009-06-05T20:46:00.005-05:00

I like reading the Elias Says column on ESPN.com. It's got all sorts of odd trivia put together by Elias Sports Bureau, Inc. Today, however, there was one entry that sounded downright angry:

WE DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THE "LAST 300-GAME WINNER"
Do you think when Grover Alexander got to 300 wins in 1924 the pundits were saying that there will never be another 300-game winner? Or that they were saying the same thing when Early Wynn won his 300th in 1963? Eleven of the 24 men to win 300 games reached the milestone before 1925, and 10 others have done so since 1982. Only three pitchers reached 300 wins between 1925 and 1981: Lefty Grove, Warren Spahn and Wynn.

While pitchers are starting fewer games than in years past, they're not recording a lower percentage of wins. This season, starting pitchers have recorded 68 percent of the wins in the majors; the percentage of wins by starters has hovered between 68 percent and 74 percent each season in the last 30 years (since 1979).

So who's next? Here are the active career wins leaders among pitchers under 40, under 35, under 30 and under 25:

Under 40: Andy Pettitte (220), Bartolo Colon (153), Livan Hernandez (151).
Under 35: Livan Hernandez (151), Tim Hudson (146), Kevin Millwood (146).
Under 30: CC Sabathia (122), Jon Garland (110), Carlos Zambrano (99).
Under 25: Felix Hernandez (44), Chad Billingsley (42), Matt Cain (37).

--------

I remember when Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux were going to be the last 300-game winners. Then I remember hearing all about how Tom Glavine would be the last one. Now Randy Johnson will supposedly be the last one. And that's just this decade.

I like the irony of Johnson being named the last 300-game winner less than a week before the most hyped pitching prospect in years is due to be drafted #1 overall.

Personally, I hope Jon Garland gets there. Not because I actually think he'll get there, but because Garland doesn't seem like the type of guy who fits into the 300 club. I mean, a nondescript guy who reaches 300 just by pitching forever? I'm down with that. Come to think of it, I hope Jamie Moyer turns this year around and lasts long enough to get to 300 for the same reason.

Figuring Earned and Unearned Runs in a Crazy Inning

2009-06-05T20:02:00.004-05:00

I'm cross-posting this from Brew Crew Ball because I think it's a useful guide to determining earned and unearned runs in an inning involving errors, fielder's choices, and pitching changes. Since I wrote it for a Brewers blog, you'll have to excuse the pro-Brewers tilt. The earned run totals in the final paragraph are outdated, but the larger point holds true. I also have to thank my dad, who has covered 1800+ games for STATS, LLC, for checking my work.

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The fifth inning of last night's game officially took 51 minutes. The Brewers' half included eleven batters and two pitching changes and lasted 25 minutes. The Marlins' half had only one pitching change and ten batters but lasted 26 minutes. Since there were errors, pitching changes, and runs galore in the Brewers' half, it's worth talking about.

One of the most confusing parts of scoring a baseball game is determining whether or not runs are earned. Just as confusing is determining which pitcher in a multiple-pitcher inning is responsible for each run. Since the top half of the fifth inning contained just about every possible weird situation relating to earned/unearned runs, let's work through it and figure out how the runs were assigned.

First, two basic rules: if a batter reaches base because of an error or stays on the bases because of an error and then scores a run, that run is unearned. Also, if runs score after error-free play would have resulted in three outs, those runs are unearned.

Now, the full play-by-play of the inning:

Brewers fifth.
West pitching.
McGehee grounded out, third baseman E.Bonifacio to first baseman Cantu.
R.Braun safe at first on fielding error by shortstop H.Ramirez.
Fielder singled to center, R.Braun to second.
Penn pitching.
M.Cameron walked, R.Braun to third, Fielder to second.
Hardy grounded into fielder's choice, third baseman E.Bonifacio to catcher J.Baker, Fielder to third, M.Cameron to second, Hardy to first, R.Braun out.
B.Hall walked, Fielder scored, M.Cameron to third, Hardy to second.
Kendall walked on a full count, M.Cameron scored, Hardy to third, B.Hall to second.
Looper walked, Hardy scored, B.Hall to third, Kendall to second.
Sanches pitching.
C.Hart safe at first on throwing error by third baseman E.Bonifacio, B.Hall scored, Kendall to third, Looper to second.
McGehee doubled to left, Kendall scored, Looper scored, C.Hart to third.
R.Braun struck out.

Whew, that's a screenful. Sean West entered the inning having given up three runs already in the game, all earned. His role in this inning is the easy one to analyze:

Brewers fifth.
West pitching.
McGehee grounded out, third baseman E.Bonifacio to first baseman Cantu.
R.Braun safe at first on fielding error by shortstop H.Ramirez.
Fielder singled to center, R.Braun to second.
Penn pitching.

McGehee's groundout is self-explanatory. Braun's at bat is trickier: he should have been the second out of the inning, but he reached base. Remember this for later. Fielder's single is also a simple ending for West's night. He departed the game having allowed two runners to reach base.

Now, when Penn entered the game, there should have been two outs. However, Rule 10.16(i) says

When pitchers are changed during an inning, the relief pitcher shall not have the benefit of previous chances for outs not accepted in determining earned runs.

So even if there should have been two outs, Penn does not get the benefit of the error for determining his earned and unearned runs. It's probably easiest to examine his outing play by play.

M.Cameron walked, R.Braun to third, Fielder to second.

Braun and Fielder remain West's responsibility.
Hardy grounded into fielder's choice, third baseman E.Bonifacio to catcher J.Baker, Fielder to third, M.Cameron to second, Hardy to first, R.Braun out.

This is a confusing play, especially if you see West was charged with two runs in the inning. Since he was responsible for only two batters and Braun was out at the plate, shouldn't he only be responsible for Fielder from this point forward? The answer is no. It's easiest to think of this situation as if Penn came in with no one on base. In that case, Hardy would have come up with Cameron on first. His fielder's choice would then have wiped out Cameron. It's not Penn's fault Braun was on third base to be put out on the fielder's choice. Ergo, Cameron takes Braun's place as West's responsibility.
B.Hall walked, Fielder scored, M.Cameron to third, Hardy to second.

The first of West's runners scores. It's tricky here, too, because of the two perspectives on how many outs there should be. From West's perspective, Hardy's fielder's choice should have ended the inning. Thus the run Fielder scores against him is unearned. From Penn's perspective, Hardy's FC was only the second out of the inning, so he's still on the hook for future earned runs.
Kendall walked on a full count, M.Cameron scored, Hardy to third, B.Hall to second.

Since Cameron took over Braun's role as West's responsibility, this is the second of West's two runs to score. Again, the inning should be over from his perspective, so this run against him is unearned.
Looper walked, Hardy scored, B.Hall to third, Kendall to second.

Hardy is the first of Penn's runners to come around and score. Since from his perspective there should only be two outs, this run is earned against him.

Penn was finally pulled after going to a 2-1 count on Corey Hart. If Hart had proceeded to walk, he would have counted against Penn (see Rule 10.16(h)). Mercifully, he didn't walk, keeping things a little simpler.

Brian Sanches entered the game with the bases loaded and all three runners Penn's responsibility. The same rule that applied to Penn applies to Sanches, namely that from his perspective there should only be two out. Let's break his outing down play by play as well.

Sanches pitching.
C.Hart safe at first on throwing error by third baseman E.Bonifacio, B.Hall scored, Kendall to third, Looper to second.

This error should have ended the inning from both Penn's point of view and Sanches' point of view. Thus Hall's run counts against Penn, but it is unearned. Hart is Sanches' responsibility.
McGehee doubled to left, Kendall scored, Looper scored, C.Hart to third.

Both Kendall and Looper reached because of Penn, so their runs are charged to him. Since the inning should have ended after Hart's at bat, neither run is earned. Both runners are Sanches' now, so close the book on Penn.
R.Braun struck out.

The inning finally ends.

The total damage? West is responsible for two runs, both unearned. Penn is responsible for four runs, only one of which is earned. Sanches gave up zero runs. In total, the team gave up six runs, only one of which is earned, right?

Wait! We're not finished yet. From the team's perspective, the inning should have ended with Hardy's fielder's choice, before any runs scored. So even though Penn got charged with an earned run in the inning, that run is marked down as something called a team unearned run. Marking it down as such avoids penalizing the team for putting in a relief pitcher. Remember how Penn entering the game "reset" the number of outs there should have been? If that was carried over to the team, it would effectively force the Marlins' pitching staff to record four would-be outs in the inning before runs became unearned. In short, team unearned runs undo for the team what Rule 10.16(i) does for a relief pitcher.

This can lead to some interesting "discrepancies" in team pitching totals. For example, examine Baseball-Reference's team pitching totals. Note that Cleveland has given up 284 earned runs this year. If you go to Cleveland's team page and sum up the earned runs for every pitcher, you get 284. Duh, right? Not quite. Take a journey over to MLB.com's team pitching totals. There you will note Cleveland as a team has given up 283 earned runs. The difference is one team unearned run on May 12. In that game Tony Sipp gave up an earned run, but it was a team unearned run. Since Baseball-Reference totals earned runs by summing up the earned runs of each pitcher, they end up off by one in this case, affecting the team's ERA. In this case MLB.com's total is correct and the Indians' team ERA is 0.02 lower than what Baseball-Reference shows. Baltimore is in the same situation.

Baseball's rules can be extremely complicated at times. I feel bad for anyone scoring the game last night.

Highest Combined Game Scores, Dual No-Decisions

2009-06-01T20:51:00.005-05:00

I've talked about game scores a couple times in the past. For a refresher on how they're figured, click here to see a list of the lowest game scores in a pitching win. On Memorial Day, Yovani Gallardo and Chris Carpenter squared off with dual eight-inning two-hitters. The Brewers wound up winning 1-0 in ten innings, leaving both starters with no-decisions for their efforts.

Carpenter wound up with a game score of 88 while Gallardo came in at 80. In the Brew Crew Ball game thread for the game, a question was asked about the highest combined game score for a game in which both starters wound up with no-decisions. I think it makes for an interesting list.

Highest Combined Game Scores, Dual No-Decisions
Since 1954

226 - October 2, 1965 - Chris Short (114) at Rob Gardner (112)
207 - September 24, 1971 - Ken Forsch (98) at Clay Kirby (109)
203 - June 6, 1964 - Jim Bouton (87) at Dean Chance (116)
203 - July 9, 1971 - Rudy May (103) at Vida Blue (100)
199 - September 30, 1964 - Bob Veale (97) at Jim Maloney (102)
193 - September 1, 1967 - Gaylord Perry (112) at Mel Queen (81)
193 - August 27, 1976 - Catfish Hunter (89) at Frank Tanana (104)
190 - May 1, 1974 - Tom Seaver (106) at Andy Messersmith (84)
189 - May 21, 1957 - Jim Bunning (92) at Ray Moore (97)
189 - July 27, 1966 - Jim Bunning (91) at Sandy Koufax (98)
189 - August 26, 1968 - Jim Perry (91) at Frank Bertaina (98)

Obviously this list is fueled by starting pitchers going deep into games before the advent of pitch counts. The highest combined score in the past 10 years was 180, achieved by Kevin Millwood (96) and Darren Oliver (84) on August 28, 1999. Here are the scores of other games since 1999 that saw a combined score of at least 168: 174, 173, 169, 168.

Balking Debuts

2009-05-27T18:47:00.004-05:00

Last Thursday, Kris Medlen was the Atlanta Braves' starting pitcher in a game against the Colorado Rockies. It was his major league debut. He lasted three innings, giving up five runs on three hits and five walks. He also hit a batter and threw two wild pitches. The Rockies went on to win the game 9-0.

The point of this isn't that Medlen had a rough debut - no doubt a desire to impress in his first big league game led to overthrowing and wildness (he has a career BB/9 of 2.0 in the minors). I only bring up his debut because of something else he did: he balked. With two out in the first inning, Todd Helton singled to end a 10-pitch at bat. Medlen then balked, moving Helton to second and allowing Brad Hawpe to drive him in.

Now, Medlen isn't the first player to balk in his major league pitching debut. In fact, he's the 127th player to do so since 1954. Here are some other members of the club: Jim Colborn, Gary Nolan, Jerry Reuss, Milt Wilcox, Bob McClure, Bob Walk, Fernando Valenzuela, Ron Darling, Rudy Seanez, Shane Reynolds, Freddy Garcia, and position players Rocky Colavito and Cesar Tovar. Surprisingly, only three pitchers joined in 1988, the "Year of the Balk."

Nine pitchers balked in their first two games (Medlen's second start was balk-free):

Interestingly, all nine players debuted in the National League. Of the 127 pitchers with debut balks since 1954, 80 of them started in the NL. I guess the senior circuit doesn't cotton to new kids on the block with their fancy moves.

Medlen is the thirteen player to balk in his pitching debut since the turn of the millenium. The others:

The last season without a first-time pitcher balk was 2000. The other such years since 1954 were 1955, 1957, 1959, 1964, 1965, and 1994.

So far, Kris Medlen is the only one of sixty-one new pitchers in 2009 to balk. Who knows? Maybe tonight will feature the guy who makes it two of sixty-two.

Consecutive Decisions

2009-05-24T08:32:00.004-05:00

With the advent of pitch counts and specialized bullpens, starting pitchers have begun averaging fewer and fewer innings per start. One often-noted effect of this is a reduced number of complete games and shutouts around the league. Where the league complete games leader routinely reached double-digits and often more than 20 CG in the 1970's, now baseball has seen only two pitchers complete more than ten games in one year since 1999: Randy Johnson's 12 that season and CC Sabathia's 10 last year. Shutouts are the same way. Where leaders used to regularly place between 5-10, baseball has only seen three players reach five in a year since 1999: AJ Burnett in 2002, Dontrelle Willis in 2005, and CC Sabathia in 2008.

Complete games and shutouts aren't the only casualties of starters not pitching as deep into games anymore. The number of decisions by those starters have been falling as well. If pitchers only last six innings on a quality night, that leaves plenty of time for a bullpen to blow a lead. Likewise, there are plenty of opportunities for his offense to let him off the hook for the loss. This means it's tough for starters to put together long streaks of decisions in each start - somewhere along the line some reliever or batter messes things up.

NOTE: When I wrote this, I was actually looking at streaks of decisions in each appearance, whether starting or in relief. Since starters appeared in relief more prior to the 1970's, it makes a difference in some of the streaks below. You can find the longest streaks of decisions in starts here. The longest such streak is really Fergie Jenkins' 63 in 1970-1971. Sorry for the confusion.

On Friday night, the Toronto Blue Jays lost to the Atlanta Braves 1-0 after a Casey Kotchman sacrifice fly drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 8th. Jays starter Roy Halladay had been pinch-hit for the inning before, so Jesse Carlson was tagged with the loss. Notably, Halladay hadn't had a no-decision since June 25, 2008. That start also occurred in interleague play, but the Blue Jays were at home, so you can't blame pinch-hitting. Halladay's string of 26 decisions in 26 starts ties him for the 40th longest such streak since 1954. The only other starters to carry a streak that far since 2000 were Roy Oswalt (26, 2004-2005), Tim Wakefield (26, 2007), and Bartolo Colon (30, 2004-2005). Colon is one of only nineteen pitchers to reach 30 straight decisions since 1954:

Gaylord Perry, 47 (28 W, 19 L) - 1972-1973
Nolan Ryan, 42 (25-17) - 1974-1975
Juan Marichal, 41 (28-13) - 1964-1965
Wilbur Wood, 38 (20-18) - 1972-1973
Charlie Hough, 36 (18-18) - 1985-1986
Fritz Peterson, 35 (18-17) - 1971-1972
Nolan Ryan, 34 (19-15) - 1976-1977
Dick Ellsworth, 34 (17-17) - 1963-1964
Gaylord Perry, 33 (12-21) - 1974-1975
Fergie Jenkins, 33 (20-13) - 1970
Robin Roberts, 33 (15-18) - 1959-1960
Bob Friend, 32 (19-13) - 1958
Ron Guidry, 31 (21-10) - 1983-1984
Luis Tiant, 31 (20-11) - 1973
Stan Bahnsen, 31 (12-19) - 1973-1974
Bartolo Colon, 30 (18-12) - 2004-2005
Steve Rogers, 30 (19-11) - 1981-1982
Mickey Lolich, 30 (19-11) - 1971-1972
Fergie Jenkins, 30 (20-10) - 1970-1971

Randy Johnson came close to joining in 1998, carrying a streak of 29 straight through the end of the year, but the Diamondbacks bullpen couldn't protect a lead in his first start of 1999.

Halladay hasn't had a no-decision against an American League opponent since September 21, 2007, when he threw 8 2/3 innings against the Yankees in what was eventually a 14-inning, 5-4 Toronto triumph. That gives him 40 straight starts with a win or loss against the AL, placing him behind only Perry's 47 51 and Ryan's 42 41 since 1954. In those 40 starts, Halladay is 29-11 with a 2.79 ERA and 246 strikeouts in exactly 300 innings pitched. Can he go ~~eight~~ twelve more starts to eclipse Perry? It's definitely something to keep tabs on when following the tight AL East race.

SO > TB, Minimum 200 AB

2009-05-20T20:07:00.002-05:00

My first real post on this blog had to do with one of my favorite topics: guys with more strikeouts than total bases. Since I never posted a follow-up with 2007 and 2008 players added, I figured now was a good time. The 2009 season is about one-quarter over, so it's also easy to look at guys who might join the list.

First up, the updated list of players with more strikeouts than total bases in 200 or more at bats:

Name	Year	Team	Position	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG	TB	SO	OPS+
Bill Bergen	1911	BRO	C	227	.132	.183	.154	35	42	-4
Billy Consolo	1954	BOS	SS	242	.227	.324	.277	67	69	59
Billy Consolo	1959	BOS WSH	SS	216	.213	.331	.269	58	59	67
Ernie Fazio	1963	HOU	2B	228	.184	.273	.281	64	70	65
Jerry Kindall	1963	CLE	2B	234	.205	.266	.295	69	71	58
Dave Nicholson	1964	CHW	LF	294	.204	.329	.365	107	126	96
Chris Cannizzaro	1965	NYM	C	251	.183	.270	.231	58	60	46
Don Zimmer	1965	WSA	C	226	.199	.284	.252	57	59	55
Ray Oyler	1966	DET	SS	210	.171	.263	.252	53	62	48
Jerry Zimmerman	1967	MIN	C	234	.167	.243	.192	45	49	26
Ray Oyler	1968	DET	SS	215	.135	.213	.186	40	59	20
George Scott	1968	BOS	1B	350	.171	.236	.237	83	88	40
Dick Tracewski	1968	DET	SS	212	.156	.239	.236	50	51	43
Al Weis	1968	NYM	SS	274	.172	.234	.204	56	63	32
Darrel Chaney	1969	CIN	SS	209	.191	.278	.234	49	75	42
Ray Oyler	1969	SEP	SS	255	.165	.260	.267	68	80	49
Jim Mason	1975	NYY	SS	223	.152	.228	.211	47	49	27
John Hale	1978	SEA	RF	211	.171	.283	.265	56	64	56
Leroy Stanton	1978	SEA	LF	302	.182	.265	.248	75	80	47
Bobby Bonds	1980	STL	LF	231	.203	.305	.316	73	74	72
Tom Donohue	1980	CAL	C	218	.188	.216	.243	53	63	27
Reggie Jackson	1983	CAL	RF	397	.194	.290	.340	135	140	74
Gary Pettis	1987	CAL	CF	394	.208	.302	.259	102	124	53
Jody Davis	1989	ATL	C	231	.169	.246	.242	56	61	39
John Shelby	1989	LAD	CF	345	.183	.237	.229	79	92	36
Jeff Kunkel	1990	TEX	SS	200	.170	.221	.280	56	66	40
Rob Deer	1991	DET	RF	448	.179	.314	.386	173	175	92
Hensley Meulens	1991	NYY	LF	288	.222	.276	.319	92	97	65
Gary Pettis	1991	TEX	CF	282	.216	.341	.277	78	91	75
Andujar Cedeno	1992	HOU	SS	220	.173	.232	.277	61	71	47
Jack Clark	1992	BOS	DH	257	.210	.350	.311	80	87	82
Billy Ashley	1995	LAD	LF	215	.237	.320	.372	80	88	90
Benji Gil	1995	TEX	SS	415	.219	.266	.347	144	147	60
Kimera Bartee	1996	DET	CF	217	.253	.308	.304	66	77	57
Archi Cianfrocco	1997	SDP	1B	220	.245	.328	.355	78	80	85
Mark Johnson	1997	PIT	1B	219	.215	.345	.315	69	78	73
Ryan McGuire	1998	MON	1B	210	.186	.292	.243	51	55	46
Greg Vaughn	2002	TBD	LF	251	.163	.286	.315	79	82	60
Mark Bellhorn	2005	BOS NYY	2B	300	.210	.324	.357	107	112	81
Mark Bellhorn	2006	SDP	3B	253	.190	.285	.344	87	90	66
Ryan Langerhans	2007	ATL OAK WSN	CF	210	.167	.272	.305	64	81	53
Andruw Jones	2008	LAD	CF	209	.158	.256	.249	52	76	34
Tony Pena	2008	KCR	SS	225	.169	.189	.209	47	49	7

Angels catcher Jeff Mathis came close to joining in 2008. Fortunately for him, two singles in his last two at-bats of the campaign gave him 90 total bases to go with his 90 strikeouts in 283 at bats.

As I said, the 2009 season is roughly 25% over. Here are the players with more strikeouts than total bases in 50 or more AB so far:

Brent Lillibridge, CHW - 68 AB, 13 TB, 21 SO
Edwin Encarnacion, CIN - 63 AB, 12 TB, 19 SO
Jordan Schafer, ATL - 125 AB, 40 TB, 46 SO
B.J. Upton, TBR - 136 AB, 38 TB, 43 SO
Cameron Maybin, FLA - 84 AB, 26 TB, 31 SO
Josh Fields, CHW - 129 AB, 40 TB, 43 SO
Travis Ishikawa, SFG - 89 AB, 26 TB, 28 SO
Ramon Vazquez, PIT - 59 AB, 13 TB, 15 SO
Jeff Mathis, LAA - 58 AB, 16 TB, 18 SO
Kelly Shoppach, CLE - 66 AB, 26 TB, 27 SO
Rob Johnson, SEA - 63 AB, 18 TB, 19 SO

Most Plate Appearances, No Singles

2009-05-16T11:57:00.002-05:00

Brad Nelson, 0 for 21 this year, was outrighted (booted off the 40-man roster but not released) to the minors by Milwaukee earlier this week. Since he was outrighted once before, he had the option to choose free agency rather than report to AAA. He did and has had contact from several teams. Until he signs, however, his brief major league career qualifies him for the following list:

Most Career Plate Apperances, No Singles

Name	Years	PA	H	2B	3B	HR
Bobby Tiefenauer	1952-1968	48	1	1	0	0
Randy Tate	1975	47	0	0	0	0
Bo McLaughlin	1976-1982	45	0	0	0	0
Tony McKnight	2000-2001	44	0	0	0	0
Daryl Patterson	1968-1974	37	0	0	0	0
Charlie Cady	1883-1884	36	2	1	1	0
George Borchers	1888-1895	34	2	2	0	0
Ted Davidson	1965-1968	34	0	0	0	0
Charley Stanceu	1941-1946	34	0	0	0	0
Hank Biasatti	1949	33	2	2	0	0
Andy Hassler	1971-1985	31	0	0	0	0
Brad Nelson	2008-2009	31	2	2	0	0
Sean Burnett	2004-2008	30	1	1	0	0
Skip Pitlock	1970-1975	30	2	1	0	1

As you can tell by the years each played, most of those players were pitches. Only Hank Biasatti, a first baseman for the Athletics, and Nelson were not pitchers for a significant portion of their careers. Charlie Cody started five games as a pitcher and also appeared in the outfield, second base, and catcher.

Another active position player who has struggled to single is Matthew Brown, a third baseman for the Angels. He batted 27 times in 2007 and 2008, hitting only a double. Brown is currently playing for the AAA Salt Lake Bees. Both Nelson and Brown will likely get more chances to single in the majors, so hopefully their time around this list is short.

Update: Last Position Players to Pitch by Team

2009-05-07T19:56:00.004-05:00

UPDATE: New post through August 30, 2009 here.

Since plenty of people have stumbled across my April 2008 post about the last position players to pitch for each team, I figured it was high time for an update. So far in 2009, four position players have taken the mound for their teams: Paul Janish, Cody Ross, Nick Swisher, and Jonathan Van Every. Last year Jamie Burke, Aaron Miles, and shortstop Tony Pena pitched. Burke even picked up a loss.

Here's the updated list:

Last Position Player to Pitch by Team

Team	Name	Date
Arizona Diamondbacks	Jeff Cirillo	8-20-2007
Atlanta Braves	John Russell	6-25-1989
Baltimore Orioles	Manny Alexander	4-19-1996
Boston Red Sox	Jonathan Van Every	4-30-2009
Chicago Cubs	Gary Gaetti	7-3-1999
Chicago White Sox	Dave Martinez	8-4-1995
Cincinnati Reds	Paul Janish	5-6-2009
Cleveland Indians	Tim Laker	4-20-2004
Colorado Rockies	Todd Zeile	9-14-2002
Detroit Tigers	Shane Halter	10-1-2000
Florida Marlins	Cody Ross	4-26-2009
Houston Astros	Tim Bogar	6-24-2000
Kansas City Royals	Tony Pena	6-21-2008
Los Angeles Angels	Chili Davis	6-17-1993
Los Angeles Dodgers	Robin Ventura	6-25-2004
Milwaukee Brewers	Trent Durrington	4-17-2004
Minnesota Twins	John Moses	7-31-1990
New York Mets	Todd Zeile	7-26-2004
New York Yankees	Nick Swisher	4-13-2009
Oakland Athletics	Frank Menechino	7-18-2000
Philadelphia Phillies	Tomas Perez	5-13-2002
Pittsburgh Pirates	Abraham Nunez	5-30-2004
San Diego Padres	Sean Burroughs	9-20-2005
Seattle Mariners	Jamie Burke	7-6-2008
San Francisco Giants	Greg Litton	7-4-1991
St. Louis Cardinals	Aaron Miles	6-13-2008
Tampa Bay Rays	Josh Wilson	6-8-2007
Texas Rangers	Scott Sheldon	9-6-2000
Toronto Blue Jays	Frank Menechino	8-28-2004
Washington Nationals	Junior Noboa	7-20-1990*

* - Fellow position player Dave Martinez pitched right before Noboa in the same game.

The Unique Nationals

2009-05-06T18:33:00.004-05:00

The Washington Nationals might have the worst record in the majors, but they've got one thing going for them. Through May 5th, every regular* in the Nationals lineup has an OPS+ over 100. No other team can claim that.

* Guys in the top spots on each team's Baseball-Reference.com page.

Update: Most Games Pitched With Zero Plate Appearances

2009-05-04T19:32:00.002-05:00

Back in the day I looked at pitchers who have made the most appearances without ever batting. With guys like Brian Shouse and Jamie Walker still LOOGY'ing it up in the AL East, I thought it'd be interesting to take another look at the leaderboard.

Most Career Games Pitched, Zero Career Plate Appearances

*active player - stats through 5/3/2009

Obviously the guys that were on the list last time have climbed further up the ladder. Walker became only the eighth pitcher to appear in 500 games without batting last June and since Bradford is currently on the disabled list, he should take over as the active leader pretty soon. Speaking of the submariner, he's only 96 appearances away from setting the record for a righthander, but Francisco Rodriguez might end up seizing the top spot shortly after Bradford gets there.

J.J. Putz is the only new addition to the list. As I mentioned last time, Jason Frasor is getting near to 300 games without batting. He currently sits at 291 and, apropos of nothing, is 4-0 in ten appearances this year. Orioles closer George Sherrill has now appeared in 263 games without batting. The other active players above 200 games:

Mike MacDougal (262)
Huston Street (259)
Jesse Crain (256)
Bobby Jenks (231)
Jonathan Papelbon (212)

A Couple Quick Notes

2009-04-29T18:00:00.004-05:00

Just a couple things to pass along:

Plunk Everyone is a blog dedicated to the humble hit by pitch. It's well worth reading. The author mentioned both on his blog and in a post at Brew Crew Ball on Tuesday that Jason Kendall became only the second player to be hit by all 30 major league teams (can you guess the first without looking? I'm guessing you'll be surprised). The Brewers backstop has now been hit 235 times by 184 pitchers.
Elias Says..., a column at ESPN.com, notes that nine different Mets have tripled over the teams last nine games coming into today. The Mets are the first team to do that since 1983. Right on cue, Jeremy Reed hit his first triple of the season today to become the tenth player in ten games, but it wasn't enough to stop New York from losing to Florida.
Yovani Gallardo of the Brewers was the winning pitcher in his team's 1-0 victory. He also hit the game-winning home run in the bottom of the 7th inning. He departed after the 8th inning, having thrown 116 pitches. Had he pitched a scoreless ninth, he would have joined the following pitchers since 1954 who homered in all their team's runs while throwing a shutout:
- Bob Welch (LAD) on June 17, 1983 - won 1-0
- Juan Pizarro (CHC) on September 16, 1971 - won 1-0
- Sonny Siebert (BOS) on September 2, 1971 - won 3-0
- Jim Bunning (PHI) on May 5, 1965 - won 1-0
- Early Wynn (CHW) on May 1, 1959 - won 1-0
There are a couple honorable mentions as well. Juan Pizarro drove in both Cubs runs during his 2-0 shutout on May 10, 1963 but only one came via the long ball. Also, though Roger Freed drove in one run, that shouldn't take away from Rick Wise's 3 RBI on 2 HR for the Phillies on June 23, 1971 -- all while he was no-hitting the Reds.

Two or Fewer Total Bases

2009-04-24T20:50:00.002-05:00

After going 1 for 4 in tonight's game, Jason Kendall of the Brewers is hitting .143/.245/.167. He's got six hits (five singles and a double), five walks, and one hit by pitch. His lack of power is well-known around baseball, thanks in large part to his 6 HR in 2453 plate appearances since leaving Pittsburgh. So far this season Kendall has played in thirteen games and has had fewer than two total bases in each.

I'm sure he'll manage to hit three singles, a double and a single, or even a home run at some point, but it might take a while. So that thought made me curious about the longest streak of games with two or fewer total bases to start a season, especially among starters.

Given that he's both punchless and a catcher, Kendall isn't likely to pinch-hit much. I'm not that interested in a list that includes pinch-hitters anyway, because I don't think a guy should be penalized for not hitting pinch-hit triples or home runs very often. Therefore I've looked only at games where the player in question had two or more plate appearances. Obviously, a triple or home run could be overlooked, but that's okay.

As usual, this covers players from 1954 to the present.

Most Consecutive Games with Two or Fewer Total Bases to Start a Season
(minimum 2 PA in each game)

Ruben Amaro, 1960 PHI - 82 games
Dal Maxvill, 1970 STL - 69 games
Bill Russell, 1975 LAD - 64 games
Fred Stanley, 1982 OAK - 63 games
Rich Morales, 1973 CHW-SDP - 58 games
Dave Concepcion, 1988 CIN - 55 games
Luis Gomez, 1980 ATL - 55 games
Alvaro Espinoza, 1989 NYY - 49 games
Fred Kendall, 1976 SDP - 47 games
Wilbur Wood, 1972 CHW - 46 games
Al Weis, 1966 CHW - 46 games
Lance Blankenship, 1990 OAK - 45 games
Pat Rockett, 1978 ATL - 45 games

So not only does Kendall have months to go to match Amaro, he's got a ways to go before he reaches his dad's mark. Fans who were around in the 1970's no doubt recognize lefthanded knuckleballer Wilbur Wood. He actually started 49 games in 1972 but was pulled before batting twice in three of them.

It's been nearly two decades since someone went 45 games into the season without 3+ total bases in a game, though, so let's look at a list of players since 2000. Unsurprisingly, the list is littered with pitchers, so I'm going to drop them.

Most Consecutive Games with Two or Fewer Total Bases to Start a Season
(since 2000; minimum 2 PA in each game)

Ramon Martinez, 2007 LAD - 35 games
Luis Rivas, 2005 MIN - 34 games
Ross Gload, 2008 KCR - 31 games
Jorge Fabregas, 2002 ANA-MIL - 31 games
Willie Bloomquist, 2008 SEA - 30 games
Adam Everett, 2002 HOU - 30 games

Jason Kendall reached 28 games to start the 2007 season, one year after going 23 games without three total bases. Two doubles and a single in the second game of last season messed up the trend, but 2009 might still be his year.

Giving Up Home Runs To Pitchers

2009-04-19T20:38:00.005-05:00

In the third game of the season, Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo hit a home run off Giants starter Randy Johnson. It was quickly noted that this was the first homer hit by a pitcher off the Big Unit. Pitchers had faced Johnson 500 times in his twenty-two year career and not a single one had hit a home run. No opposing pitcher had ever knocked one of Randy Johnson's offerings over the fence. Are you impressed yet?

It turns out other pitchers have faced opposing pitchers 500 times without giving up a home run. Since 1954, thirteen different hurlers have done so. Two of those pitchers were active in 2008.

500+ PA Against Pitchers, Zero Home Runs Allowed

Don Drysdale, 1016 PA
Tommy John, 861
Andy Benes, 757
Dwight Gooden, 622
Jon Lieber, 603
Sonny Siebert, 573
Jack Billingham, 550
Shawn Estes, 548
Bob Welch, 542
Jim Rooker, 534
Bob Walk, 520
Gary Nolan, 514
Vida Blue, 511

Somehow Randy Johnson facing pitchers 500 times and not giving up a home run seems less impressive when you realize Jon Lieber and Shawn Estes have done the same thing. Actually, I take that back: the real question is how guys like Lieber and Estes made it onto this list of pretty darn good pitchers.

There have been plenty of pitchers who missed that list by only one home run. Thirty-three pitchers allowed only one home run to an opposing pitcher in 500 or more plate appearances since 1954:

Greg Maddux, 1451 PA
Jerry Reuss, 972
Juan Marichal, 961
John Smoltz, 913
Jerry Koosman, 843
Whitey Ford, 841
Burt Hooton, 754
Darryl Kile, 685
Rick Rhoden, 671
Pedro Astacio, 664
Rick Wise, 660
Dean Chance, 627
Terry Mulholland, 616
Ray Burris, 582
Ray Herbert, 577
Joaquin Andujar, 567
Zane Smith, 566
Bob Shaw, 559
Bob Veale, ~557
Al Leiter, 554
John Candelaria, 553
Mike Morgan, 550
Denny Neagle, 537
Steve Renko, 532
John Denny, 528
Pete Harnisch, 526
Sid Fernandez, 525
John Burkett, 523
Mike LaCoss, 514
Bob Miller, 512
Dave Roberts, ~511
Randy Johnson, 509

Whitey Ford and Ray Herbert both pitched before 1954, so it's possible they don't actually belong on the list. Bob Veale and Dave Roberts both made appearances that lack play-by-play accounts and it's hard to estimate how many times they faced opposing pitchers in those games, so their exact place on the list is a little uncertain.

Finally, there is one more pitcher who averaged 500 PA or more between opposing pitcher home runs: Bob Gibson. The Cardinals ace faced opposing hurlers 1150 times and gave up a home run only twice.

Here are some pitchers who may join one of these lists in the relatively near future:

Royals RHP Jamey Wright has faced 494 pitchers without giving up a home run.
Brewers RHP Jeff Suppan has faced 394 pitchers without giving up a home run. It will take the better part of two seasons for him to reach 500.
Veteran RHP Brett Tomko has allowed one homer to an opposing pitcher in 483 career PA against. He's currently playing for the Yankees' AAA club.

That's it.

The Junior Squad

2009-04-13T20:25:00.006-05:00

My dad and I were talking about this the other day. Baseball players seem oddly drawn to naming their sons after themselves. No data to back this up, but it seems like there are a heck of a lot more First Last, Jr.'s among the baseball population than the general population.

Enough to field a full squad, in fact:

C - Sandy Alomar
1B - Billy Sullivan
2B - Jerry Hairston
3B - Ed Sprague
SS - Tony Pena
LF - Jose Cruz
CF - Gary Matthews
RF - Ken Griffey
SP - Jim Bagby
RP - Pedro Borbon

You could have Ruben Amaro, Tony Gwynn and Ozzie Virgil on the bench with Mel Queen, Lew Krausse, and Fred Rath (of course) supporting Borbon out of the 'pen.

First base was the toughest position to fill. There just aren't many good options. I was going to move Sprague there, but there aren't many options at third either. That left a choice between 1930's backup catcher/first baseman Billy Sullivan and the forgettable Pete Rose. You can see which way I went.

Opening Day Oddity

2009-04-06T20:46:00.002-05:00

You may have heard about Felipe Lopez and Tony Clark's performance in today's Rockies-Diamondbacks game. The two switch-hitters each had two home runs and they both hit one from each side of the plate. As the AP recap noted,

Lopez and Clark became the first switch-hitting teammates to homer from both sides of the plate in a game since Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams did it for the New York Yankees on April 23, 2000. It had never been done on opening day.

In fact, today and that Yankees game are the only two times that's happened since 1954. More generally, two switch-hitters have each homered twice in the same game only five times in that span:

Today, obviously - Lopez homered off RHP Aaron Cook in the 1st inning and LHP Glendon Rusch in the 4th inning. Clark homered off Cook in the 3rd and Rusch in the 5th.
September 25, 2008 - The Rays' Ben Zobrist hit two home runs off RHP Armando Galarraga, one in the first inning and one in the eighth. Meanwhile, the Tigers' Ramon Santiago homered off LHP Scott Kazmir in the 1st inning and the 3rd inning. Obviously each guy's home runs were from the same side of the plate.
July 4, 2003 - Bill Mueller and Jason Varitek both homered twice for the Red Sox against the Yankees. Mueller homered off LHP David Wells in the 6th inning and RHP Dan Miceli in the 9th inning. Varitek homered off Wells in the 3rd and 6th.
The aforementioned April 23, 2000 game - Bernie Williams homered off Blue Jays RHP Frank Castillo in the first inning and LHP Clayton Andrews in the fourth inning. Jorge Posada hit round-trippers off the same pitchers but in the second and fourth innings.
August 14, 1996 - In the second-last season of his career, Eddie Murray hit a home run off RHP Jeff D'Amico in the third inning of a game against Milwaukee. He followed it up with a home run off RHP Ricky Bones in the 8th inning. His teammate Roberto Alomar drove one out off D'Amico in the 2nd inning and hit a homer off LHP Ron Villone in the 8th.

The long and short of it: for at least forty years there weren't any games featuring 2 HR by two switch-hitters but today saw the fifth one since 1996.

Most Games Started, Zero Plate Appearances

2009-03-30T20:14:00.004-05:00

With interleague play firmly a part of the MLB schedule, it's nearly impossible for a starting pitcher to go more than a season or two without batting at least once. For the first twenty-five years after the DH rule was introduced, however, it was entirely possible for a starter to spend his entire career in the American League and never bat. Let's look at the pitchers who started the most games without ever stepping to the plate.

Most Career Games Started, Zero Plate Appearances

* - appeared as pinch runner

A footnote: Teddy Higuera batted once in the 1986 All-Star Game, striking out.

Update: Commenter NaOH notes that Flanagan, Guidry, McGregor, and Boddicker batted during the playoffs, so they didn't really go their entire career without batting.

Rookie Ball Errors by Position

2009-03-28T19:18:00.003-05:00

I realized the other day I never finished my series of errors by position at each minor league level. I've done a post for every level above rookie ball and you can find those here: AAA errors by position, AA errors by position posts, A+ errors by position, A errors by position, and A- errors by position. There are four leagues at the rookie level: the Appalachian League, Arizona League, Gulf Coast League, and Pioneer League. Arizona League and Gulf Coast League teams generally play at their parent organization's spring training complexes, while the other leagues are based in different regions. The Pioneer League plays around 76 games, the Appalachian League plays around 66 games, the Gulf Coast League plays 58 games, and the Arizona League plays 56 games. Some franchises, including the Brewers and Dodgers, have an affiliate in more than one of these four leagues.

R Pitchers

R Pitchers Sorted By Most Errors
Name	Team	Org.	TC	E	FPct.
Benjamin Henry	AZL Rangers	TEX	11	8	.273
Eddie Gamboa	Bluefield	BAL	21	5	.762
Jack McGeary	GCL Nationals	WSN	16	5	.688
Baron Short	Orem	LAA	11	5	.545
Matt Baugh	Casper	COL	18	4	.778
Geison Aguasviva	Ogden	LAD	16	4	.750
Adrian Rosario	AZL Brewers	MIL	15	4	.733
Joselito Adames	AZL Athletics	OAK	12	4	.667
Cesar Cabral	GCL Red Sox	BOS	12	4	.667
Julio Bello	GCL Mets	NYM	11	4	.636
Jose Pena	AZL Cubs	CHC	9	4	.556
Tyler Sample	AZL Royals	KCR	6	4	.333

R Pitchers Sorted By Lowest FPct. (minimum 10 total chances)
Name	Team	Org.	TC	E	FPct.
Benjamin Henry	AZL Rangers	TEX	11	8	.273
Baron Short	Orem	LAA	11	5	.545
Julio Bello	GCL Mets	NYM	11	4	.636
Joselito Adames	AZL Athletics	OAK	12	4	.667
Cesar Cabral	GCL Red Sox	BOS	12	4	.667
Jack McGeary	GCL Nationals	WSN	16	5	.688
Danny Salazar	GCL Indians	CLE	10	3	.700
Luis Cota	Idaho Falls	KCR	11	3	.727
Danny Rondon	Elizabethton	MIN	11	3	.727
Adrian Rosario	AZL Brewers	MIL	15	4	.733
APP Pitchers			1202	118	.902
AZL Pitchers			1008	112	.889
GCL Pitchers			1657	158	.905
PIO Pitchers			1218	95	.922
R Pitchers			5085	483	.905

One hopes Benjamin Henry is getting plenty of pitchers' fielding practice this spring.

R Catchers

R Catchers Sorted By Most Errors
Name	Team	Org.	TC	E	FPct.
Leonel de los Santos	AZL Rangers	TEX	416	11	.974
Alvaro Sosa	AZL Cubs	CHC	236	10	.958
Brandon Harrigan	GCL Tigers	DET	175	10	.943
Beau Brooks	Orem	LAA	356	9	.975
Michael Roberts	Helena	MIL	303	8	.974
Sean McCauley	Idaho Falls	KCR	404	7	.983
Luis Bernardo	Bluefield	BAL	322	7	.978
Jack Cawley	Johnson City	STL	252	7	.972
Josmil Pinto	GCL Twins	MIN	219	7	.968
Chris Davis	Missoula	ARI	197	7	.964
Chase Weems	GCL Yankees	NYY	177	7	.960

R Catchers Sorted By Lowest FPct. (minimum 200 total chances)
Name	Team	Org.	TC	E	FPct.
Alvaro Sosa	AZL Cubs	CHC	236	10	.958
Josmil Pinto	GCL Twins	MIN	219	7	.968
Jack Cawley	Johnson City	STL	252	7	.972
Leonel de los Santos	AZL Rangers	TEX	416	11	.974
Michael Roberts	Helena	MIL	303	8	.974
Beau Brooks	Orem	LAA	356	9	.975
Sandy Leon	GCL Nationals	WSN	209	5	.976
Dashenko Ricardo	GCL Orioles	BAL	213	5	.977
Orlando Santos	Bristol	CHW	228	5	.978
Luis Bernardo	Bluefield	BAL	322	7	.978
APP Catchers			6164	85	.986
AZL Catchers			4599	82	.982
GCL Catchers			7381	142	.981
PIO Catchers			5754	87	.985
R Catchers			23898	396	.983

There's nothing particularly remarkable about rookie league catchers, though the two organizational leagues (AZL & GCL) seem to have more errors assessed.

R First Basemen

R 1B Sorted By Most Errors
Name	Team	Org.	TC	E	FPct.
Elvin Polanco	Bluefield	BAL	571	14	.975
Eligio Sonoqui	Princeton	TBR	569	13	.977
Gerardo Rodriguez	Danville	ATL	495	11	.978
Brock Kjeldgaard	Helena	MIL	808	9	.989
Alberto Espinosa	Idaho Falls	KCR	465	9	.981
Chris Hardin	AZL Padres	SDP	425	9	.979
David Medina	GCL Cardinals	STL	372	9	.976
Randy Molina	AZL Mariners	SEA	371	9	.976
Kyle Orr	Ogden	LAD	367	9	.975
Cameron Robulack	AZL Brewers	MIL	176	9	.949

R 1B Sorted By Lowest FPct. (minimum 200 total chances)
Name	Team	Org.	TC	E	FPct.
Devery van de Keere	Idaho Falls	KCR	234	8	.966
Michael Ortiz	AZL Rangers	TEX	294	8	.973
Kyle Orr	Ogden	LAD	367	9	.975
Elvin Polanco	Bluefield	BAL	571	14	.975
Randy Molina	AZL Mariners	SEA	371	9	.976
David Medina	GCL Cardinals	STL	372	9	.976
Edinho Meyer	GCL Orioles	BAL	248	6	.976
Eligio Sonoqui	Princeton	TBR	569	13	.977
Gerardo Rodriguez	Danville	ATL	495	11	.978
Pedro Ramos	AZL Brewers	MIL	317	7	.978
APP 1B			6233	102	.984
AZL 1B			4900	96	.980
GCL 1B			7954	114	.986
PIO 1B			5800	88	.985
R 1B			24887	400	.984

Cameron Robulack had a rough go of things at first base last year. You'll probably notice this as time goes on, but the AZL Brewers really struggled on defense. Speaking of Milwaukee, the Brewers are the first organization in this post to have players from two affiliates show up in the same table.

R Second Basemen

R 2B Sorted By Most Errors
Name	Team	Org.	TC	E	FPct.
Ted Obregon	GCL Cardinals	STL	186	20	.892
Jerome Hoes	GCL Orioles	BAL	213	15	.930
Ivan Contreras	Orem	LAA	285	12	.958
Dominic de la Osa	Elizabethton	MIN	253	12	.953
Robert Brooks	GCL Braves	ATL	171	12	.930
Adenson Chourio	GCL Pirates	PIT	251	11	.956
Jose Altuve	Greeneville	HOU	210	11	.948
Elias Otero	Princeton	TBR	147	11	.925
7 tied with				10

R 2B Sorted By Lowest FPct. (minimum 100 total chances)
Name	Team	Org.	TC	E	FPct.
Ted Obregon	GCL Cardinals	STL	186	20	.892
Alonzo Harris	GCL Mets	NYM	119	10	.916
Elias Otero	Princeton	TBR	147	11	.925
Anthony Delmonico	Ogden	LAD	134	10	.925
Jerome Hoes	GCL Orioles	BAL	213	15	.930
Robert Brooks	GCL Braves	ATL	171	12	.930
Jose Duran	Helena	MIL	148	10	.932
Albert Cartwright	Greeneville	HOU	157	10	.936
Kenneth Roque	GCL Red Sox	BOS	146	9	.938
Allixon Cequea	AZL Brewers	MIL	116	7	.940
APP 2B			3226	124	.962
AZL 2B			2489	117	.953
GCL 2B			4113	192	.953
PIO 2B			2925	113	.961
R 2B			12753	546	.957

Once again the AZL & GCL feature more errors than the other leagues. Ted Obregon is the first player in this post to field below .900 as well as the first with 20+ errors. Once again two Brewers from two affiliates show up in the same table. It must be an organizational thing.

R Third Basemen

R 3B Sorted By Most Errors
Name	Team	Org.	TC	E	FPct.
Burt Reynolds	Princeton	TBR	161	33	.795
Jake Hanson	GCL Braves	ATL	139	22	.842
Pedro Baez	Ogden	LAD	196	20	.898
Jefry Marte	GCL Mets	NYM	106	19	.821
Levi Carolus	Bluefield	BAL	145	18	.876
Abner Abreu	GCL Indians	CLE	125	18	.856
Ronnie Labrie	GCL Nationals	WSN	109	18	.835
Brett Anderson	GCL Tigers	DET	100	18	.820
Mario Martinez	Pulaski	SEA	170	16	.906
Johan Yan	AZL Rangers	TEX	108	16	.852

R 3B Sorted By Lowest FPct. (minimum 60 total chances)
Name	Team	Org.	TC	E	FPct.
Alcibiades Made	AZL Athletics	OAK	63	13	.794
Burt Reynolds	Princeton	TBR	161	33	.795
Brett Anderson	GCL Tigers	DET	100	18	.820
Jefry Marte	GCL Mets	NYM	106	19	.821
Ronnie Labrie	GCL Nationals	WSN	109	18	.835
Matthew Gaski	AZL Padres	SDP	62	10	.839
Jake Hanson	GCL Braves	ATL	139	22	.842
Johan Yan	AZL Rangers	TEX	108	16	.852
Abner Abreu	GCL Indians	CLE	125	18	.856
Kyle Shelton	Great Falls	CHW	77	10	.870
APP 3B			1879	209	.889
AZL 3B			1561	176	.887
GCL 3B			2522	269	.893
PIO 3B			1628	159	.902
R 3B			7590	813	.893

Third base and shortstop usually feature the worst fielding percentages and this level is no different. The first 30+ errors player appears here (spoiler: he won't be the last). So do the first two sub-.800 fielding percentage guys. Despite those two, the rookie league third basemen collectively outfielded their low A counterparts by 5 points.

R Shortstops

R SS Sorted By Most Errors
Name	Team	Org.	TC	E	FPct.
Reynaldo Navarro	Missoula	ARI	406	38	.906
Carlos George	AZL Brewers	MIL	149	29	.805
Carlos Martinez	Casper	COL	302	25	.917
Juan Silverio	Bristol	CHW	270	24	.911
Devaris Strange-Gordon	Ogden	LAD	307	24	.922
Travis Adair	GCL Braves	ATL	187	24	.872
James Beresford	Elizabethton	MIN	277	23	.917
Yunier Castillo	GCL Cardinals	STL	207	22	.894
Wilmer Flores	Kingsport	NYM	290	19	.934
Darwin Perez	Orem	LAA	281	19	.932

R SS Sorted By Lowest FPct. (minimum 100 total chances)
Name	Team	Org.	TC	E	FPct.
Carlos George	AZL Brewers	MIL	149	29	.805
Travis Adair	GCL Braves	ATL	187	24	.872
Yowill Espinal	AZL Royals	KCR	155	18	.884
Jose Camargo	GCL Indians	CLE	104	12	.885
Yunier Castillo	GCL Cardinals	STL	207	22	.894
Jorge de Leon	Greeneville	HOU	126	12	.905
Reynaldo Navarro	Missoula	ARI	406	38	.906
Luis Sanchez	AZL Brewers	MIL	108	10	.907
Miguel Tejada	GCL Mets	NYM	131	12	.908
Mariekson Gregorius	GCL Reds	CIN	134	12	.910
APP SS			3119	224	.928
AZL SS			2194	177	.919
GCL SS			4172	301	.928
PIO SS			2973	198	.933
R SS			12458	900	.928

Reynaldo Navarro's error total is eye-catching, but he had 100 more total chances than anyone else at the rookie level. Carlos George and his teammate Luis Sanchez had an awful time at shortstop for the AZL Brewers. Overall, the Arizona League was more error-prone than the other leagues.

R Outfielders

R OF Sorted By Most Errors
Name	Team	Org.	TC	E	FPct.
Tony Brown	Billings	CIN	85	10	.882
Jay Austin	Greeneville	HOU	120	9	.925
Alberto Diaz	Missoula	ARI	133	8	.940
Orlando Sandoval	Casper	COL	118	7	.941
Byron Wiley	Billings	CIN	68	7	.897
7 tied with				6

R OF Sorted By Lowest FPct. (minimum 75 total chances)
Name	Team	Org.	TC	E	FPct.
Tony Brown	Billings	CIN	85	10	.882
Jay Austin	Greeneville	HOU	120	9	.925
Allen Caldwell	Burlington	KCR	85	6	.929
Jordan Kendall	Bristol	CHW	86	6	.930
Jose Rangel	AZL Brewers	MIL	97	6	.938
Travis Mitchell	Johnson City	STL	81	5	.938
Alberto Diaz	Missoula	ARI	133	8	.940
Wendell Fairley	AZL Giants	SFG	84	5	.940
Orlando Sandoval	Casper	COL	118	7	.941
Joel Mendez	AZL Mariners	SEA	86	5	.942
APP OF			3383	143	.958
AZL OF			2609	111	.957
GCL OF			4803	139	.971
PIO OF			3012	110	.963
A- OF			13807	503	.964

Billings must have had a pretty crazy outfield last season. Obviously Tony Brown is the only qualifying player with a sub-.900 fielding percentage, but his teammate Byron Wiley is right up there on the leaderboard with him. Surprisingly, the AZL & GCL are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to league fielding by outfielders.

Title (Oops, forgot to put a real one...)

2009-03-22T20:21:00.005-05:00

What do former Giants and Royals pitcher Ryan Jensen and knuckleballer Joe Niekro have in common? They're the only pitchers in the last 30 years to bat six times in one game.

It's not common, but every year there are a few pitchers to bat five times in one game. In fact, since 2000 that's happened seventy-seven times. Only one of those pitchers (Adam Wainwright last August) did so in the 8th spot in the lineup. No matter where the pitcher bats, coming up to the plate that often in one game takes both the pitcher's offense going through the order quickly and effective pitching by the pitcher so he can stay in the game. Obviously, batting six times in one game requires even better offense.

Ryan Jensen's 6 PA game occurred on July 2, 2002. The Giants were playing the Rockies at Coors Field and their offense teed off on Colorado starter Denny Neagle. San Francisco scored eight runs in the first inning on seven hits, including a Tsuyoshi Shinjo grand slam and Jensen double. Neagle left after the Giants followed up with two runs in the second inning. San Francisco wound up scoring 18 runs on 23 hits; Jensen batted in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 9th innings, going 1 for 5 with a sacrifice. He pitched a complete game, giving up five runs on eleven hits and throwing 114 pitches. Here's some Coors Field nostalgia: there were ten home runs in the game.

Joe Niekro's 6 PA game took place in Shea Stadium on July 28, 1985. The Astros didn't score more than three runs in any inning, but they rallied enough to defeat the Mets 12-4. Niekro batted in the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 9th, going 0 for 5 with a walk. He allowed eight hits and four runs on the mound, striking out three and walking two.

Pitchers used to get six PA in one game a little more often. Though it's happened only forty-four times since 1956, twenty-seven of those happened between 1956 and 1965. It really tailed off after 1970: from 1971-1979, there was only one game each season except in 1974 and 1979 when there were none. Obviously only Niekro and Jensen have done it since then.

Rarer still are games where pitchers have batted seven times. Since 1956, that's happened only three times, and not since 1962. Tom Cheney was the last pitcher to do so, in a game between Washington and Baltimore on September 12, 1962. He won the game 2-1 after striking out 21 batters in sixteen innings for the complete game victory. He was 0 for 6 with a bunt.

In a coincidence reminiscent of Rajai Davis and Jolbert Cabrera's weird batting lines on back-to-back nights last September, the other two 7 PA games happened during the same week. First, the Pirates' Vern Law went 1 for 7 on July 23, 1957 while pitching 14 1/3 innings in a 6-3 victory over Cincinnati. Five days later, Detroit's Billy Hoeft was 1 for 6 with a bunt while taking the loss in a 14 1/3 inning outing against the Yankees.

With pitch counts firmly entrenched in modern baseball, it's very unlikely there will be another pitcher who bats seven times in a single game. As Ryan Jensen showed in 2002, it's not out of the question for a pitcher to bat six times. The next time you see a team score early and often, keep an eye on how often their pitcher bats. You never know when you might see history.

Spring IBB and Other Curious Things

2009-03-16T20:06:00.003-05:00

A couple weeks ago I posted about intentional walks in spring. A commenter suggested managers call for IBB in spring in order to get pitchers used to dealing with the pressure of situations that call for putting a baserunner on. I'm kind of dubious about that, but I guess it's possible. Since I wrote about the first two IBB's of spring, there have been five more. The latest victims/beneficiaries: Reds' 1B Kevin Barker, Mariners 3B/1B Russell Branyan, Cardinals SS Tyler Greene, Dodgers IF Mark Loretta, and Royals OF Derrick Robinson. The pitchers tabbed to add a baserunner: Texas RHP's Thomas Diamond and Andrew Laughter, Tigers LHP Fu-Te Ni, Dodgers RHP Ramon Troncoso, and Pirates RHP Ronald Uviedo. Hopefully the experience was useful to them.

Despite only appearing in one game and not giving up a hit, Phillies LHP J.C. Romero is one of only five pitchers with 2 or more pickoffs in spring. In two innings, he walked three batters, picked off two of them, had a throwing error on another pickoff attempt, and allowed a run on a subsequent sacrifice fly. Rockies lefty Franklin Morales leads all pitchers with three pickoffs. Cardinals pitcher Brad Thompson is the only righty with two or more pickoffs. The 1988 season this isn't, but not every pickoff has succeeded. Eighteen pitchers have been called for balks and Morales is the only one with a successful pickoff.

What do Wade LeBlanc, Mike MacDougal, and Luis Perdomo have in common? Each has three wild pitches this spring, and all are one behind Ian Kennedy for the MLB lead. Wildness can be intimidating, too: Wes Littleton, Carlos Marmol, and Jarrod Washburn are tied with three hit by pitches. Inconsistency hits fielders, too: Padres SS Everth Cabrera and Dan Uggla are tied atop the leaderboard with five errors.

Who's played the most innings in the field this spring? If you guessed Colby Rasmus with 99, you'd be correct. Andrew McCutchen and Xavier Paul are second at 96 1/3 and Elvis Andrus leads all infielders with 89 1/3. Jason LaRue leads all catchers with 69 innings. Kyle Lohse and Glen Perkins have pitched fifteen innings, one-third more than Micah Owings.

Micah Hoffpauir has batted the most so far, striding up to home plate 56 times. Despite all the pitchers working on bunting, Brian Barden leads all players with three sacrifices. Jayson Werth has grounded into four double plays despite batting only twenty-six times. Playing a game that's wildly popular for the first week of the regular season, that would put him on pace for about 75 or so this year.

Finally, since I like futility, Chris Nowak is 0 for 12 this spring. He's batted the most without reaching base. With that, it's time to conclude today's roundup of pointless spring trivia.

A Few Innings Short

2009-03-10T18:32:00.006-05:00

MLB Official Rule 10.22(b) covers the minimum innings pitched required to determine each league's ERA champion:

The individual pitching champion in a Major League shall be the pitcher with the lowest earned-run average, provided that the pitcher has pitched at least as many innings in league championship games as the number of games scheduled for each club in his club's league that season.

That means a pitcher needs to throw 162 or more innings to count himself among the league leaders. Thus the ERA title can today only go to starting pitchers who stay healthy. Plenty of guys stay on the mound enough to qualify for the ERA title each year: since 2004, the number of pitchers with 162+ IP has ranged between 77 and 92. But what about guys who just missed the cutoff, whether through injury, delayed callups, or any other reason? Surely there have been some guys who missed the cut by just a few innings. Of course there's no guarantee those guys wouldn't have been lit up in the innings they required, but let's take a look at them anyway:

Mark Eichhorn (1986) - 1.72 ERA in 157 innings for Toronto

Eichhorn made his major league debut in late 1982, but a shoulder injury doomed his career as a starter and forced him into a submarine-style delivery. In 1986, he appeared in 69 games for the Blue Jays, pitching a stunning 157 innings in relief. He wound up 14-6 with 10 saves and 166 strikeouts. Had he picked up five more innings during the season, his ERA would have easily beaten AL leader Roger Clemens' 2.48.
John Denny (1984) - 2.45 ERA in 154 1/3 innings for Philadelphia

One year after taking home the NL Cy Young Award and Comeback Player of the Year Award, Denny came within one start of taking home the NL ERA title. A midseason injury cost him the chance as he missed two months from late May to July. Denny wound up 7-7 over the 22 starts he was able to make in 1984. Alejandro Pena's 2.48 ERA in 199 1/3 innings took the title instead.

Tom Hall (1970) - 2.55 ERA in 155 1/3 innings for Minnesota

The 1970 AL ERA belongs to Diego Segui for putting up a 2.56 ERA in exactly 162 innings. Segui was able to just barely sneak onto the ERA leaderboard, but Twins swingman Tom Hall wasn't quite as lucky. Appearing in 52 games (11 starts) and putting up an 11-6 record with four saves, Hall wound up 6 2/3 innings short. If he had been allowed to start a couple more games before September, he might well have taken Segui's title.
Roger Craig (1959) - 2.06 ERA in 152 2/3 innings for Los Angeles

Called up in June, Craig wound up four outs away from the ERA title (the 154-game schedule was still being used). Utilized as a swingman, Craig started 17 games and appeared 12 times in relief. He wound up 11-5 and even picked up some MVP votes. Much like Mark Eichhorn thirty years later, he easily outpaced the competition in the ERA race: Sam Jones wound up edging Stu Miller and Bob Buhl for the title with a 2.83 ERA.
Jim Konstanty (1950) - 2.66 ERA in 152 innings for Philadelphia

Sal Maglie took the crown with a 2.71 ERA in 206 innings, but Jim Konstanty was right there with him. The relief ace for the Whiz Kids appeared in 74 games, finishing 62 of them, going 16-7 with 22 saves (by modern definition). He was a surprise pick to start Game 1 of that year's World Series and lost 1-0. Konstanty picked up the MVP award for his season, but was two innings away from claiming the ERA title as well.

Konstanty was the first pitcher since 1920 to get close to the title without qualifying. I didn't look beyond 1920 because of the varying schedule length from year to year and drastically different style of pitcher use. I'm also not sure if the ERA title was determined in the same way back then. Did I miss someone in the last 90 years? Let me know.

The WBC Alphabet

2009-03-04T20:04:00.003-06:00

Joe Favorito, author of Sports Marketing and PR Roundup, sent me an interesting tidbit about the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Despite consisting of only sixteen teams and no more than 448 players, this year's WBC can claim something Major League Baseball can't. It turns out that each letter of the alphabet begins at least one player's last name in the event. A brief look at the Encyclopedia of Players at Baseball-Reference.com shows there has never been a major leaguer whose last name began with X. The WBC player whose surname begins with X is below, along with one player for every other letter of the alphabet.

A - Giancarlo Alvarado - Puerto Rico
B - Daniel Berg - Australia
C - Francisco Cervelli - Italy
D - Mark DiFelice - Italy
E - Damaso Espino - Panama
F - Nelson Figueroa - Puerto Rico
G - Jason Grilli - Italy
H - Gregory Halman - Netherlands
I - Akinori Iwamura - Japan
J - Gavin Jeffries - South Africa
K - Corey Koskie - Canada
L - Rodrigo Lopez - Mexico
M - Paul Mildren - Australia
N - Dennis Neuman - Netherlands
O - Roy Oswalt - United States
P - Tony Pena - Dominican Republic
Q - Cesar Quintero - Panama
R - Orlando Roman - Puerto Rico
S - Randall Simon - Netherlands
T - Mark Teahen - Canada
U - Tetsuya Utsumi - Japan
V - Javier Vazquez - Puerto Rico
W - Nick Weglarz - Canada
X - Kanghan Xia - China
Y - Kevin Youkilis - United States
Z - Leonardo Zileri - Italy

The World Baseball Classic starts at 4:30 AM ET on Thursday when China and Japan square off in Tokyo (televised on ESPN2). For complete rosters, schedules, scores, stats, and more, visit WorldBaseballClassic.com.

Spring Training IBB

2009-02-28T09:40:00.005-06:00

There's nothing more pointless in spring training games, especially early spring training games, than an intentional walk. Yet each season sees its fair share of free passes. Baseball has only been played for three days this year and already two guys have been intentionally walked. More will follow, but come on, what's the point?

The first IBB of 2009 came on Spring Training Opening Day. Oakland and Milwaukee were tied at 3 in the bottom of the 10th inning. The Brewers had a runner on second with one out and lefty Brad Nelson stepping to the plate. Oakland's 2008 2nd round pick, RHP Tyson Ross, was on the mound. Nelson was intentionally walked, Chris Duffy struck out, Mike Rivera popped out to first, and the game ended in a tie. If it was the regular season, I can kind of understand walking Nelson and setting up the double play, but it's the first game of spring.

The second IBB took place yesterday in the Philadelphia @ Cincinnati game. Cincinnati was ahead 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh and another rally was starting. Due to a single and an error, LHP Sergio Escalona had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no one out, but recovered to strike out switch-hitter Wilkin Castillo. With one out, Escalona intentionally walked Darnell McDonald to face Luis Bolivar, who promptly doubled in two runs. Cincinnati eventually scored four and Escalona was replaced. Again, the IBB set up a double play to get out of the inning, but...meh? Both IBB's also delayed R-L and L-R matchups, but...so? I still don't get the point so early in spring. Maybe their teams just want to make sure these pitchers aren't prone to something like this.

The Worst K/BB Ratios, Minimum 50 IP

2009-02-27T19:43:00.005-06:00

This Beyond the Box Score post mentions Mariano Rivera's seventy-seven strikeouts and six walks last season and how his 12.83 K/BB ratio is stunningly high. As a commenter on that post revealed, Dennis Eckersley is the only reliever ever to record a higher ratio in 50 or more innings pitched. Eck had ratios of 18.33 and 18.25 in 1989 and 1990, respectively, with 128 strikeouts against seven walks in the two seasons combined. In fact, only two other pitchers had better ratios than Eckersley. Both pitched in the nineteenth century and both had, suspiciously, only one base on balls allowed. In 1879, Fred Goldsmith struck out 31 batters in 63 innings for Troy of the National League. In 1882, Bert Dorr struck out 34 batters in 66 innings for St. Louis of the American Association. Given the relatively fluid rules and the vagaries of record-keeping back then, I don't think it's unreasonable to discount Goldsmith and Dorr.

But even if you count Goldsmith and Dorr, there's no such controversy on the other end of the list. The all-time worst K/BB among pitchers with 50+ IP in a season belongs to Ted Wingfield. After a couple seasons as a reliable swingman who didn't strike many people out for the Red Sox, Wingfield totally lost his strikeout ability in 1927. In 74 2/3 innings, Wingfield went 1-7 with a 5.06 ERA. He also issued 27 walks against only one strikeout, good for a 0.04 K/BB. He wasn't the only pitcher to struggle in that era, as a look at the ten worst K/BB since 1901 shows.

Worst K/BB Since 1901, Minimum 50 IP

Name	Team	IP	K	BB	K:BB
Ted Wingfield	1927 BOS	74.2	1	27	.037
Ray Moss	1928 BRO	60.1	5	35	.143
Jack Berly	1933 PHI	50.0	4	22	.182
Skinny Graham	1929 DET	51.2	7	33	.212
Jack Dunn	1901 PHI/BLA	64.1	6	28	.214
Dewey Metivier	1923 CLE	73.1	9	38	.237
Les Sweetland	1928 PHI	135.1	23	97	.237
Bob Kline	1933 BOS	127.0	16	67	.239
Joe Coleman	1950 PHA	54.0	12	50	.240
Norman Plitt	1927 BRO/NYG	69.7	9	37	.243

The combination of low strikeout and high walk rates in both major leagues was lethal to these guys. For a more recent feel, let's turn to the worst K:BB rates of the last 10 years:

Worst K/BB Since 1999, Minimum 50 IP

Name	Team	IP	K	BB	K:BB
Dan Serafini	1999 CHC	62.1	17	32	.531
Kirk Rueter	2005 SFG	107.1	25	47	.532
Scott Erickson	2005 LAD	55.1	15	25	.600
Steve Avery	1999 CIN	96.0	51	78	.654
Russ Ortiz	2005 ARI	115.0	46	65	.708
Dewon Brazelton	2005 TBD	71.0	43	60	.717
Steve Trachsel	2007 BAL/CHC	158.0	56	76	.737
Jimmy Anderson	2002 PIT	140.2	47	63	.746
Aaron Cook	2003 COL	124.0	43	57	.754
Ken Cloude	1999 SEA	72.1	35	46	.761

Both 1999 and 2005 show up three times on the list. If you're curious, here are the six major leaguers with 50+ IP and a K:BB of 1.000 or lower in 2008:

Tom Glavine, ATL, 37 K, 37 BB, 1.000
Tom Gorzelanny, PIT, 67 K, 70 BB, .957
Miguel Batista, SEA, 73 K, 79 BB, .924
Greg Reynolds, COL, 22 K, 26 BB, .846
Kason Gabbard, TEX, 33 K, 39 BB, .846
Fausto Carmona, CLE, 58 K, 70 BB, .829

The Record That Wasn't

2009-02-25T20:09:00.003-06:00

Last weekend, I came across a bit of information regarding catcher putouts that I thought would be useful around the All-Star Break this season. I got excited because the would-be record I found is just obscure enough not to be noticed but impressive enough to deserve mention. I even mentioned the upcoming record elsewhere online. Unfortunately, I committed the mistake of not making entirely sure the record I found was correct. I had found the AL record and NL record, but I forgot about guys who spent time in both leagues. So instead of Jason Kendall setting the record for putouts by a catcher in July, he'll probably have to wait until 2011. It turns out Brad Ausmus could reach the record in 2009, but something would have to go very wrong in Los Angeles and Ivan Rodriguez would have to stay unsigned.

Most Career Putouts as a Catcher

Ivan Rodriguez, 13130
Brad Ausmus, 12473
Gary Carter, 11785
Jason Kendall, 11415
Carlton Fisk, 11369
Bob Boone, 11260
Tony Pena, 11212
Mike Piazza, 10846
Benito Santiago, 10817
Bill Freehan, 9941
Jim Sundberg, 9767
Lance Parrish, 9647
Johnny Roseboro, 9291
Johnny Bench, 9249
Javy Lopez, 8990
Johnny Edwards, 8925
Ted Simmons, 8906
Jorge Posada, 8801
Yogi Berra, 8738
Jason Varitek, 8549

bolded = played in 2008

Most Sacrifice Flies Allowed in a Season Since 1956

2009-02-21T11:12:00.003-06:00

Every once in a while a Google search that leads to my blog catches my eye. Someone looked up MLB pitchers with the most sacrifice flies, or something to that effect, and wound up here. I'm not sure whether they were looking for SF hit by pitchers (which I posted about in Sept. 2008) or SF allowed by pitchers, but I was intrigued. I decided to look up the most sacrifice flies allowed by pitchers. Sac flies weren't recorded until 1954 and Retrosheet data only goes back to 1956 anyway, so this record is for seasons since 1956.

Most Sacrifice Flies Allowed in a Season
(1956-2008)

Larry Gura, 17 - 1983 Royals
Jaime Navarro, 17 - 1993 Brewers
Charlie Hough, 16 - 1991 White Sox
Doc Medich, 15 - 1975 Yankees
Randy Lerch, 15 - 1979 Phillies
Dave Stewart, 15 - 1991 Oakland
Dave Morehead, 14 - 1964 Red Sox
Jim Palmer, 14 - 1976 Orioles
Nolan Ryan, 14 - 1978 Angels
Rick Reuschel, 14 - 1980 Cubs
Charlie Hough, 14 - 1987 Rangers
Rick Reuschel, 14 - 1988 Giants
Rich DeLucia, 14 - 1991 Mariners
David Wells, 14 - 1996 Orioles
Jaime Navarro, 14 - 1997 White Sox
Steve Trachsel, 14 - 1999 Cubs
Barry Zito, 14 - 2008 Giants

While leading the league last year, Zito became the first pitcher to allow 14 or more sac flies in a season since 1999 and only the fourteenth pitcher since 1956. Time will tell if he'll join Jaime Navarro, Charlie Hough, and Rick Reuschel as guys who did it twice.

We know Zito had the most SF-prone season of the 2000's, but who else is up there on the list? Below are the twenty seasons with 11+ SF allowed since 2000.

Barry Zito, 14 - 2008 Giants
Paul Byrd, 13 - 2002 Royals
Kris Benson, 13 - 2006 Orioles
Chris Holt, 12 - 2000 Astros
Jose Lima, 12 - 2000 Astros
Jesus Sanchez, 12 - 2000 Marlins
Livan Hernandez, 12 - 20001 Giants
Paul Wilson, 12 - 2001 Devil Rays
Brian Anderson, 12 - 2003 Indians/Royals
Daniel Cabrera, 12 - 2008 Orioles
Greg Maddux, 11 - 2001 Braves
Jamie Moyer, 11 - 2001 Mariners
Frank Castillo, 11 - 2002 Red Sox
Jeff Suppan, 11 - 2002 Royals
Matt Kinney, 11 - 2003 Brewers
Ryan Franklin, 11 - 2004 Mariners
Mike Maroth, 11 - 2005 Tigers
Nate Robertson, 11 - 2005 Tigers
Jeff Suppan, 11 - 2007 Brewers
Miguel Batista, 11 - 2008 Mariners

Allowing ten sacrifice flies in a season has been done thirty-two times since 2000. Five different pitchers did so in 2008:

Brian Bannister, Royals
Aquilino Lopez, Tigers
Gil Meche, Royals
Kenny Rogers, Tigers
Greg Smith, Oakland

There's just something about being a Royals or Tigers pitcher that means you give up sac flies, I guess. Lopez's place on the list is impressive given the fact he made all his appearances in relief. He's one of only two relievers to reach 10 SF allowed since 2000. The other was Paul Quantrill in 2005.

Hope Springs Eternal (Even For #85)

2009-02-19T21:39:00.004-06:00

Spring training is firing up in Arizona and Florida and there are plenty of minor leaguers attending big league camp. Usually you can find players with little to no chance of breaking camp with the team by a quick look at the field. They're easy to spot: they're the guys with numbers in the 70's, 80's, or 90's. Different teams have different ways of assigning numbers to their minor leaguers and non-roster invitees, but generally the higher the number, the smaller the chance of making the team. With that in mind, I've gone through the rosters on each team's official site (example) and found the highest numbers. Not every team has numbers for every player posted at this time, but the majority of players are listed. Here are the dozen players in big league camp with numbers in the 90's:

#90 Ramiro Pena, SS, NYY
#90 Matt Palmer, RHP, LAA
#91 Alfredo Aceves, RHP, NYY
#91 Ryan Brasier, RHP, LAA
#92 Eduardo Nunez, SS, NYY
#93 George Kontos, RHP, NYY
#94 Kanekoa Teixeira, RHP, NYY
#94 Francisco Rodriguez, RHP, LAA
#95 Bradley Coon, CF, LAA
#96 Anel De Los Santos, C, LAA
#97 Fernando Rodriguez, RHP, LAA
#99 So Taguchi, LF, CHC

Taguchi has worn #99 in each of his major league seasons, so he's the exception to the rule. As you can tell, the Angels and Yankees are the only teams willing to bust out the two-digit numbers beginning with 9. Most other teams give out numbers in the 70's and 80's. As proof, here is each team's highest number listed:

Arizona: #74 Gerardo Parra, C
Atlanta: Missing numbers for 24 players
Baltimore: #86 Brian Matusz, LHP
Boston: #87 Zach Daeges, RF
Chicago Cubs: #99 So Taguchi, LF -or- #88 Ken Kadokura, RHP
Chicago White Sox: #80 Gordon Beckham, SS
Cincinnati: #89 Jordan Smith, RHP
Cleveland: #79 Chris Gimenez, C
Colorado: #72 Chris Frey, RF
Detroit: #77 Timo Perez, LF
Florida: Missing numbers for 33 players
Houston: Missing numbers for 26 players
Kansas City: #86 Kiel Thibault, C
LA Angels: #97 Fernando Rodriguez, RHP
LA Dodgers: #87 Ivan De Jesus, SS
Milwaukee: #87 Jonathan Lucroy, C
Minnesota: Missing numbers for 26 players
NY Mets: Missing numbers for 8 players
NY Yankees: #94 Kaneoka Teixeira, RHP
Oakland: #77 Sean Doolittle, 1B
Philadelphia: Missing numbers for 14 players
Pittsburgh: #76 Virgil Vasquez, RHP
San Diego: #82 Oneli Perez, RHP
San Francisco: #77 Jake Wald, SS
Seattle: #78 Israel Nunez, C
St. Louis: #88 Jon Jay, CF
Tampa Bay: #76 Winston Abreu, RHP
Texas: #68 Omar Poveda, RHP
Toronto: #86 Ken Takahashi, LHP
Washington: #79 Luke Montz, C

If anyone knows where you can find numerical rosters for those teams that are missing numbers, let me know. I'm sure most of these guys wouldn't mind being able to choose lower numbers as a member of their team's 25-man roster. Until then, they've own the dubious honor of the highest number at spring training. Somehow I think being in big league camp is worth it.