Starts in which the pitcher did NOT throw a no-hitter:
Nolan Ryan - 766
Mark Buehrle - 299
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
I was reading the SABR 2000 Baseball Research Journal when I came across an article by Joe D'Aniello called "The 10,000 Careers of Nolan Ryan: Computer Study." It mentions how Ryan was second in voting for the All Century Team (Behind Sandy Koufax) amongst pitchers.
The fact that Koufax himself finished way ahead of Walter Johnson, Lefty Grove, Christy Mathewson, Cy Young, Grover Cleveland Alexander and a few others is ridiculous on its own, but Ryan finishing second?
Either way, this article helps support the idea as to how overrated Ryan is (and displays how unrealistically enamored fans are with the strikeout).
W-L as 162 - (win%) # GB - Number of seasons 7+ games over .500
Lefty Grove 110-52 (.680) 0 GB 11
Christy Mathewson 107-54 (.665) 2.5 GB 12
Roger Clemens 107-55 (.658) 3 GB 11
Randy Johnson 104-57 (.646) 5.5 GB 10
Grover Alexander 104-58 (.642) 6 GB 11
Eddie Plank 101-60 (.627) 8.5 GB 12
Cy Young 99-61 (.618) 10 GB 11
Greg Maddux 99-63 (.610) 11 GB 11
Tom Seaver 97-64 (.603) 12.5 GB 8
Tom Glavine 97-65 (.600) 13 GB 10
Walter Johnson 97-65 (.599) 13 GB 10
Warren Spahn 96-65 (.597) 13.5 GB 11
Steve Carlton 93-69 (.574) 17 GB 8
Don Sutton 90-71 (.559) 19.5 GB 6
Early Wynn 89-73 (.551) 21 GB 6
Gaylord Perry 88-74 (.542) 22 GB 5
Phil Niekro 87-75 (.537) 23 GB 4
Nolan Ryan 85-77 (.526) 25 GB zero
So, as bad as this jumbled mess of names and numbers looks... notice the last number in each line... which is the number of seasons in which the pitcher was 7+ games over .500. Ryan never did it.
And I present the list of most wins without a season 7+ games over .500
324 - Nolan Ryan
163 - Scott Sanderson
158 - Willis Hudlin
156 - Livan Hernandez
151 - Tom Candiotti
146 - Stan Bahnsen
146 - Tim Belcher
142 - Kevin Gross
141 - Woodie Fryman
140 - Jim Clancy
Basically Nolan Ryan and a bunch of mediocre pitchers. What does that say?
Atlanta's Tommy Hanson first broke into the majors in 2009. And promptly went 11-4, which is seven games over .500. He accomplished in one season what Nolan Ryan failed to do in 27.
Tommy Hanson 1, Nolan Ryan 0
And as for the "but Nolan Ryan's teams were bad..." argument:
1. Steve Carlton: 27-10 on a 59-97 team in 1972.
2. Name one position player on Walter Johnson's Senators teams.
3. Ryan's Astro teams were pretty damn good. Six of his nine seasons in Houston, they were over .500. As were the 78-79 Angels. He played for one team that failed to win 70 games (excluding 1981). Not a very strong alibi for the weak winning percentages.
4. Look at the company he's keeping for the "I never was 7+ over .500 club."
Yeah, strikeouts are sexy, but you gotta win!
The fact that Koufax himself finished way ahead of Walter Johnson, Lefty Grove, Christy Mathewson, Cy Young, Grover Cleveland Alexander and a few others is ridiculous on its own, but Ryan finishing second?
Either way, this article helps support the idea as to how overrated Ryan is (and displays how unrealistically enamored fans are with the strikeout).
W-L as 162 - (win%) # GB - Number of seasons 7+ games over .500
Lefty Grove 110-52 (.680) 0 GB 11
Christy Mathewson 107-54 (.665) 2.5 GB 12
Roger Clemens 107-55 (.658) 3 GB 11
Randy Johnson 104-57 (.646) 5.5 GB 10
Grover Alexander 104-58 (.642) 6 GB 11
Eddie Plank 101-60 (.627) 8.5 GB 12
Cy Young 99-61 (.618) 10 GB 11
Greg Maddux 99-63 (.610) 11 GB 11
Tom Seaver 97-64 (.603) 12.5 GB 8
Tom Glavine 97-65 (.600) 13 GB 10
Walter Johnson 97-65 (.599) 13 GB 10
Warren Spahn 96-65 (.597) 13.5 GB 11
Steve Carlton 93-69 (.574) 17 GB 8
Don Sutton 90-71 (.559) 19.5 GB 6
Early Wynn 89-73 (.551) 21 GB 6
Gaylord Perry 88-74 (.542) 22 GB 5
Phil Niekro 87-75 (.537) 23 GB 4
Nolan Ryan 85-77 (.526) 25 GB zero
So, as bad as this jumbled mess of names and numbers looks... notice the last number in each line... which is the number of seasons in which the pitcher was 7+ games over .500. Ryan never did it.
And I present the list of most wins without a season 7+ games over .500
324 - Nolan Ryan
163 - Scott Sanderson
158 - Willis Hudlin
156 - Livan Hernandez
151 - Tom Candiotti
146 - Stan Bahnsen
146 - Tim Belcher
142 - Kevin Gross
141 - Woodie Fryman
140 - Jim Clancy
Basically Nolan Ryan and a bunch of mediocre pitchers. What does that say?
Atlanta's Tommy Hanson first broke into the majors in 2009. And promptly went 11-4, which is seven games over .500. He accomplished in one season what Nolan Ryan failed to do in 27.
Tommy Hanson 1, Nolan Ryan 0
And as for the "but Nolan Ryan's teams were bad..." argument:
1. Steve Carlton: 27-10 on a 59-97 team in 1972.
2. Name one position player on Walter Johnson's Senators teams.
3. Ryan's Astro teams were pretty damn good. Six of his nine seasons in Houston, they were over .500. As were the 78-79 Angels. He played for one team that failed to win 70 games (excluding 1981). Not a very strong alibi for the weak winning percentages.
4. Look at the company he's keeping for the "I never was 7+ over .500 club."
Yeah, strikeouts are sexy, but you gotta win!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Yesterday, I went to the Sun Times sports collectible convention in Rosemont. I rediscovered why sports are so great. There were hundreds of people gathered together at the autograph pavilion; people of all ages.
You'd see the guy in his sixties with a skin tight Cubs jersey and a floppy hat. He looked rather ridiculous. The buttons on that jersey were pulled so far apart, you can see diamond shaped holes of pasty gut exposed... and I respected the hell out of the guy. He doesn't care what you think. Wearing that Cubs jersey is his tradition. It's his display of affection for his team.
You'd see the forty-something husband with the plastic bat protector tube with the baseball bat inside with a sock covering the barrel. He'd pull out a card in a hard plastic screw down holder and just look at it with pride. His wife is there with him enjoying every minute of it. She supports her husband when it comes to his sometimes pricey hobby. It brings out the kid in him.
You'd see the two old friends get together to see one of their childhood heroes. They stand there swapping stories. One of them has a poster from 1980. It's between two big pieces of cardboard to protect it. You appreciate the care they take with their delicate piece of memorabilia. This memorabilia brings back all the good memories of years ago.
This is the hold that sports has on us. When people ask me about what happened in say, 1997, the first thing that pops in my head would be:
- Who was drafted that year in the NFL? Ah yes... That was the Orlando Pace going first overall to the Rams... Darrell Russell going second to the Raiders. What a disappointment he turned out to be.
- Who won the World Series that year? The Marlins stunned the Indians. Then Huizenga sold off all his stars. Larry Walker and Ken Griffey Jr were the MVP's.
- I picture what cards were out that year. I remember Topps had the semi glossy, semi unglossy cards that year. There was a bar along the side of the card that had the name in gold foil. That part was glossy. Then the picture of the player was glossy. And the background was non glossy. It was a big football year for me (as always). I had the Topps Chrome Warrick Dunn and Jake Plummer. The Plummer had a snake wrapped around him in the picture.
Or in my pre-card collecting years, it would be: I remember 1983. Winning Ugly. Kittle, Luzinski, Fisk, Baines... All Star Game at Comiskey. Orioles too much in the ALCS though. Phillies. "Wheeze Kids." Rose, Morgan, Perez reunited. All in their forties.
Sports is what you talk about at work the next day. If you were there. If you watched it on TV. You go to a game, you're part of a huge team supporting the same cause.
So there I was in line and sitting at a table right in front of me was Mike Schmidt. Every discussion of the greatest third basemen of all time includes this man. He's generally accepted by all experts as THE best third baseman of all time. 548 career home runs. Eight home run titles. Ten gold gloves. He did it all.
- Ranked the 21st best player of all time in Bill James' New Historical Baseball Abstract.
- Ranked the 28th best player of the 20th century by The Sporting News
- Ranked the 18th best player of all time in Elliott Kalb's Who's Better, Who's Best in Baseball.
So that's around 20th or so out of 20,000 odd players. Wow. And he looked like he could step out onto the field today. Not to mention, he had one of the best mustaches of the '80's.
Most times leading the league in Home Runs
12 - Babe Ruth
8 - Mike Schmidt.
Nuff Ced.
Next was Brooks Robinson. 16 gold gloves. Widely regarded as the finest fielding third baseman of all time. Anchor of the superb Orioles teams of the 60's and early 70's. It took me quite a while for my number to come up. Why? Because he took the time to shake each person's hand. He posed for pictures. He seemed genuinely glad that we came to see him. Made me feel proud to be a baseball fan. I've read quite a bit about Brooks Robinson, and everyone speaks glowingly about what a great guy he is on top of being an outstanding ballplayer (1964 AL MVP), and he didn't let me down at all.
Finally, Tony Gwynn. That was a last second decision. I planned on just getting Robinson and Schmidt, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the greatest hitter during my lifetime. As I made my way up to the table, I worked up the nerve to ask him who was the greatest pitcher he ever faced. He answered with a long, contemplative, "Hmmmm..." He took the time to answer my question, and he asked me, "Now do you mean the greatest, or the toughest I've ever faced?" And I said, "Toughest." and he thought a bit more and said, "Randy Johnson. Randy Johnson was the toughest pitcher I ever faced. Randy Johnson the toughest lefty, Nolan Ryan the toughest righty." I told him that I just had to ask the greatest hitter of my lifetime that question. And he told me he appreciated that. And he shook my hand. The hand that swung a bat to the tune of a .338 lifetime average (highest of any man alive**). I walked away from that table feeling so amped up. I had this goofy grin on my face. I was seriously in awe. Tony Gwynn reinforced to me why sports are magical. Made me proud to spend so much of my time learning about the amazing people to have played the game.
** List of highest career batting averages of living persons
.338 Tony Gwynn
.334 Albert Pujols
.333 Ichiro Suzuki
.331 Stan Musial
.328 Todd Helton
.328 Wade Boggs
.328 Rod Carew
.321 Vladimir Guerrero
.318 Matt Holliday
.317 Derek Jeter
Consider that all active players on this list will likely go through a decline phase of their career which will lower their career averages by a few points.
You'd see the guy in his sixties with a skin tight Cubs jersey and a floppy hat. He looked rather ridiculous. The buttons on that jersey were pulled so far apart, you can see diamond shaped holes of pasty gut exposed... and I respected the hell out of the guy. He doesn't care what you think. Wearing that Cubs jersey is his tradition. It's his display of affection for his team.
You'd see the forty-something husband with the plastic bat protector tube with the baseball bat inside with a sock covering the barrel. He'd pull out a card in a hard plastic screw down holder and just look at it with pride. His wife is there with him enjoying every minute of it. She supports her husband when it comes to his sometimes pricey hobby. It brings out the kid in him.
You'd see the two old friends get together to see one of their childhood heroes. They stand there swapping stories. One of them has a poster from 1980. It's between two big pieces of cardboard to protect it. You appreciate the care they take with their delicate piece of memorabilia. This memorabilia brings back all the good memories of years ago.
This is the hold that sports has on us. When people ask me about what happened in say, 1997, the first thing that pops in my head would be:
- Who was drafted that year in the NFL? Ah yes... That was the Orlando Pace going first overall to the Rams... Darrell Russell going second to the Raiders. What a disappointment he turned out to be.
- Who won the World Series that year? The Marlins stunned the Indians. Then Huizenga sold off all his stars. Larry Walker and Ken Griffey Jr were the MVP's.
- I picture what cards were out that year. I remember Topps had the semi glossy, semi unglossy cards that year. There was a bar along the side of the card that had the name in gold foil. That part was glossy. Then the picture of the player was glossy. And the background was non glossy. It was a big football year for me (as always). I had the Topps Chrome Warrick Dunn and Jake Plummer. The Plummer had a snake wrapped around him in the picture.
Or in my pre-card collecting years, it would be: I remember 1983. Winning Ugly. Kittle, Luzinski, Fisk, Baines... All Star Game at Comiskey. Orioles too much in the ALCS though. Phillies. "Wheeze Kids." Rose, Morgan, Perez reunited. All in their forties.
Sports is what you talk about at work the next day. If you were there. If you watched it on TV. You go to a game, you're part of a huge team supporting the same cause.
So there I was in line and sitting at a table right in front of me was Mike Schmidt. Every discussion of the greatest third basemen of all time includes this man. He's generally accepted by all experts as THE best third baseman of all time. 548 career home runs. Eight home run titles. Ten gold gloves. He did it all.
- Ranked the 21st best player of all time in Bill James' New Historical Baseball Abstract.
- Ranked the 28th best player of the 20th century by The Sporting News
- Ranked the 18th best player of all time in Elliott Kalb's Who's Better, Who's Best in Baseball.
So that's around 20th or so out of 20,000 odd players. Wow. And he looked like he could step out onto the field today. Not to mention, he had one of the best mustaches of the '80's.
Most times leading the league in Home Runs
12 - Babe Ruth
8 - Mike Schmidt.
Nuff Ced.
Next was Brooks Robinson. 16 gold gloves. Widely regarded as the finest fielding third baseman of all time. Anchor of the superb Orioles teams of the 60's and early 70's. It took me quite a while for my number to come up. Why? Because he took the time to shake each person's hand. He posed for pictures. He seemed genuinely glad that we came to see him. Made me feel proud to be a baseball fan. I've read quite a bit about Brooks Robinson, and everyone speaks glowingly about what a great guy he is on top of being an outstanding ballplayer (1964 AL MVP), and he didn't let me down at all.
Finally, Tony Gwynn. That was a last second decision. I planned on just getting Robinson and Schmidt, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the greatest hitter during my lifetime. As I made my way up to the table, I worked up the nerve to ask him who was the greatest pitcher he ever faced. He answered with a long, contemplative, "Hmmmm..." He took the time to answer my question, and he asked me, "Now do you mean the greatest, or the toughest I've ever faced?" And I said, "Toughest." and he thought a bit more and said, "Randy Johnson. Randy Johnson was the toughest pitcher I ever faced. Randy Johnson the toughest lefty, Nolan Ryan the toughest righty." I told him that I just had to ask the greatest hitter of my lifetime that question. And he told me he appreciated that. And he shook my hand. The hand that swung a bat to the tune of a .338 lifetime average (highest of any man alive**). I walked away from that table feeling so amped up. I had this goofy grin on my face. I was seriously in awe. Tony Gwynn reinforced to me why sports are magical. Made me proud to spend so much of my time learning about the amazing people to have played the game.
** List of highest career batting averages of living persons
.338 Tony Gwynn
.334 Albert Pujols
.333 Ichiro Suzuki
.331 Stan Musial
.328 Todd Helton
.328 Wade Boggs
.328 Rod Carew
.321 Vladimir Guerrero
.318 Matt Holliday
.317 Derek Jeter
Consider that all active players on this list will likely go through a decline phase of their career which will lower their career averages by a few points.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Baseball Literature Page of the Day
I am a baseball researcher.
When reading books about baseball, I do not expect to read pages such as page 321 in Robert Creamer's excellent biography Babe: The Legend Comes to Life.
It's no fun (and too much work) to just type the contents of this page word for word. Just make it a point to go to your local library or bookstore and read the page. Specifically the paragraph which begins right about at the middle of the page.
...ahhh the things I know...
When reading books about baseball, I do not expect to read pages such as page 321 in Robert Creamer's excellent biography Babe: The Legend Comes to Life.
It's no fun (and too much work) to just type the contents of this page word for word. Just make it a point to go to your local library or bookstore and read the page. Specifically the paragraph which begins right about at the middle of the page.
...ahhh the things I know...
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Nonsensical Trivia of the Day
Right after a spur of the moment week long tour of Massachusetts (and a one day stop in the Bronx) and in the midst of many other plots and schemes, I stop making excuses to post...
A disheartening 4-1 loss to Seattle last night forces me to shy away from current White Sox matters once again to present this:
All these White Sox players homered in their first game in White Sox uniform
Al Simmons (4/12/33 off Bump Hadley)
Minnie Minoso (5/1/51 off Vic Raschi)
Dick Allen (4/15/72 off Dick Drago)
Richie Zisk (4/7/77 off Bill Singer)
Carlton Fisk (4/10/81 off Bob Stanley)
George Foster (8/15/86 off Bill Wegman)
Sammy Sosa (8/22/89 off David West)
Albert Belle (4/1/97) off Pat Hentgen
Paul Konerko (4/5/99) off Jeff Fassero
Carlos Lee (5/7/99) off Tom Candiotto
Jim Thome (4/2/06) off Fernando Cabrera
It blew my mind that THAT many quality players to have played for the White Sox have accomplished this feat. Simmons played in a cavernous Comiskey. In fact according to John Snyder's White Sox Journal, Simmons demanded they bring the fences in (which they did at least temporarily until they got rid of him after the 1935 season). After averaging 32 HR and 150 RBI a year from 1929-32, Simmons would average 16 and 100 during his three year stint with the White Sox. Regardless, despite hitting only 14 on the year, he did hit one in his first game of 1933 (even if it was at St. Louis).
Minoso didn't exactly put up Ruthian power numbers the year he did it either. A modest 10 homers for the Sox in 1951 after putting up a single homer in 17 combined games with the Indians in 1949-1951 before joining the Sox following an April 30th trade. Yet he made a point to take Vic Raschi out of Comiskey in his first game with the Pale Hose.
Allen went on to set a season homer record for the Sox in '72, and Zisk became part of the first 30 homer duo (with Oscar Gamble) in '77. No real surprises there.
But when you look at Carlton Fisk's 1981 season and see 7 homers in 96 games, you figure what are the odds that he hit one in his first game, right? Well of course he did; in dramatic fashion, nonetheless. Down 2-0 in Fenway of all places, he took Bob Stanley deep for a three run shot in a White Sox winner.
Foster played only 15 games with the Sox to close out his fine career, hitting a meager .216 with one homer, but of course it was in his White Sox debut.
Sammy Sosa had flashes of greatness with the White Sox, but struck out way too often and played shaky defense, so he was shipped to the North Side. However he too homered in his first game with the ChiSox.
1997 was an off year for the much heralded Albert Belle, who with a 30 HR, 116 RBI output was just getting warmed up for his monster 1998 campaign (setting Sox records in HR and RBI still standing today).
Konerko and Thome silenced their critics (both acquired for popular centerfielders; Cameron for Konerko and Rowand for Thome) by going long in their first game in black, and Carlos Lee, sandwiched inbetween, turned the trick in his first major league at bat (the only player on this list with that distinction).
So the next time a Sox player sets off fireworks in his first White Sox game, keep an eye on him; he just may become a franchise hero (or a Russ Morman or Joe Borchard, who also did it).
A disheartening 4-1 loss to Seattle last night forces me to shy away from current White Sox matters once again to present this:
All these White Sox players homered in their first game in White Sox uniform
Al Simmons (4/12/33 off Bump Hadley)
Minnie Minoso (5/1/51 off Vic Raschi)
Dick Allen (4/15/72 off Dick Drago)
Richie Zisk (4/7/77 off Bill Singer)
Carlton Fisk (4/10/81 off Bob Stanley)
George Foster (8/15/86 off Bill Wegman)
Sammy Sosa (8/22/89 off David West)
Albert Belle (4/1/97) off Pat Hentgen
Paul Konerko (4/5/99) off Jeff Fassero
Carlos Lee (5/7/99) off Tom Candiotto
Jim Thome (4/2/06) off Fernando Cabrera
It blew my mind that THAT many quality players to have played for the White Sox have accomplished this feat. Simmons played in a cavernous Comiskey. In fact according to John Snyder's White Sox Journal, Simmons demanded they bring the fences in (which they did at least temporarily until they got rid of him after the 1935 season). After averaging 32 HR and 150 RBI a year from 1929-32, Simmons would average 16 and 100 during his three year stint with the White Sox. Regardless, despite hitting only 14 on the year, he did hit one in his first game of 1933 (even if it was at St. Louis).
Minoso didn't exactly put up Ruthian power numbers the year he did it either. A modest 10 homers for the Sox in 1951 after putting up a single homer in 17 combined games with the Indians in 1949-1951 before joining the Sox following an April 30th trade. Yet he made a point to take Vic Raschi out of Comiskey in his first game with the Pale Hose.
Allen went on to set a season homer record for the Sox in '72, and Zisk became part of the first 30 homer duo (with Oscar Gamble) in '77. No real surprises there.
But when you look at Carlton Fisk's 1981 season and see 7 homers in 96 games, you figure what are the odds that he hit one in his first game, right? Well of course he did; in dramatic fashion, nonetheless. Down 2-0 in Fenway of all places, he took Bob Stanley deep for a three run shot in a White Sox winner.
Foster played only 15 games with the Sox to close out his fine career, hitting a meager .216 with one homer, but of course it was in his White Sox debut.
Sammy Sosa had flashes of greatness with the White Sox, but struck out way too often and played shaky defense, so he was shipped to the North Side. However he too homered in his first game with the ChiSox.
1997 was an off year for the much heralded Albert Belle, who with a 30 HR, 116 RBI output was just getting warmed up for his monster 1998 campaign (setting Sox records in HR and RBI still standing today).
Konerko and Thome silenced their critics (both acquired for popular centerfielders; Cameron for Konerko and Rowand for Thome) by going long in their first game in black, and Carlos Lee, sandwiched inbetween, turned the trick in his first major league at bat (the only player on this list with that distinction).
So the next time a Sox player sets off fireworks in his first White Sox game, keep an eye on him; he just may become a franchise hero (or a Russ Morman or Joe Borchard, who also did it).
Monday, August 31, 2009
September Call-Ups
First I would like to thank CK for letting me contribute to this blog, what I can contribute is to be determined, as I have never done this before, but I will bring what I can to the team, I'll be a swiss army knife of sports thoughts, as I dabble in most major sports. I also like long sentences with many commas, and that will be apparent to all readers very quickly.
I think to do my first blog, I am going to list something I like, and then something I don't like, maybe to give the readers a taste of what to expect from my blog posts in the near future.
I LIKE the Chicago Cubs.
I DON'T LIKE when a team underachieves so bad that my first thought about attending a game in September is "oh well, it's only 5 bucks" instead of "I hope this is the team that makes a run deep in the playoffs"
I LIKE honesty from management.
I DON'T LIKE when a team makes moves and acquires players at the trade deadline, and then the hour or two before newly acquired players have to be on a team to be elgible for the postseason, you go and get rid of as many guys as teams would take. I am talking about the White Sox, who got rid of Thome and Jose Contreras (reports said they were trying to ship Jermaine Dye somewhere else as well). Now getting rid of Contreras is fine, but getting rid of guys just to save a little bit of money is like giving the old Cubs motto to your fans, "There's always next year." The Cubs also tried to get in on some of this action, not making as much noise at the trade deadline as the Peavy acquistion, but tried to get rid of some players, and then could not come to terms with the teams trying to acquire Rich Harden and Aaron Heilman, respectively.
I LIKE good quarterback play.
I DON'T LIKE when the media uses attitude problems as a guy's weakness. Jay Cutler is an absolute beast. 23 for 34 passing, with 265 yards and two touchdowns in the last two preseason games, but when the Bears traded for him, people in the media like Tony Dungy questioned how much the Bears gave up for a guy who demanded a trade out of Denver. The Bears gave up multiple 1st round picks for a 26 year old who has already been to a Pro-Bowl, and has a career completion percentage of 62.5%. So far, the critics have been put to shame by Cutler's performance in the preseason, and I believe, based on what I have seen so far, (although in preseason action only with the Bears,) will continue to eat their words into the regular season. For a team that has never had a good quarterback in my lifetime, or anyone's lifetime who wasn't around for Sid Luckman in the 40's for that matter, I can't wait to have a known commodity like Cutler lead the Bears for what I can only hope is a long, fruitful relationship between Cutler and the Bears.
I LIKE Fantasy Football.
I DON'T LIKE people who think they know a lot about Fantasy Football, but in reality don't know nearly enough to be able to hold an even slightly knowledgeable fantasy discussion. This could be applied to all sports, not just the stat-heavy fantasy leagues, but when you talk about Fantasy Football, you have to numbers or reasons to back up your argument other than "Player X is garbage, Player Y is much better." This is not a valid argument, you have to state why that player is better, it would be like me saying all Packers are bad in fantasy because they play for a team I don't like. Also, this is the first year in some time where picking a running back in the first and second round is not a sure thing, because of the rise in number of teams splitting carries and goalline backs in the NFL, only the elite runners see the bulk of their team's carries. Where, on the other hand, the number of elite WRs and QBs can each be counted on one hand. So a pick outside the top 5, towards the end of the round, could see you taking an elite WR and an elite QB over a top 10 player in a very deep position, running back.
In closing, I think about what a difference a year has made here in Chicago. Last year at this time, the Cubs were cruising through the final full month of the regular season, gearing up for what everyone thought would be something special in October, while the Bears were picked by many to be worse than the Lions, and the only people who thought the Bears would do anything were Bear players themselves. Where now, this year, the Cubs have all but eliminated themselves from postseason play and the Bears are favored by most, nationally as well as locally, to win a very good, deep NFC North.
Oh what a difference a year makes.
Today, I'm taking a break from White Sox misery (Dye .186 in August, Beckham .183 since August 5th, Rios .192 with White Sox, Jose Contreras, etc.) to present some fine oddball trivia that I came across today as I pored over the 2009 Red Sox media guide.
Even the most casual baseball fan is familiar with Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak, but not nearly as often do you hear about the AL and NL consecutive game RBI streak record holders.
After a one game trial in 1920 with the Red Sox, Ray Grimes burst onto the scene with the Cubs in 1921 with a fine .321 average over 147 games. The next season he did even better, posting a .354 mark, adding 14 HR and 99 RBI. In the second game of a doubleheader June 27 vs. Pittsburgh, Grimes knocked in Charlie Hollocher with a single, and would record at least one RBI in the next 16 games as well. He led the Cubs in RBI that year, and would only record another 80 in his career, which ended with the Phillies in 1926 at age 32. His son Oscar played from 1938-46, mostly during wartime, and made the 1945 All-Star team with the Yankees.
The American League record in 14 by Tris Speaker, the Hall of Fame center fielder known mostly for playing the shallowest center field in history, collecting an unheard of 449 outfield assists. Speaker also is the holder of the all time record for doubles, with 792. Speaker also put together a career .345 batting average, and was player-manager for the 1920 champion Indians. But the Speaker that set this RBI streak was the 40 year old in the twilight of his career with the 1928 White Elephants. Spoke only played in 64 games that season, and only posted 11 RBIs other than the 19 he had during his 14 game streak. You would certainly expect him to have set the record during his prime with the Red Sox or Indians, but instead it was with the 1928 Philadelphia squad, the team I would choose if I had to have one autographed team ball.
Yes, it was one season before the 1929 championship team, but this 1928 team not only featured the nucleus of the 1929-31 pennant winners; Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Lefty Grove, but it also featured Speaker and Ty Cobb in their last seasons. Eddie Collins, the all time second baseman of many, was also on that team. Many other fine players rounded out the team, such as Max "Camera Eye" Bishop, Jimmy Dykes, Joe Hauser, who twice hit over 60 homers in the minors, Bing Miller, Ed Rommel, and ageless wonder Jack Quinn (a youthful 44 that season; he played until 50).
For my money, that's the most impressive team on paper in baseball history.
Even the most casual baseball fan is familiar with Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak, but not nearly as often do you hear about the AL and NL consecutive game RBI streak record holders.
After a one game trial in 1920 with the Red Sox, Ray Grimes burst onto the scene with the Cubs in 1921 with a fine .321 average over 147 games. The next season he did even better, posting a .354 mark, adding 14 HR and 99 RBI. In the second game of a doubleheader June 27 vs. Pittsburgh, Grimes knocked in Charlie Hollocher with a single, and would record at least one RBI in the next 16 games as well. He led the Cubs in RBI that year, and would only record another 80 in his career, which ended with the Phillies in 1926 at age 32. His son Oscar played from 1938-46, mostly during wartime, and made the 1945 All-Star team with the Yankees.
The American League record in 14 by Tris Speaker, the Hall of Fame center fielder known mostly for playing the shallowest center field in history, collecting an unheard of 449 outfield assists. Speaker also is the holder of the all time record for doubles, with 792. Speaker also put together a career .345 batting average, and was player-manager for the 1920 champion Indians. But the Speaker that set this RBI streak was the 40 year old in the twilight of his career with the 1928 White Elephants. Spoke only played in 64 games that season, and only posted 11 RBIs other than the 19 he had during his 14 game streak. You would certainly expect him to have set the record during his prime with the Red Sox or Indians, but instead it was with the 1928 Philadelphia squad, the team I would choose if I had to have one autographed team ball.
Yes, it was one season before the 1929 championship team, but this 1928 team not only featured the nucleus of the 1929-31 pennant winners; Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Lefty Grove, but it also featured Speaker and Ty Cobb in their last seasons. Eddie Collins, the all time second baseman of many, was also on that team. Many other fine players rounded out the team, such as Max "Camera Eye" Bishop, Jimmy Dykes, Joe Hauser, who twice hit over 60 homers in the minors, Bing Miller, Ed Rommel, and ageless wonder Jack Quinn (a youthful 44 that season; he played until 50).
For my money, that's the most impressive team on paper in baseball history.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Meanwhile, on the South Side...
Freddy Garcia made his return to US Cellular Field tonight sporting a fresh #43 uniform as he took the hill against the bottom feeding Royals.
White Sox Slogans
2004: Sox Pride
2005: Win or Die Trying
2006: Again
2007: Back to the Grind
2008: Share the Passion. Show the Swagger
and...
2009: Washed up Latin Pitchers Wear Black
Bartolo Colon has come back, got hurt, came back again, and went AWOL
Jose Contreras has come back, got hurt, owned the world for two weeks, and became bad again.
Freddy Garcia lost to the Royals (nuf ced)
Kenny Williams was last sighted scouring the streets of Miami in search of El Duque Hernandez. He's ripe. And if that's not enough, Kenny's got a big treat for you: Javier Vazquez, the second coming (gotta wait until he gets old; therefore clear up your calendars April 2014).
White Sox Slogans
2004: Sox Pride
2005: Win or Die Trying
2006: Again
2007: Back to the Grind
2008: Share the Passion. Show the Swagger
and...
2009: Washed up Latin Pitchers Wear Black
Bartolo Colon has come back, got hurt, came back again, and went AWOL
Jose Contreras has come back, got hurt, owned the world for two weeks, and became bad again.
Freddy Garcia lost to the Royals (nuf ced)
Kenny Williams was last sighted scouring the streets of Miami in search of El Duque Hernandez. He's ripe. And if that's not enough, Kenny's got a big treat for you: Javier Vazquez, the second coming (gotta wait until he gets old; therefore clear up your calendars April 2014).
Homers off HOFers
Today, I was running a log of all multi HR games by Harold Baines in a White Sox uniform (is it really a log if there are only eleven?) and I found that on June 8, 1989, Baines homered twice off the Ryan Express.
I wondered how many players have hit two in a game off of Ryan. Couldn't be many, I would assume. I assumed correct. Only eight. Dick Allen, Jimmy Wynn, Johnny Briggs, Graig Nettles, John Mayberry, Duane Walker, Mike Greenwell, and of course, Harold Baines.
I couldn't help myself. I needed to gauge that against other pitchers. Roger Clemens was next (Why? because the next White Sox HR log I ran was Carlton Fisk, who evidently hit two off Roger Clemens August 26, 1987. Ten other players managed the same.
I repeated with Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux. And Cy Young (only Fred "bonehead" Merkle?!?!).
It was very interesting comparing the list of who hit two in a game off of Clemens and who did the same off of Johnson or Maddux.
Maddux: Kal Daniels, Luis Gonzalez (twice), Benito Santiago, Eric Karros, Scott Rolen, Pat Burrell, Steve Finley, Javier Valentin, Wily Mo Pena, and Charles Thomas.
Nobody really great. Rolen very good. Gonzalez good, Burrell, Finley, Karros, Santiago decent. Overall unimpressive.
How about Johnson: Glenn Wilson, Jesse Barfield, Dave Henderson, Gerald Williams, John Valentin, Jim Edmonds, Greg Norton, Juan Gonzalez, Javy Lopez, Kevin Young, Chipper Jones (Twice... exactly a year apart on Sept. 5, 1999 and 2000!), Marquis Grissom, Eduardo Perez, JJ Hardy, Shane Victorino, and Albert Pujols.
Better. Pujols, two time MVP Gonzalez, MVP Jones, Grissom, Lopez, Edmonds, and a few other all stars.
But compare this to the Clemens list.
Robin Yount, Eddie Murray, Carlton Fisk, Ivan Rodriguez, Fred McGriff, Manny Ramirez, Ken Griffey Jr, Jim Thome, Albert Belle, Damian Rolls, and Josh Phelps.
OK. Toss out Rolls and Phelps. But you have three hall of famers, three other 500 home run club members, another certain Hall of Famer in Ivan Rodriguez, and two incredible players in Albert Belle and Fred McGriff.
Equally impressive is the Lefty Grove list.
Gehringer, Ruth, Greenberg (twice), Simmons, and a pair of all stars in Pinky Higgins and George Selkirk. Wow.
The Walter Johnson list is comprised of Jack Fournier (would have been a monster had he not played primarily in the deadball era) and Lou Gehrig.
Back to Ryan. How about the 8/10/90 game I stumbled across. He gave up two homers to White Sox batters. The 1990 White Sox included Carlton Fisk, Sammy Sosa, Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, and Ron Kittle, but the two homers were to Craig Grebeck and Ozzie Guillen, whose careers spanned over 8500 at bats and 47 home runs.
I love trivia like this.
I wondered how many players have hit two in a game off of Ryan. Couldn't be many, I would assume. I assumed correct. Only eight. Dick Allen, Jimmy Wynn, Johnny Briggs, Graig Nettles, John Mayberry, Duane Walker, Mike Greenwell, and of course, Harold Baines.
I couldn't help myself. I needed to gauge that against other pitchers. Roger Clemens was next (Why? because the next White Sox HR log I ran was Carlton Fisk, who evidently hit two off Roger Clemens August 26, 1987. Ten other players managed the same.
I repeated with Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux. And Cy Young (only Fred "bonehead" Merkle?!?!).
It was very interesting comparing the list of who hit two in a game off of Clemens and who did the same off of Johnson or Maddux.
Maddux: Kal Daniels, Luis Gonzalez (twice), Benito Santiago, Eric Karros, Scott Rolen, Pat Burrell, Steve Finley, Javier Valentin, Wily Mo Pena, and Charles Thomas.
Nobody really great. Rolen very good. Gonzalez good, Burrell, Finley, Karros, Santiago decent. Overall unimpressive.
How about Johnson: Glenn Wilson, Jesse Barfield, Dave Henderson, Gerald Williams, John Valentin, Jim Edmonds, Greg Norton, Juan Gonzalez, Javy Lopez, Kevin Young, Chipper Jones (Twice... exactly a year apart on Sept. 5, 1999 and 2000!), Marquis Grissom, Eduardo Perez, JJ Hardy, Shane Victorino, and Albert Pujols.
Better. Pujols, two time MVP Gonzalez, MVP Jones, Grissom, Lopez, Edmonds, and a few other all stars.
But compare this to the Clemens list.
Robin Yount, Eddie Murray, Carlton Fisk, Ivan Rodriguez, Fred McGriff, Manny Ramirez, Ken Griffey Jr, Jim Thome, Albert Belle, Damian Rolls, and Josh Phelps.
OK. Toss out Rolls and Phelps. But you have three hall of famers, three other 500 home run club members, another certain Hall of Famer in Ivan Rodriguez, and two incredible players in Albert Belle and Fred McGriff.
Equally impressive is the Lefty Grove list.
Gehringer, Ruth, Greenberg (twice), Simmons, and a pair of all stars in Pinky Higgins and George Selkirk. Wow.
The Walter Johnson list is comprised of Jack Fournier (would have been a monster had he not played primarily in the deadball era) and Lou Gehrig.
Back to Ryan. How about the 8/10/90 game I stumbled across. He gave up two homers to White Sox batters. The 1990 White Sox included Carlton Fisk, Sammy Sosa, Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, and Ron Kittle, but the two homers were to Craig Grebeck and Ozzie Guillen, whose careers spanned over 8500 at bats and 47 home runs.
I love trivia like this.
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Fall of Gerald Perry
The Cubs fired batting coach Gerald Perry on Sunday, replaced with Von Joshua. Being a Sox fan, I'm no stranger to batting coaches under fire. The Sox have stood by Greg Walker despite the White Sox offense being shut out nine times thus far. I always wonder how can a guy who hit .260 with under 1000 career hits be a skilled teacher of hitting. I was curious as to what is an average resume of a Major League batting coach, so I dug up all of this...
Career hits among ML Batting Coaches
2153 Don Mattingly LAD
2135 Don Baylor COL
2091 Hal McRae STL
2074 Carney Lansford SFG
1897 Terry Pendleton ATL
1557 Kevin Seitzer KCR
1229 Howard Johnson NYM
1220 Brook Jacoby CIN
1197 Dave Magadan BOS
1060 Gene Tenace TOR
1029 Milt Thompson PHI
976 Steve Henderson TBD
946 Mickey Hatcher LAA
875 Jim Presley FLA
746 Greg Walker CHW
726 Jim Lefebvre SDP
657 Sean Berry HOU
632 Jack Howell ARI
610 Von Joshua CHC
597 Dale Sveum MIL
379 Terry Crowley BAL
294 Lloyd McClendon DET
2 Alan Cockrell SEA
0 Kevin Long NYY
0 Don Vavra MIN
0 Derek Shelton CLE
0 Rudy Jaramillo TEX
0 Rick Eckstein WSH
0 Jim Skaalen OAK
0 Don Long PIT
Mattingly the only career .300 hitter in the bunch. Consider that the Dodgers are the best team in baseball this year... Pittsburgh, Washington, and Oakland have been doormats as of late... But then again Rudy Jaramillo has the reputation as one of the best... But then again the Yankees just buy talent, who cares who coaches them... Okay, this proves little, but it's fun to make lists.
Career hits among ML Batting Coaches
2153 Don Mattingly LAD
2135 Don Baylor COL
2091 Hal McRae STL
2074 Carney Lansford SFG
1897 Terry Pendleton ATL
1557 Kevin Seitzer KCR
1229 Howard Johnson NYM
1220 Brook Jacoby CIN
1197 Dave Magadan BOS
1060 Gene Tenace TOR
1029 Milt Thompson PHI
976 Steve Henderson TBD
946 Mickey Hatcher LAA
875 Jim Presley FLA
746 Greg Walker CHW
726 Jim Lefebvre SDP
657 Sean Berry HOU
632 Jack Howell ARI
610 Von Joshua CHC
597 Dale Sveum MIL
379 Terry Crowley BAL
294 Lloyd McClendon DET
2 Alan Cockrell SEA
0 Kevin Long NYY
0 Don Vavra MIN
0 Derek Shelton CLE
0 Rudy Jaramillo TEX
0 Rick Eckstein WSH
0 Jim Skaalen OAK
0 Don Long PIT
Mattingly the only career .300 hitter in the bunch. Consider that the Dodgers are the best team in baseball this year... Pittsburgh, Washington, and Oakland have been doormats as of late... But then again Rudy Jaramillo has the reputation as one of the best... But then again the Yankees just buy talent, who cares who coaches them... Okay, this proves little, but it's fun to make lists.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Bad White Sox (again)
Today, the White Sox were shut out by Cliff Lee and the Indians. The SIXTH time shut out in 33 games. They are on pace for roughly 30, and the team record is 24 back in 1910 (the DEADBALL ERA).
The Sox have been shut out as many times this season as the Blue Jays, Yankees, Angels, Mets, Cardinals, Dodgers, Red Sox, Orioles, Royals, Rangers, Nationals and Reds (a DOZEN teams) COMBINED.
The record for times shut out in a season is 33 by the 1908 Cardinals (49-105), led by Red Murray and his .732 OPS (that was pretty good, actually, for 1908). Three regulars hit below .200.
The Sox have been shut out as many times this season as the Blue Jays, Yankees, Angels, Mets, Cardinals, Dodgers, Red Sox, Orioles, Royals, Rangers, Nationals and Reds (a DOZEN teams) COMBINED.
The record for times shut out in a season is 33 by the 1908 Cardinals (49-105), led by Red Murray and his .732 OPS (that was pretty good, actually, for 1908). Three regulars hit below .200.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Useless White Sox information
A wild week of bad White Sox happenings. Here are some fascinating nuggets about our boys.
- Jose Contreras was pulled from the starting rotation after posting a 8.19 ERA in 6 starts. The last time a White Sox pitcher had a higher ERA in six or more starts was 1953, when Tommy Byrne put up a 10.12 ERA. Odd thing is while Contreras' bad ERA brought him to a 0-5 record, Byrne posted a 2-0 mark in his six starts. What's more, Byrne walked 26 while striking out 4 (which isn't all that surprising given his career record)
- Yesterday, Corky Miller threw out Grady Sizemore trying to steal second. This was the third caught baserunner all season long (in 35 attempts) The Sox' 9% rate of throwing out steal attempts is by far the worst in the league (Orioles' 16% is next worst; league average is 25%). Last season, the Sox were 13th out of 14 AL teams in stolen base thrown out percentage (18% to league average 27%). Since AJ Pierzynski became the Sox' first string catcher in 2005, out of 14 American League teams, the Sox have finished 13th three times, and 11th once, while starting out this season dead last. They have posted a cumulative 19% thrown out rate compared to the league average just over 28%. In the five seasons before AJ came to the Sox, they finished top 5 three times, with a cumulative 33.0% rate compared to league average 30.6%
That includes a spectacular 2000 with four catchers 38% or higher
Mark Johnson 28/66 (42%), Charles Johnson 10/28 (38%)
Brook Fordyce 10/24 (42%) Josh Paul 10/21 (48%)
- Josh Fields (37), Jim Thome (33), and Jermaine Dye (30) are a trio of 30 strikeout men thus far this season.
11 of 33 of Thome's strikeouts have been looking (33.3%)
7 of 37 of Fields' strikeouts have been looking (19.8%)
5 of 30 of Dye's strikeouts have been looking (16.7%)
This is proportional to their ratio of walks to plate appearances
Thome - 16.2%
Fields - 9.6%
Dye - 7.4%
- Finally, Jimmy Gobble became the 701st man to pitch in a game for the White Sox. Jack Egbert was #700.
- Jose Contreras was pulled from the starting rotation after posting a 8.19 ERA in 6 starts. The last time a White Sox pitcher had a higher ERA in six or more starts was 1953, when Tommy Byrne put up a 10.12 ERA. Odd thing is while Contreras' bad ERA brought him to a 0-5 record, Byrne posted a 2-0 mark in his six starts. What's more, Byrne walked 26 while striking out 4 (which isn't all that surprising given his career record)
- Yesterday, Corky Miller threw out Grady Sizemore trying to steal second. This was the third caught baserunner all season long (in 35 attempts) The Sox' 9% rate of throwing out steal attempts is by far the worst in the league (Orioles' 16% is next worst; league average is 25%). Last season, the Sox were 13th out of 14 AL teams in stolen base thrown out percentage (18% to league average 27%). Since AJ Pierzynski became the Sox' first string catcher in 2005, out of 14 American League teams, the Sox have finished 13th three times, and 11th once, while starting out this season dead last. They have posted a cumulative 19% thrown out rate compared to the league average just over 28%. In the five seasons before AJ came to the Sox, they finished top 5 three times, with a cumulative 33.0% rate compared to league average 30.6%
That includes a spectacular 2000 with four catchers 38% or higher
Mark Johnson 28/66 (42%), Charles Johnson 10/28 (38%)
Brook Fordyce 10/24 (42%) Josh Paul 10/21 (48%)
- Josh Fields (37), Jim Thome (33), and Jermaine Dye (30) are a trio of 30 strikeout men thus far this season.
11 of 33 of Thome's strikeouts have been looking (33.3%)
7 of 37 of Fields' strikeouts have been looking (19.8%)
5 of 30 of Dye's strikeouts have been looking (16.7%)
This is proportional to their ratio of walks to plate appearances
Thome - 16.2%
Fields - 9.6%
Dye - 7.4%
- Finally, Jimmy Gobble became the 701st man to pitch in a game for the White Sox. Jack Egbert was #700.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
350 Runs that never were...
The record for most double plays grounded into is 350 in a career. And it was Cal Ripken's career. That's 700 outs in 350 swings. In each double play grounder, Ripken is an out, but another runner is erased. Of all 350 of Ripken's double plays, here are the most victimized baserunners:
33 Rafael Palmeiro
25 Lee Lacy
21 Brady Anderson
19 Jim Dwyer
18 Harold Baines
18 Bobby Bonilla
17 Mike Devereaux
14 Dan Ford
14 Joe Orsulak
12 Jeff Conine
11 Eddie Murray
11 Fred Lynn
Ripken also drove in 13 runs on double plays (which he collected a total of 0 RBI on)
33 Rafael Palmeiro
25 Lee Lacy
21 Brady Anderson
19 Jim Dwyer
18 Harold Baines
18 Bobby Bonilla
17 Mike Devereaux
14 Dan Ford
14 Joe Orsulak
12 Jeff Conine
11 Eddie Murray
11 Fred Lynn
Ripken also drove in 13 runs on double plays (which he collected a total of 0 RBI on)
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Earned Runs and Strikeouts
Despite the fact that I posted about the White Sox' lousy game, I spent yesterday afternoon at Wrigley Field watching the Cubs and Rockies. Rich Harden was supposed to make the Rockies look like midgets grasping for stuff on the top shelf, and the Cubs were supposed to make Jason Marquis look like a cow trying to lick its own behind.
But things didn't work like that. Harden struck out eight in three innings while giving up ample walks and runs, and the Rockies ended up taking it 5-2. Marquis gave up only one run in seven innings.
Maybe I was getting a little ahead of myself, but I wondered what the record of strikeouts was when a pitcher gave up 10 earned runs in a game.
And that would be (at least since 1954) 9 strikeouts by Mike Norris on a September 26,1980 game against the Brewers. He gave up 10 runs on 17 hits... yet he had a 7-5 lead going into the top of the ninth until Ben Ogilvie's inside the park grand slam followed by Gorman Thomas' solo shot. The game would end 10-7. It was during a fantastic 22-9 season for Norris, where he finished second to Steve Stone in the Cy Young voting and snagged a Gold Glove. He completed 24 games, of the A's incredible team total of 94 complete games, as Billy Martin rode the arms of five different pitchers to double digit complete games. Rick Langford completed 28 games, Norris added his 24, and even Brian Kingman, with his 8-20 record, completed 10. Matt Keough (20) and Steve McCatty (11) rounded out the five.
Next, I wondered what the highest number of earned runs allowed were for a 10+ strikeout performance. It is 9. Done May 22,2003 by the Reds' Ryan Dempster, who struck out 10 Braves while giving up those nine runs.
But things didn't work like that. Harden struck out eight in three innings while giving up ample walks and runs, and the Rockies ended up taking it 5-2. Marquis gave up only one run in seven innings.
Maybe I was getting a little ahead of myself, but I wondered what the record of strikeouts was when a pitcher gave up 10 earned runs in a game.
And that would be (at least since 1954) 9 strikeouts by Mike Norris on a September 26,1980 game against the Brewers. He gave up 10 runs on 17 hits... yet he had a 7-5 lead going into the top of the ninth until Ben Ogilvie's inside the park grand slam followed by Gorman Thomas' solo shot. The game would end 10-7. It was during a fantastic 22-9 season for Norris, where he finished second to Steve Stone in the Cy Young voting and snagged a Gold Glove. He completed 24 games, of the A's incredible team total of 94 complete games, as Billy Martin rode the arms of five different pitchers to double digit complete games. Rick Langford completed 28 games, Norris added his 24, and even Brian Kingman, with his 8-20 record, completed 10. Matt Keough (20) and Steve McCatty (11) rounded out the five.
Next, I wondered what the highest number of earned runs allowed were for a 10+ strikeout performance. It is 9. Done May 22,2003 by the Reds' Ryan Dempster, who struck out 10 Braves while giving up those nine runs.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Disaster in the Motor City
Today was another dismal performance by the White Sox. On the heels of a ten run outburst against Detroit on Monday, they put up a pathetic four hits and not a single run. It seems as if this always happens. Too many times, they bombard a pitcher one day only to come back with a truly feeble effort the next time out. And I refuse to believe, as the broadcasters want you to, that they were just overmatched by the opposing pitcher. I don't believe the mound mastery of Armando Galarraga, who spent eight years in the minors only to accomplish a meager 27-35 record with an above 4 ERA, was the sole reason why the Sox were held to basically nothing today.
During Ozzie's tenure as White Sox manager, the Sox have scored 10+ runs in a game 77 times, with a 70-7 record in those games. The Sox are 40-37 in the next games. If you subtract last season's 14-4 mark, you get 26-33. Six times, they were shut out the next game after scoring ten. Six times they only scored one. Nine times they scored only two. That's 21 of 77 games that they score 0,1,or 2 runs after scoring 10 the game before.
Is it lack of focus? Is it that they're lazy after scoring a bunch, thinking that the next game should be just as easy? Is it that their style of play is too dependent on the longball that if they don't get them in bunches, they don't get anything? Very frustrating.
I personally think the way to become more offensively consistent, it's important to 1.) keep a level swing. 2.) shorten up with two strikes 3.) always take a base when it's given to you (for example, never ever hit right into a shift when you can drop a bunt and jog to first) and 4.) if you're just overpowered, throw off the pitcher's rhythm by taking extra time, and bunting to keep his mind off simply blowing you away.
I think that much too often, the ego of the slugger who is concerned with his image and statistics gets in the way of success. Teams often forget about strategy and the fact that pitchers need rhythm in order to excel. And it is the duty of the hitting coach to get the players prepared for each pitcher.
During Ozzie's tenure as White Sox manager, the Sox have scored 10+ runs in a game 77 times, with a 70-7 record in those games. The Sox are 40-37 in the next games. If you subtract last season's 14-4 mark, you get 26-33. Six times, they were shut out the next game after scoring ten. Six times they only scored one. Nine times they scored only two. That's 21 of 77 games that they score 0,1,or 2 runs after scoring 10 the game before.
Is it lack of focus? Is it that they're lazy after scoring a bunch, thinking that the next game should be just as easy? Is it that their style of play is too dependent on the longball that if they don't get them in bunches, they don't get anything? Very frustrating.
I personally think the way to become more offensively consistent, it's important to 1.) keep a level swing. 2.) shorten up with two strikes 3.) always take a base when it's given to you (for example, never ever hit right into a shift when you can drop a bunt and jog to first) and 4.) if you're just overpowered, throw off the pitcher's rhythm by taking extra time, and bunting to keep his mind off simply blowing you away.
I think that much too often, the ego of the slugger who is concerned with his image and statistics gets in the way of success. Teams often forget about strategy and the fact that pitchers need rhythm in order to excel. And it is the duty of the hitting coach to get the players prepared for each pitcher.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Lefty Win Leaders Among Franchises
Diamondbacks: Randy Johnson - 118
Braves: Warren Spahn - 356
Rockies: Jeff Francis - 51
Marlins: Dontrelle Willis - 68
Astros: Bob Knepper - 93
Mets: Jerry Koosman - 140
Padres: Randy Jones - 92
Expos: Jeff Fassero - 58
Cubs: Hippo Vaughn - 151
Reds: Eppa Rixey - 179
Dodgers: Sandy Koufax - 165 (156 in LA)
Phillies: Steve Carlton - 241
Pirates: Wilbur Cooper - 202
Cardinals: Bill Sherdel - 153
Giants: Carl Hubbell - 253
Royals: Paul Splittorff - 166
Angels: Chuck Finley - 165
Mariners: Jamie Moyer - 145
Rangers: Kenny Rogers - 133
Blue Jays: Jimmy Key - 116
Brewers: Mike Caldwell - 102
Devil Rays: Scott Kazmir - 47
Red Sox: Mel Parnell - 123
Orioles: Dave McNally - 181
White Sox: Billy Pierce - 186
Indians: Sam McDowell - 122
Tigers: Mickey Lolich - 207
Twins: Jim Kaat - 190 (189 as a Twin, 1 as a Senator)
Yankees: Whitey Ford - 236
A's: Eddie Plank - 284 (Vida Blue most as an Oakland A: 124)
Braves: Warren Spahn - 356
Rockies: Jeff Francis - 51
Marlins: Dontrelle Willis - 68
Astros: Bob Knepper - 93
Mets: Jerry Koosman - 140
Padres: Randy Jones - 92
Expos: Jeff Fassero - 58
Cubs: Hippo Vaughn - 151
Reds: Eppa Rixey - 179
Dodgers: Sandy Koufax - 165 (156 in LA)
Phillies: Steve Carlton - 241
Pirates: Wilbur Cooper - 202
Cardinals: Bill Sherdel - 153
Giants: Carl Hubbell - 253
Royals: Paul Splittorff - 166
Angels: Chuck Finley - 165
Mariners: Jamie Moyer - 145
Rangers: Kenny Rogers - 133
Blue Jays: Jimmy Key - 116
Brewers: Mike Caldwell - 102
Devil Rays: Scott Kazmir - 47
Red Sox: Mel Parnell - 123
Orioles: Dave McNally - 181
White Sox: Billy Pierce - 186
Indians: Sam McDowell - 122
Tigers: Mickey Lolich - 207
Twins: Jim Kaat - 190 (189 as a Twin, 1 as a Senator)
Yankees: Whitey Ford - 236
A's: Eddie Plank - 284 (Vida Blue most as an Oakland A: 124)
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Mariano the Great
Yesterday, I argued with one of the Comcast newsroom guys over whether or not Mariano Rivera was the greatest closer ever.
I cited the fact that Rivera has the best ERA+ of all time. I had to explain that ERA+ is more than just ERA adjusted to park factor. ERA+ also weighs against league average, which is extremely important.
The best career ERA adjusted to park and league average is Mariano Rivera. That is a powerful statement. For some reason, it didn't impress the guy.
So, I dug deeper. But before I go on, I want to restate the fact that Rivera's ERA, when put into context of era and park, is BETTER THAN ANYBODY WHO EVER PLAYED THE GAME. Yes, his 1023.7 Innings pitched just nip past the 1000 inning minimum for career pitching rate stats, but that 199 ERA+ is TWENTY-NINE percent better than the next guy, who happens to be Pedro Martinez, another pitcher whose phenomenal stats when read between the lines are so much better than he gets credit for...
But this isn't another Pedro Martinez for Hall of Fame campaign, this is a Mariano Rivera for greatest closer ever campaign. Actually, not campaign, I'm simply saying it. He IS the best closer ever. And it's really not that close.
Rivera has twelve full seasons as Yankees closer. Eight of them (8; 75 percent of his seasons as Yankee closer) are sub 2.00 ERA. Five of those twelve seasons featured a WHIP under 1.000. Three of them were under 0.900. 2008, at the robust age of 38, he posted a 0.665 WHIP. Since 1900, of all pitchers who made 64+ appearances in a season, the fewest walks issued were Rivera's six just this past season.
Obviously, Rivera is not prone to blowing saves. His 0.889 conversion ratio (career saves/saves + blown saves) ranks among the best ever. Trevor Hoffman nips Rivera with 0.892 and Joe Nathan is a tiny bit better yet with 0.893. But Rivera's body of work dwarfs Nathan's and Rivera's ERA and WHIP are clearly more impressive than Hoffman (144 ERA+, 1.049 WHIP to Rivera's 199 ERA+ and 1.020 WHIP)
Another complaint I heard about Rivera was the lack of big save seasons by Rivera. It's a weak argument. Yes, Hoffman has more 40-save seasons than does Rivera (9-6), but Hoffman has had more chances. I tested a few samples to give an idea as to the decisively fewer save chances Mariano Rivera gets on a yearly basis.
San Diego Padres: 1996-2008: A total of 557 games decided by 5+ runs (42.8 per season)
Hoffman's team. Now 5+ run differences means no save opportunities. See where I'm going? Ok, how about an American League example:
Los Angeles Angels: 1996-2008: A total of 580 games decided by 5+ runs (44.6 per season)
How about the K-Rod era specifically: 2004-08: 43.8 per season.
I ran a few examples of other save collecting monsters.
Lee Smith's Cubs 1982-87: They averaged 37.3 games per season decided by 5+ runs
And Dennis Eckersley's A's 1987-93: 42.3 per year over that stretch.
Now Mariano Rivera. From 1996-2008, the Yankees have averaged 52.9 games per season in which the game was decided by 5+ runs. How many more saves would Rivera have had his offenses not blown opponents out on a daily basis (or for that matter, how many more saves would Rivera had if the Yanks hadn't turned the starting rotation over to the Phil Hugheses and the Ian Kennedys and Kei Igawas... or the Jeff Weavers, Jose Contrerases, and Javier Vazquezes when they were bad on the Yanks, with opponents teeing off on them)?
...And as much as I hate using postseason excellence as an argument for career value...
read carefully
117.1 innings pitched. 34 saves. 0.77 ERA. 0.75 WHIP
If Papelbon turns in eight more seasons like the three he's had, then we'll reconsider, but until then... Mariano Rivera is the best there has ever been.
I cited the fact that Rivera has the best ERA+ of all time. I had to explain that ERA+ is more than just ERA adjusted to park factor. ERA+ also weighs against league average, which is extremely important.
The best career ERA adjusted to park and league average is Mariano Rivera. That is a powerful statement. For some reason, it didn't impress the guy.
So, I dug deeper. But before I go on, I want to restate the fact that Rivera's ERA, when put into context of era and park, is BETTER THAN ANYBODY WHO EVER PLAYED THE GAME. Yes, his 1023.7 Innings pitched just nip past the 1000 inning minimum for career pitching rate stats, but that 199 ERA+ is TWENTY-NINE percent better than the next guy, who happens to be Pedro Martinez, another pitcher whose phenomenal stats when read between the lines are so much better than he gets credit for...
But this isn't another Pedro Martinez for Hall of Fame campaign, this is a Mariano Rivera for greatest closer ever campaign. Actually, not campaign, I'm simply saying it. He IS the best closer ever. And it's really not that close.
Rivera has twelve full seasons as Yankees closer. Eight of them (8; 75 percent of his seasons as Yankee closer) are sub 2.00 ERA. Five of those twelve seasons featured a WHIP under 1.000. Three of them were under 0.900. 2008, at the robust age of 38, he posted a 0.665 WHIP. Since 1900, of all pitchers who made 64+ appearances in a season, the fewest walks issued were Rivera's six just this past season.
Obviously, Rivera is not prone to blowing saves. His 0.889 conversion ratio (career saves/saves + blown saves) ranks among the best ever. Trevor Hoffman nips Rivera with 0.892 and Joe Nathan is a tiny bit better yet with 0.893. But Rivera's body of work dwarfs Nathan's and Rivera's ERA and WHIP are clearly more impressive than Hoffman (144 ERA+, 1.049 WHIP to Rivera's 199 ERA+ and 1.020 WHIP)
Another complaint I heard about Rivera was the lack of big save seasons by Rivera. It's a weak argument. Yes, Hoffman has more 40-save seasons than does Rivera (9-6), but Hoffman has had more chances. I tested a few samples to give an idea as to the decisively fewer save chances Mariano Rivera gets on a yearly basis.
San Diego Padres: 1996-2008: A total of 557 games decided by 5+ runs (42.8 per season)
Hoffman's team. Now 5+ run differences means no save opportunities. See where I'm going? Ok, how about an American League example:
Los Angeles Angels: 1996-2008: A total of 580 games decided by 5+ runs (44.6 per season)
How about the K-Rod era specifically: 2004-08: 43.8 per season.
I ran a few examples of other save collecting monsters.
Lee Smith's Cubs 1982-87: They averaged 37.3 games per season decided by 5+ runs
And Dennis Eckersley's A's 1987-93: 42.3 per year over that stretch.
Now Mariano Rivera. From 1996-2008, the Yankees have averaged 52.9 games per season in which the game was decided by 5+ runs. How many more saves would Rivera have had his offenses not blown opponents out on a daily basis (or for that matter, how many more saves would Rivera had if the Yanks hadn't turned the starting rotation over to the Phil Hugheses and the Ian Kennedys and Kei Igawas... or the Jeff Weavers, Jose Contrerases, and Javier Vazquezes when they were bad on the Yanks, with opponents teeing off on them)?
...And as much as I hate using postseason excellence as an argument for career value...
read carefully
117.1 innings pitched. 34 saves. 0.77 ERA. 0.75 WHIP
If Papelbon turns in eight more seasons like the three he's had, then we'll reconsider, but until then... Mariano Rivera is the best there has ever been.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Happy 30th Buehrle
Today is Mark Buehrle's 30th birthday (and my mom's birthday too) and I'm just going to empty my Mark Buehrle file onto this post.
- 38th round, 1139th player overall taken in June 1998 Draft.
- Out of Jefferson College in St. Charles, MO
- Attended Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles, MO
- 2000 Southern League Pitcher of the Year at AA Birmingham
- Wife Jamie, son Braden David, born 7/26/07
- ML debut 7/16/2000 vs. Brewers. ND, relieving James Baldwin in 11-5 win. First batter faced, first strikeout: Jose Hernandez. First hit given up: Chris Jones; First Walk issued: Ronnie Belliard
- First ML Win: 7/19/2000 at Minnesota. Opposing pitcher: Eric Milton
- First HR given up:Troy Glaus 7/29/2000 at Anaheim
- Three career major league hits; Single off Jon Lieber 6/15/2002, RBI single off Matt Clement scoring Joe Crede 6/21/2003, and single off Keiichi Yabu 5/17/2008
- Starting and Winning pitcher of 2005 All Star Game in 2005; 4 IP, 5 H, 5 K, 2.25 ERA career AS
- No Hitter vs Texas 4/18/2007 1 BB, 8 K. It was in the middle of a streak of 39 straight batters faced without allowing a hit.
- Earned 100th career win 6/10/2007 vs. Houston
- Fifth pitcher to record each of his first 100 wins with the Sox (Faber, Horlen, Lyyons, Walsh)
- 1 hitter vs. Tampa Bay (W, 4-0) 8/3/2001; 0 BB, 1 HBP, 3 K (only hit by Damian Rolls)
- 2 hitter vs. Cleveland 7/21/2004 (W, 14-0); 0 BB, 4 K (hits by Omar Vizquel and Tim Laker)
- 2 hitter vs. Chicago 5/19/2006 (W, 6-1) ; 2 BB, 2 K (hits by Juan Pierre and Ronny Cedeno)
- 2 hitter vs. Toronto 5/31/2007 (L, 0-2); 0 BB, 6 K (solo HR by Aaron Hill and Frank Thomas)
- Career high 12 K in 3 hit CG vs. Seattle 4/16/2005; Ichiro had all three hits. this game only took 1:39 to play, or 63.5 minutes to play subtracting time between innings.
- Gave up career high 14 hits on three occasions; 7/3/2005, 7/23/2007, 8/2/2008
- Was White Sox Opening day starter in 2002,03,04,05,06,and 08.
- The only pitcher in the Majors with 10+ wins, 30+ starts, and 200+ innings pitched the last 8 seasons. The only White Sox pitcher in history with such a streak.
- Lasted 6+ innings in 49 straight starts 5/11/04 to 7/26/05; most since Steve Carlton's 69 in 1979-82. Buehrle's streak ended 8/1/05 when he was ejected for hitting Baltimore's BJ Surhoff with no prior warning.
- 5/14/2006 at Minnesota: Buehrle became first pitcher since Jack Powell (9/29/1900) to give up 7 runs in the first inning and still win the game.
- Earned no decision in Game 2 of 2005 World Series, came back to get the Save in game 3 (pitching a third of an inning in the 14th inning, retiring Adam Everett on a pop fly to short 10/25/2005)
- Most hits given up to:
23 Mike Sweeney
21 Mike Cuddyer
20 Joe Randa
18 Cristian Guzman
18 Torii Hunter
18 Mark Teahen
- Most HR given up to:
5 Mike Sweeney
4 Brandon Berger
4 Jermaine Dye
4 Vladimir Guerrero
4 Matt LeCroy
- Biggest Strikeout victims
15 John Buck
15 Mike Cuddyer
15 Corey Koskie
14 Torii Hunter
- Ranks 8th all time on White Sox Wins List
260 Ted Lyons
254 Red Faber
195 Ed Walsh
186 Billy Pierce
163 Wilbur Wood
159 Doc White
156 Eddie Cicotte
122 Mark Buehrle
- Ranks 6th all time on White Sox Strikeout list
1796 Mark Buehrle
1732 Ed Walsh
1471 Red Faber
1332 Wilbur Wood
1098 Gary Peters
1083 Mark Buehrle (will probably pass Peters early in 2009)
- Following taken from 2008 White Sox Magazine volume 2 "Up Close"
- His first car was a Mercury Cougar
- His favorite video game is Wii Bowling
- His favorite TV show is The Biggest Loser
- His favorite park other than US Cellular Field is Angel Stadium of Anaheim
- What position would he like to play other than his own? Catcher
- If he couldn't be a baseball player, he'd want to be a cop or a firefighter
- His pets names are Diesel and Drake (dogs)
- His favorite movie is The Green Mile
- Who would play him in a movie? Will Ferrell
- What would his talent be in a talent show? Dancing.
- His biggest pet peeve is going slow in the fast lane.
- Who would he like to be for a day? Tiger Woods.
- What person dead or alive would he like to meet? Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods.
- What's the best advice you've ever received? Throw strikes.
- Who on the team would you approve to date your sister? Nobody. (when asked the same question, Jim Thome replied "Mark Buehrle")
- Early in 2006 Buehrle was ordered by General Manager Kenny Williams to stop sliding around on the tarp during rain delays. Buehrle previously had entertained fans by running around and sliding into large puddles of water
- 38th round, 1139th player overall taken in June 1998 Draft.
- Out of Jefferson College in St. Charles, MO
- Attended Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles, MO
- 2000 Southern League Pitcher of the Year at AA Birmingham
- Wife Jamie, son Braden David, born 7/26/07
- ML debut 7/16/2000 vs. Brewers. ND, relieving James Baldwin in 11-5 win. First batter faced, first strikeout: Jose Hernandez. First hit given up: Chris Jones; First Walk issued: Ronnie Belliard
- First ML Win: 7/19/2000 at Minnesota. Opposing pitcher: Eric Milton
- First HR given up:Troy Glaus 7/29/2000 at Anaheim
- Three career major league hits; Single off Jon Lieber 6/15/2002, RBI single off Matt Clement scoring Joe Crede 6/21/2003, and single off Keiichi Yabu 5/17/2008
- Starting and Winning pitcher of 2005 All Star Game in 2005; 4 IP, 5 H, 5 K, 2.25 ERA career AS
- No Hitter vs Texas 4/18/2007 1 BB, 8 K. It was in the middle of a streak of 39 straight batters faced without allowing a hit.
- Earned 100th career win 6/10/2007 vs. Houston
- Fifth pitcher to record each of his first 100 wins with the Sox (Faber, Horlen, Lyyons, Walsh)
- 1 hitter vs. Tampa Bay (W, 4-0) 8/3/2001; 0 BB, 1 HBP, 3 K (only hit by Damian Rolls)
- 2 hitter vs. Cleveland 7/21/2004 (W, 14-0); 0 BB, 4 K (hits by Omar Vizquel and Tim Laker)
- 2 hitter vs. Chicago 5/19/2006 (W, 6-1) ; 2 BB, 2 K (hits by Juan Pierre and Ronny Cedeno)
- 2 hitter vs. Toronto 5/31/2007 (L, 0-2); 0 BB, 6 K (solo HR by Aaron Hill and Frank Thomas)
- Career high 12 K in 3 hit CG vs. Seattle 4/16/2005; Ichiro had all three hits. this game only took 1:39 to play, or 63.5 minutes to play subtracting time between innings.
- Gave up career high 14 hits on three occasions; 7/3/2005, 7/23/2007, 8/2/2008
- Was White Sox Opening day starter in 2002,03,04,05,06,and 08.
- The only pitcher in the Majors with 10+ wins, 30+ starts, and 200+ innings pitched the last 8 seasons. The only White Sox pitcher in history with such a streak.
- Lasted 6+ innings in 49 straight starts 5/11/04 to 7/26/05; most since Steve Carlton's 69 in 1979-82. Buehrle's streak ended 8/1/05 when he was ejected for hitting Baltimore's BJ Surhoff with no prior warning.
- 5/14/2006 at Minnesota: Buehrle became first pitcher since Jack Powell (9/29/1900) to give up 7 runs in the first inning and still win the game.
- Earned no decision in Game 2 of 2005 World Series, came back to get the Save in game 3 (pitching a third of an inning in the 14th inning, retiring Adam Everett on a pop fly to short 10/25/2005)
- Most hits given up to:
23 Mike Sweeney
21 Mike Cuddyer
20 Joe Randa
18 Cristian Guzman
18 Torii Hunter
18 Mark Teahen
- Most HR given up to:
5 Mike Sweeney
4 Brandon Berger
4 Jermaine Dye
4 Vladimir Guerrero
4 Matt LeCroy
- Biggest Strikeout victims
15 John Buck
15 Mike Cuddyer
15 Corey Koskie
14 Torii Hunter
- Ranks 8th all time on White Sox Wins List
260 Ted Lyons
254 Red Faber
195 Ed Walsh
186 Billy Pierce
163 Wilbur Wood
159 Doc White
156 Eddie Cicotte
122 Mark Buehrle
- Ranks 6th all time on White Sox Strikeout list
1796 Mark Buehrle
1732 Ed Walsh
1471 Red Faber
1332 Wilbur Wood
1098 Gary Peters
1083 Mark Buehrle (will probably pass Peters early in 2009)
- Following taken from 2008 White Sox Magazine volume 2 "Up Close"
- His first car was a Mercury Cougar
- His favorite video game is Wii Bowling
- His favorite TV show is The Biggest Loser
- His favorite park other than US Cellular Field is Angel Stadium of Anaheim
- What position would he like to play other than his own? Catcher
- If he couldn't be a baseball player, he'd want to be a cop or a firefighter
- His pets names are Diesel and Drake (dogs)
- His favorite movie is The Green Mile
- Who would play him in a movie? Will Ferrell
- What would his talent be in a talent show? Dancing.
- His biggest pet peeve is going slow in the fast lane.
- Who would he like to be for a day? Tiger Woods.
- What person dead or alive would he like to meet? Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods.
- What's the best advice you've ever received? Throw strikes.
- Who on the team would you approve to date your sister? Nobody. (when asked the same question, Jim Thome replied "Mark Buehrle")
- Early in 2006 Buehrle was ordered by General Manager Kenny Williams to stop sliding around on the tarp during rain delays. Buehrle previously had entertained fans by running around and sliding into large puddles of water
Monday, March 16, 2009
Fun with Starting Rotations
The other day, I was curious about consistency of pitching staffs. I started with the figure of 30 starts. I wanted to see which teams had the most 30 start pitchers on a consistent basis. Since 2005, a team had four 30 game starters on thirteen occasions. One team has done it every year from 2005-2008; the White Sox. They also did it in 2003.
Here are White Sox' four excellent rotations
2005: Buehrle 33, Garcia 33, Contreras 32, Garland 32
2006: Garcia 33, Buehrle 32, Garland 32, Vazquez 32, Contreras 30
2007: Garland 32, Vazquez 32, Buehrle 30, Contreras 30
2008: Buehrle 34, Danks 33, Floyd 33, Vazquez 33
And notice the 2006 staff had five 30+ start men. This has only happened six times in major league history.
2006 White Sox: Garcia, Buehrle, Garland, Vazquez, Contreras
2005 Cardinals: Chris Carpenter, Jason Marquis, Mark Mulder, Jeff Suppan, Matt Morris
2005 Indians: Jake Westbrook, Cliff Lee, Scott Elarton, CC Sabathia, Kevin Millwood
1993 Dodgers: Pedro Astacio, Kevin Gross, Orel Hershiser, Ramon Martinez, Tom Candiotti
1977 Dodgers: Tommy John, Rick Rhoden, Don Sutton, Doug Rau, Burt Hooton
and
2003 Mariners: Jamie Moyer, Joel Piniero, Gil Meche, Freddy Garcia, Ryan Franklin
What's special about the '03 M's? Moyer and Garcia both recorded 33 starts, and Meche, Piniero, and Franklin recorded 32. That adds up tp 162. Every start was accounted for by these five men. This is the only time in major league history that this has happened.
Also, three rotations in history had three guys with 40+ starts. And one may think that they happened in the early 1900's. Incorrect.
1965 Dodgers: Don Drysdale 42, Sandy Koufax 41, Claude Osteen 40
1969 Dodgers: Claude Osteen 41, Don Sutton 41, Bill Singer 40
1972 White Sox: Wilbur Wood 49, Stan Bahnsen 41, Tom Bradley 40
The 40 game starter was prevalent in the 1900's, then went into hibernation until sprinkling in the mid to late 60's and then thriving through the 70's. The last 40 game starter (probably ever) was Charlie Hough with 40 in 1987. Two years earlier Jerry Reuss of the Dodgers racked up 45.
The highest tandem of starts is Jack Chesbro (51) and Jack Powell (45) for the 1904 Highlanders (later Yankees)
What's the most different starting pitchers used in a season? That would be 19. By 3 teams.
1919 Athletics: Jing Johnson, Rollie Naylor, Scott Perry, Tom Rogers, Walt Kinney, Win Noyes, Socks Seybold, Jimmy Zinn, Bob Geary, Dan Boone, Mule Watson, Ray Roberts, Bob Hasty, Bill Grevell, Pat Martin, Lefty York, Charlie Eckert, Dave Keefe, and William Pierson. You've never heard of any of them, and the team went 36-104.
1935 Athletics: Johnny Marcum, George Blaeholder, White Wilshere, Roy Mahaffey, Bill Dietrich, Carl Doyle, Al Benton, George Tuberville, Sugar Cain, Joe Cascarella, Woody Upchurch, Herman Fink, Vallie Eaves, Al Veach, Bill Ferrazzi, Wedo Martini, George Caster, Dutch Lieber, and Earl Huckleberry. You couldn't come up with 19 better names if you tried. 58-91 record.
1944 Dodgers: Hal Gregg, Curt Davis, Rube Melton, Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish, Ben Chapman, Whit Wyatt, Les Webber, Ed Head, Art Herring, Fritz Ostermueller, Tommy Warren, Bob Chipman, Tom Sunkel, John Wells, Chink Zachary, Clyde King, Ralph Branca, Wes Flowers, and Frank Wurm. 63-91. But first place as far as names are concerned.
Next, I was looking at the 2008 White Sox rotation, and I noticed that 75 of the starts were made by lefties. Then I did every team in the majors and noticed that the most left handed rotation in baseball was the Pirates, with 94 starts made by lefties. The Reds had a single left handed start by Adam Pettyjohn (his first start since 2001; he had suffered from ulcerative colitis, missed the entire 2002 season, and battled back to the majors). I asked myself, is it possible that a team can go an entire season without a left handed start??
Yes. 27 times!
1901 Braves (140 games)
1903 Dodgers (139) and Giants (142)
1922 Yankees (154)
1923 Red Sox (154)
1930 Red Sox (154)
1932 Indians (152) and Cubs (154)
1933 Cubs (154)
1944 Braves (155)
1973 Braves (162)
1974 Braves (163)
1992 A's (162)
1993 Dodgers (162)
1994 Dodgers (114) and Cubs (113)
1995 Dodgers (144) and Cubs (144)
1996 Dodgers (162) and Cubs (162) and Mets (162)
1998 Jays (163)
2000 Rays (161) and Astros (162)
2001 Cubs (162) and Brewers (162)
2002 Orioles (162)
2006 D-Backs (162)
Three of these teams, the 1901 Braves, the 1903 Giants, and the 1944 Braves, didn't have a single inning pitched by a lefty.
Look at that run by the Dodgers! Sandwiched between a Bob Ojeda start 9/24/1992 and a Dennys Reyes start 7/13/97, the Dodgers had 681 consecutive games in which they started a right handed pitcher.
Second to that 681 game streak is the Cubs' 422 right handed starter streak inbetween a Greg Hibbard start 9/29/93 and Terry Mulholland's opening day start 4/1/97.
Of course, it's important to ask which staff, then, is the most left handed in history?
Indeed it is the 1983 Yankees. You can just hear Big Stein flipping out after a lackluster 79-83 1982, saying, "That's it! Give me lefties. I want lefties!!!"
The top five pitchers (as far as starts go) are all lefties.
Shane Rawley, 33
Ron Guidry, 31
Dave Righetti, 31
Bob Shirley, 17
Ray Fontenot, 15
That's 127 of 162 starts, or 78.4% of the team starts. They turned it around for a 91-71 record too... unfortunately, that was only good for third. The second most I was able to find was the 1979 White Sox, with 116 lefty starts.
That was a blast. More to come.
Here are White Sox' four excellent rotations
2005: Buehrle 33, Garcia 33, Contreras 32, Garland 32
2006: Garcia 33, Buehrle 32, Garland 32, Vazquez 32, Contreras 30
2007: Garland 32, Vazquez 32, Buehrle 30, Contreras 30
2008: Buehrle 34, Danks 33, Floyd 33, Vazquez 33
And notice the 2006 staff had five 30+ start men. This has only happened six times in major league history.
2006 White Sox: Garcia, Buehrle, Garland, Vazquez, Contreras
2005 Cardinals: Chris Carpenter, Jason Marquis, Mark Mulder, Jeff Suppan, Matt Morris
2005 Indians: Jake Westbrook, Cliff Lee, Scott Elarton, CC Sabathia, Kevin Millwood
1993 Dodgers: Pedro Astacio, Kevin Gross, Orel Hershiser, Ramon Martinez, Tom Candiotti
1977 Dodgers: Tommy John, Rick Rhoden, Don Sutton, Doug Rau, Burt Hooton
and
2003 Mariners: Jamie Moyer, Joel Piniero, Gil Meche, Freddy Garcia, Ryan Franklin
What's special about the '03 M's? Moyer and Garcia both recorded 33 starts, and Meche, Piniero, and Franklin recorded 32. That adds up tp 162. Every start was accounted for by these five men. This is the only time in major league history that this has happened.
Also, three rotations in history had three guys with 40+ starts. And one may think that they happened in the early 1900's. Incorrect.
1965 Dodgers: Don Drysdale 42, Sandy Koufax 41, Claude Osteen 40
1969 Dodgers: Claude Osteen 41, Don Sutton 41, Bill Singer 40
1972 White Sox: Wilbur Wood 49, Stan Bahnsen 41, Tom Bradley 40
The 40 game starter was prevalent in the 1900's, then went into hibernation until sprinkling in the mid to late 60's and then thriving through the 70's. The last 40 game starter (probably ever) was Charlie Hough with 40 in 1987. Two years earlier Jerry Reuss of the Dodgers racked up 45.
The highest tandem of starts is Jack Chesbro (51) and Jack Powell (45) for the 1904 Highlanders (later Yankees)
What's the most different starting pitchers used in a season? That would be 19. By 3 teams.
1919 Athletics: Jing Johnson, Rollie Naylor, Scott Perry, Tom Rogers, Walt Kinney, Win Noyes, Socks Seybold, Jimmy Zinn, Bob Geary, Dan Boone, Mule Watson, Ray Roberts, Bob Hasty, Bill Grevell, Pat Martin, Lefty York, Charlie Eckert, Dave Keefe, and William Pierson. You've never heard of any of them, and the team went 36-104.
1935 Athletics: Johnny Marcum, George Blaeholder, White Wilshere, Roy Mahaffey, Bill Dietrich, Carl Doyle, Al Benton, George Tuberville, Sugar Cain, Joe Cascarella, Woody Upchurch, Herman Fink, Vallie Eaves, Al Veach, Bill Ferrazzi, Wedo Martini, George Caster, Dutch Lieber, and Earl Huckleberry. You couldn't come up with 19 better names if you tried. 58-91 record.
1944 Dodgers: Hal Gregg, Curt Davis, Rube Melton, Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish, Ben Chapman, Whit Wyatt, Les Webber, Ed Head, Art Herring, Fritz Ostermueller, Tommy Warren, Bob Chipman, Tom Sunkel, John Wells, Chink Zachary, Clyde King, Ralph Branca, Wes Flowers, and Frank Wurm. 63-91. But first place as far as names are concerned.
Next, I was looking at the 2008 White Sox rotation, and I noticed that 75 of the starts were made by lefties. Then I did every team in the majors and noticed that the most left handed rotation in baseball was the Pirates, with 94 starts made by lefties. The Reds had a single left handed start by Adam Pettyjohn (his first start since 2001; he had suffered from ulcerative colitis, missed the entire 2002 season, and battled back to the majors). I asked myself, is it possible that a team can go an entire season without a left handed start??
Yes. 27 times!
1901 Braves (140 games)
1903 Dodgers (139) and Giants (142)
1922 Yankees (154)
1923 Red Sox (154)
1930 Red Sox (154)
1932 Indians (152) and Cubs (154)
1933 Cubs (154)
1944 Braves (155)
1973 Braves (162)
1974 Braves (163)
1992 A's (162)
1993 Dodgers (162)
1994 Dodgers (114) and Cubs (113)
1995 Dodgers (144) and Cubs (144)
1996 Dodgers (162) and Cubs (162) and Mets (162)
1998 Jays (163)
2000 Rays (161) and Astros (162)
2001 Cubs (162) and Brewers (162)
2002 Orioles (162)
2006 D-Backs (162)
Three of these teams, the 1901 Braves, the 1903 Giants, and the 1944 Braves, didn't have a single inning pitched by a lefty.
Look at that run by the Dodgers! Sandwiched between a Bob Ojeda start 9/24/1992 and a Dennys Reyes start 7/13/97, the Dodgers had 681 consecutive games in which they started a right handed pitcher.
Second to that 681 game streak is the Cubs' 422 right handed starter streak inbetween a Greg Hibbard start 9/29/93 and Terry Mulholland's opening day start 4/1/97.
Of course, it's important to ask which staff, then, is the most left handed in history?
Indeed it is the 1983 Yankees. You can just hear Big Stein flipping out after a lackluster 79-83 1982, saying, "That's it! Give me lefties. I want lefties!!!"
The top five pitchers (as far as starts go) are all lefties.
Shane Rawley, 33
Ron Guidry, 31
Dave Righetti, 31
Bob Shirley, 17
Ray Fontenot, 15
That's 127 of 162 starts, or 78.4% of the team starts. They turned it around for a 91-71 record too... unfortunately, that was only good for third. The second most I was able to find was the 1979 White Sox, with 116 lefty starts.
That was a blast. More to come.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Bad.
Bad.
The word is simple. Three letters. The meaning also simple. Not good.
As much as the very best performances are celebrated, I would think it's also relevant to highlight the worst. Kind of a way of balancing things.
Here's a list of worst career ERA for each franchise. I think worst career ERA says a lot. How bad does someone have to be in order for the team to say "that's enough?"
The worst career ERA (minimum 500 innings pitched) for a team says to me, "This guy has some defined quality (despite the bad ERA) to keep him around. This interests me.
Plus I'm almost equally as interested in the worst as I am the best.
Here it is.
Arizona Diamondbacks: Brian Anderson - 4.52 ERA in 840.7 innings. What's interesting is who has the worst career ERA with 1000 minimum innings pitched. Brandon Webb - 3.24 (Well, when you're matched up against Johnson and Schilling, you're gonna come up third... and apparently last in this case; they've only had three guys in franchise history to rack up 1000 innings.)
Tampa Bay Rays: James Shields, 3.96 ERA in 554.7 innings pitched. Among pitchers with 500+ innings pitched, James Shields has a higher ERA than Scott Kazmir. That's it.
Florida Marlins: Ryan Dempster. 4.64 ERA in 759.7 IP. Highest with 1000 IP was Dontrelle Willis, who is the only guy to pitch 1000 innings with the Fish.
Colorado Rockies: Pedro Astacio. 5.43 ERA in 827.3 IP. He was pretty bad. 6.23 ERA in 209.3 innings in 1998. I think that's a record worst ERA in a 200+ IP season. I'll double check. Could also have the record for worst ERA during a 200 strikeout season too. (5.04 in 232 innings in 1999.) Pitching at Coors sucks.
Kansas City Royals: Chris Haney, 5.24 ERA in 625.7 innings. By the way; best ERA since the deadball era? Mariano Rivera (2.29). Second: Hoyt Wilhelm (2.52). Then Whitey Ford (2.75), Sandy Koufax (2.76), and.... Royal legend Dan Quisenberry (2.76).
Milwaukee Brewers: Dave Bush, 4.57
San Diego Padres: Sterling Hitchcock, 4.47
Seattle Mariners: Dave Fleming, 4.73
Toronto Blue Jays: Josh Towers, 4.93 ERA in 558.3 IP. Without the 8.23 he chalked up in his 62 innings in 2006, he's at 4.50.
Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals: Tony Armas, 4.45
Texas Rangers: Darren Oliver, 5.28
NY Mets: Al Jackson, 4.26
LA Angels: Bartolo Colon (!) 4.66... And there was a Cy Young Award in there. And he claims the highest career Angels ERA by sandwiching the Cy between a 5.01 ERA and two injury shortened 5.11 and 6.34 seasons.
Houston Astros: Wandy Rodriguez. 4.79. Actively on the Astros. Stay tuned.
Minnesota Twins: Joe Haynes, 5.53
(Philadelphia/KC/Oakland) Athletics: Nels Potter, 5.81. That's two 6+ ERA's and a 4.44. Then he cleaned up during WWII posting three straight sub-3 ERA's for the Browns. Career 3.99 ERA
NY Yankees: Hank Johnson: 4.84. (They haven't let Phil Hughes pitch enough innings yet.)
Detroit Tigers: Mike Moore: 5.90
Cleveland Indians: Jaret Wright, 5.50
Chicago White Sox: Jaime Navarro, 6.06 (The official scorers took it easy on him). The ChiSox also had a 1000 inning 5+ ERA guy, James Baldwin.
Boston Red Sox: Chuck Stobbs, 4.70
Baltimore Orioles; Daniel Cabrera, 5.05
St. Louis Browns: Jack Knott, 5.41
Atlanta Braves: Horatio Ramirez, 4.13
Boston Braves: Socks Seibold, 4.48
Boston Beaneaters (pre 1900) Jim Sullivan, 4.54
Cincinnati Reds: Herm Wehmeier, 5.25 (in 1087 innings!) This guy had three separate 100+IP seasons with ERA+ scores of 67, 74, and 73... then dipped to 60 in 80.3 IP
Brooklyn Dodgers (pre 1900): Dan Daub, 4.81
Brooklyn Dodgers (post 1900): Hal Gregg, 4.48
LA Dodgers: Darren Dreifort, 4.36 (that's $63M worth of bad)
Philadelphia Phillies: Les Sweetland, 6.33 (6.15, 6.58, 5.11, 7.71!, 5.04, Retired) career ERA 6.10
(and a 1.823 career WHIP)
Pittsburgh Pirates: Jimmy Anderson, 5.17
NY Giants: Clint Hartung, 5.03
SF Giants: Mark Gardner, 4,71
St. Louis Cardinals (pre 1900): Red Donahue, 6.00
post 1900: Jason Marquis: 4.60
Chicago Cubs (pre 1900): Willie McGill, 5.11 (101 ERA+...)
post 1900: Johnny Klippstein, 4.79
More bad ERA analysis to come!
The word is simple. Three letters. The meaning also simple. Not good.
As much as the very best performances are celebrated, I would think it's also relevant to highlight the worst. Kind of a way of balancing things.
Here's a list of worst career ERA for each franchise. I think worst career ERA says a lot. How bad does someone have to be in order for the team to say "that's enough?"
The worst career ERA (minimum 500 innings pitched) for a team says to me, "This guy has some defined quality (despite the bad ERA) to keep him around. This interests me.
Plus I'm almost equally as interested in the worst as I am the best.
Here it is.
Arizona Diamondbacks: Brian Anderson - 4.52 ERA in 840.7 innings. What's interesting is who has the worst career ERA with 1000 minimum innings pitched. Brandon Webb - 3.24 (Well, when you're matched up against Johnson and Schilling, you're gonna come up third... and apparently last in this case; they've only had three guys in franchise history to rack up 1000 innings.)
Tampa Bay Rays: James Shields, 3.96 ERA in 554.7 innings pitched. Among pitchers with 500+ innings pitched, James Shields has a higher ERA than Scott Kazmir. That's it.
Florida Marlins: Ryan Dempster. 4.64 ERA in 759.7 IP. Highest with 1000 IP was Dontrelle Willis, who is the only guy to pitch 1000 innings with the Fish.
Colorado Rockies: Pedro Astacio. 5.43 ERA in 827.3 IP. He was pretty bad. 6.23 ERA in 209.3 innings in 1998. I think that's a record worst ERA in a 200+ IP season. I'll double check. Could also have the record for worst ERA during a 200 strikeout season too. (5.04 in 232 innings in 1999.) Pitching at Coors sucks.
Kansas City Royals: Chris Haney, 5.24 ERA in 625.7 innings. By the way; best ERA since the deadball era? Mariano Rivera (2.29). Second: Hoyt Wilhelm (2.52). Then Whitey Ford (2.75), Sandy Koufax (2.76), and.... Royal legend Dan Quisenberry (2.76).
Milwaukee Brewers: Dave Bush, 4.57
San Diego Padres: Sterling Hitchcock, 4.47
Seattle Mariners: Dave Fleming, 4.73
Toronto Blue Jays: Josh Towers, 4.93 ERA in 558.3 IP. Without the 8.23 he chalked up in his 62 innings in 2006, he's at 4.50.
Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals: Tony Armas, 4.45
Texas Rangers: Darren Oliver, 5.28
NY Mets: Al Jackson, 4.26
LA Angels: Bartolo Colon (!) 4.66... And there was a Cy Young Award in there. And he claims the highest career Angels ERA by sandwiching the Cy between a 5.01 ERA and two injury shortened 5.11 and 6.34 seasons.
Houston Astros: Wandy Rodriguez. 4.79. Actively on the Astros. Stay tuned.
Minnesota Twins: Joe Haynes, 5.53
(Philadelphia/KC/Oakland) Athletics: Nels Potter, 5.81. That's two 6+ ERA's and a 4.44. Then he cleaned up during WWII posting three straight sub-3 ERA's for the Browns. Career 3.99 ERA
NY Yankees: Hank Johnson: 4.84. (They haven't let Phil Hughes pitch enough innings yet.)
Detroit Tigers: Mike Moore: 5.90
Cleveland Indians: Jaret Wright, 5.50
Chicago White Sox: Jaime Navarro, 6.06 (The official scorers took it easy on him). The ChiSox also had a 1000 inning 5+ ERA guy, James Baldwin.
Boston Red Sox: Chuck Stobbs, 4.70
Baltimore Orioles; Daniel Cabrera, 5.05
St. Louis Browns: Jack Knott, 5.41
Atlanta Braves: Horatio Ramirez, 4.13
Boston Braves: Socks Seibold, 4.48
Boston Beaneaters (pre 1900) Jim Sullivan, 4.54
Cincinnati Reds: Herm Wehmeier, 5.25 (in 1087 innings!) This guy had three separate 100+IP seasons with ERA+ scores of 67, 74, and 73... then dipped to 60 in 80.3 IP
Brooklyn Dodgers (pre 1900): Dan Daub, 4.81
Brooklyn Dodgers (post 1900): Hal Gregg, 4.48
LA Dodgers: Darren Dreifort, 4.36 (that's $63M worth of bad)
Philadelphia Phillies: Les Sweetland, 6.33 (6.15, 6.58, 5.11, 7.71!, 5.04, Retired) career ERA 6.10
(and a 1.823 career WHIP)
Pittsburgh Pirates: Jimmy Anderson, 5.17
NY Giants: Clint Hartung, 5.03
SF Giants: Mark Gardner, 4,71
St. Louis Cardinals (pre 1900): Red Donahue, 6.00
post 1900: Jason Marquis: 4.60
Chicago Cubs (pre 1900): Willie McGill, 5.11 (101 ERA+...)
post 1900: Johnny Klippstein, 4.79
More bad ERA analysis to come!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Random HR Leader Lists
In time for the 2009 season, I present various HR Split leader lists (incomplete, but fairly well done)
Solo HR
450 Barry Bonds
400 Hank Aaron
365 Willie Mays
349 Babe Ruth
329 Rafael Palmeiro
327 Ken Griffey, Jr.
326 Sammy Sosa
325 Frank Robinson
308 Reggie Jackson
306 Mark McGwire
299 Jim Thome
298 Mickey Mantle
291 Mike Schmidt
288 Alex Rodriguez
287 Frank Thomas
282 Willie McCovey
276 Harmon Killebrew
270 Eddie Mathews
269 Fred McGriff
262 Gary Sheffield
261 Ernie Banks
2-Run HR
251 Babe Ruth
242 Hank Aaron
223 Barry Bonds
223 Harmon Killebrew
219 Willie Mays
197 Mark McGwire
195 Ken Griffey, Jr.
192 Ted Williams
190 Sammy Sosa
189 Alex Rodriguez
185 Frank Robinson
185 Mel Ott
183 Eddie Mathews
181 Manny Ramirez
180 Stan Musial
175 Reggie Jackson
173 Eddie Murray
171 Rafael Palmeiro
168 Mike Schmidt
167 Jimmie Foxx
167 Lou Gehrig
166 Jim Thome
3-Run HR
98 Babe Ruth
97 Hank Aaron
95 Jimmie Foxx
84 Mel Ott
84 Sammy Sosa
82 Mike Schmidt
78 Barry Bonds
77 Ted Williams
76 Ernie Banks
74 Ken Griffey, Jr.
73 Lou Gehrig
70 Jeff Bagwell
69 Reggie Jackson
68 Jose Canseco
68 Mickey Mantle
68 Willie Mays
68 Manny Ramirez
68 Frank Robinson
68 Gary Sheffield
68 Jim Thome
67 Willie McCovey
66 Mark McGwire
Grand Slams
23 Lou Gehrig
20 Manny Ramirez
19 Eddie Murray
18 Willie McCovey
18 Robin Ventura
17 Jimmie Foxx
17 Alex Rodriguez
17 Ted Williams
16 Hank Aaron
16 Dave Kingman
16 Babe Ruth
15 Ken Griffey, Jr.
15 Richie Sexson
14 Jason Giambi
14 Gil Hodges
14 Mark McGwire
14 Mike Piazza
HR vs. LHP
225 Barry Bonds
221 Hank Aaron
219 Babe Ruth
209 Willie Mays
194 Frank Robinson
183 Dave Winfield
180 Ken Griffey, Jr.
178 Reggie Jackson
163 Mickey Mantle
160 Rafael Palmeiro
160 Frank Thomas
155 Stan Musial
154 Frank Howard
153 Dave Kingman
151 Harmon Killebrew
151 Sammy Sosa
147 Matt Williams
146 Mark McGwire
143 Lou Gehrig
142 Eddie Murray
HR vs. RHP
537 Barry Bonds
534 Hank Aaron
495 Babe Ruth
458 Sammy Sosa
457 Ted Williams
451 Willie Mays
442 Jim Thome
438 Jimmie Foxx
437 Mark McGwire
431 Ken Griffey, Jr.
422 Harmon Killebrew
421 Willie McCovey
418 Alex Rodriguez
418 Eddie Mathews
409 Rafael Palmeiro
407 Mike Schmidt
400 Mel Ott
392 Frank Robinson
391 Manny Ramirez
385 Reggie Jackson
380 Carlos Delgado
HR at Home
385 Hank Aaron
379 Barry Bonds
347 Babe Ruth
335 Willie Mays
323 Mel Ott
321 Frank Robinson
321 Sammy Sosa
319 Ken Griffey, Jr.
312 Frank Thomas
311 Rafael Palmeiro
300 Jim Thome
299 Jimmie Foxx
291 Harmon Killebrew
290 Ernie Banks
285 Mark McGwire
282 Alex Rodriguez
280 Reggie Jackson
267 Manny Ramirez
266 Mickey Mantle
265 Mike Schmidt
264 Willie McCovey
HR on Road
383 Barry Bonds
370 Hank Aaron
367 Babe Ruth
325 Willie Mays
298 Mark McGwire
292 Ken Griffey, Jr.
288 Sammy Sosa
283 Reggie Jackson
283 Mike Schmidt
282 Harmon Killebrew
274 Ernie Banks
274 Eddie Mathews
273 Ted Williams
271 Alex Rodriguez
265 Frank Robinson
262 Eddie Murray
260 Manny Ramirez
258 Rafael Palmeiro
257 Willie McCovey
254 Willie Stargell
252 Fred McGriff
Solo HR
450 Barry Bonds
400 Hank Aaron
365 Willie Mays
349 Babe Ruth
329 Rafael Palmeiro
327 Ken Griffey, Jr.
326 Sammy Sosa
325 Frank Robinson
308 Reggie Jackson
306 Mark McGwire
299 Jim Thome
298 Mickey Mantle
291 Mike Schmidt
288 Alex Rodriguez
287 Frank Thomas
282 Willie McCovey
276 Harmon Killebrew
270 Eddie Mathews
269 Fred McGriff
262 Gary Sheffield
261 Ernie Banks
2-Run HR
251 Babe Ruth
242 Hank Aaron
223 Barry Bonds
223 Harmon Killebrew
219 Willie Mays
197 Mark McGwire
195 Ken Griffey, Jr.
192 Ted Williams
190 Sammy Sosa
189 Alex Rodriguez
185 Frank Robinson
185 Mel Ott
183 Eddie Mathews
181 Manny Ramirez
180 Stan Musial
175 Reggie Jackson
173 Eddie Murray
171 Rafael Palmeiro
168 Mike Schmidt
167 Jimmie Foxx
167 Lou Gehrig
166 Jim Thome
3-Run HR
98 Babe Ruth
97 Hank Aaron
95 Jimmie Foxx
84 Mel Ott
84 Sammy Sosa
82 Mike Schmidt
78 Barry Bonds
77 Ted Williams
76 Ernie Banks
74 Ken Griffey, Jr.
73 Lou Gehrig
70 Jeff Bagwell
69 Reggie Jackson
68 Jose Canseco
68 Mickey Mantle
68 Willie Mays
68 Manny Ramirez
68 Frank Robinson
68 Gary Sheffield
68 Jim Thome
67 Willie McCovey
66 Mark McGwire
Grand Slams
23 Lou Gehrig
20 Manny Ramirez
19 Eddie Murray
18 Willie McCovey
18 Robin Ventura
17 Jimmie Foxx
17 Alex Rodriguez
17 Ted Williams
16 Hank Aaron
16 Dave Kingman
16 Babe Ruth
15 Ken Griffey, Jr.
15 Richie Sexson
14 Jason Giambi
14 Gil Hodges
14 Mark McGwire
14 Mike Piazza
HR vs. LHP
225 Barry Bonds
221 Hank Aaron
219 Babe Ruth
209 Willie Mays
194 Frank Robinson
183 Dave Winfield
180 Ken Griffey, Jr.
178 Reggie Jackson
163 Mickey Mantle
160 Rafael Palmeiro
160 Frank Thomas
155 Stan Musial
154 Frank Howard
153 Dave Kingman
151 Harmon Killebrew
151 Sammy Sosa
147 Matt Williams
146 Mark McGwire
143 Lou Gehrig
142 Eddie Murray
HR vs. RHP
537 Barry Bonds
534 Hank Aaron
495 Babe Ruth
458 Sammy Sosa
457 Ted Williams
451 Willie Mays
442 Jim Thome
438 Jimmie Foxx
437 Mark McGwire
431 Ken Griffey, Jr.
422 Harmon Killebrew
421 Willie McCovey
418 Alex Rodriguez
418 Eddie Mathews
409 Rafael Palmeiro
407 Mike Schmidt
400 Mel Ott
392 Frank Robinson
391 Manny Ramirez
385 Reggie Jackson
380 Carlos Delgado
HR at Home
385 Hank Aaron
379 Barry Bonds
347 Babe Ruth
335 Willie Mays
323 Mel Ott
321 Frank Robinson
321 Sammy Sosa
319 Ken Griffey, Jr.
312 Frank Thomas
311 Rafael Palmeiro
300 Jim Thome
299 Jimmie Foxx
291 Harmon Killebrew
290 Ernie Banks
285 Mark McGwire
282 Alex Rodriguez
280 Reggie Jackson
267 Manny Ramirez
266 Mickey Mantle
265 Mike Schmidt
264 Willie McCovey
HR on Road
383 Barry Bonds
370 Hank Aaron
367 Babe Ruth
325 Willie Mays
298 Mark McGwire
292 Ken Griffey, Jr.
288 Sammy Sosa
283 Reggie Jackson
283 Mike Schmidt
282 Harmon Killebrew
274 Ernie Banks
274 Eddie Mathews
273 Ted Williams
271 Alex Rodriguez
265 Frank Robinson
262 Eddie Murray
260 Manny Ramirez
258 Rafael Palmeiro
257 Willie McCovey
254 Willie Stargell
252 Fred McGriff
Monday, March 9, 2009
Maybe I'm a little behind, but...
Congratulations, Rickey Henderson for being elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
I hereby break down Henderson's record 1406 career stolen bases.
He stole 867 while playing for the A's, 326 while playing for the Yankees, 91 with the Padres, 42 with the Mets, 31 with the Mariners, 22 with the Blue Jays, 16 with the Angels, 8 with the Red Sox, and 3 with the Dodgers.
He stole 663 while at home, 743 away.
110 vs. the Twins and Jays, 103 vs. the Indians, 101 vs. the Rangers, 99 vs. the Orioles, 98 vs. the Royals, 93 vs. the Mariners and White Sox, 89 vs. the Red Sox, 87 vs. the Brewers, 84 vs. the Tigers, 79 vs. the Yankees, 76 vs. the Angels, 33 vs. the A's, 17 vs. the Rockies, 14 vs. The Rays, Giants, and Marlins, 11 vs. the Pirates and Dodgers, 10 vs. the D-Backs, 8 vs. the Cards, Cubs, and Mets, 7 vs, the Reds, Phils, and Braves, 6 vs. the Padres and Expos, and 3 vs. the Astros.
He stole a base in 41 different parks, including four different countries (US, Canada, Mexico, and Japan)
He stole 216 on sunday, 165 on monday, 208 on tuesday, 175 on wednesday, 135 on thursday, 260 on friday, and 247 on saturday.
He stole 1 in march, 172 in april, 248 in may, 227 in june, 248 in july, 244 in august, 244 in september, and 22 in october.
He stole second base 1087 times, third base 315 times, and home 4 times.
He stole one base in a game 755 times, he stole two bases in a game 209 times, three bases 52 times, four bases 18 times, and five bases on one occasion.
He stole bases off 553 different pitchers; including 8 hall of famers.
He stole bases off 194 different catchers; one hall of famer.
He stole 1004 bases off of right handed pitchers; 402 off of lefties.
Top pitcher victims:
Jack Morris 17
Floyd Bannister 16
Randy Johnson 16
Frank Tanana 13
Scott McGregor 13
Charlie Hough 12
Dave Stieb 12
Bobby Witt 12
Dennis Martinez 11
Dan Petry 11
Top Catcher victims:
Jim Sundberg 54
Ernie Whitt 49
Carlton Fisk 43
Rick Dempsey 37
Lance Parrish 37
Butch Wynegar 37
Brian Harper 36
Rich Gedman 33
John Wathan 32
Ron Hassey 29
I hereby break down Henderson's record 1406 career stolen bases.
He stole 867 while playing for the A's, 326 while playing for the Yankees, 91 with the Padres, 42 with the Mets, 31 with the Mariners, 22 with the Blue Jays, 16 with the Angels, 8 with the Red Sox, and 3 with the Dodgers.
He stole 663 while at home, 743 away.
110 vs. the Twins and Jays, 103 vs. the Indians, 101 vs. the Rangers, 99 vs. the Orioles, 98 vs. the Royals, 93 vs. the Mariners and White Sox, 89 vs. the Red Sox, 87 vs. the Brewers, 84 vs. the Tigers, 79 vs. the Yankees, 76 vs. the Angels, 33 vs. the A's, 17 vs. the Rockies, 14 vs. The Rays, Giants, and Marlins, 11 vs. the Pirates and Dodgers, 10 vs. the D-Backs, 8 vs. the Cards, Cubs, and Mets, 7 vs, the Reds, Phils, and Braves, 6 vs. the Padres and Expos, and 3 vs. the Astros.
He stole a base in 41 different parks, including four different countries (US, Canada, Mexico, and Japan)
He stole 216 on sunday, 165 on monday, 208 on tuesday, 175 on wednesday, 135 on thursday, 260 on friday, and 247 on saturday.
He stole 1 in march, 172 in april, 248 in may, 227 in june, 248 in july, 244 in august, 244 in september, and 22 in october.
He stole second base 1087 times, third base 315 times, and home 4 times.
He stole one base in a game 755 times, he stole two bases in a game 209 times, three bases 52 times, four bases 18 times, and five bases on one occasion.
He stole bases off 553 different pitchers; including 8 hall of famers.
He stole bases off 194 different catchers; one hall of famer.
He stole 1004 bases off of right handed pitchers; 402 off of lefties.
Top pitcher victims:
Jack Morris 17
Floyd Bannister 16
Randy Johnson 16
Frank Tanana 13
Scott McGregor 13
Charlie Hough 12
Dave Stieb 12
Bobby Witt 12
Dennis Martinez 11
Dan Petry 11
Top Catcher victims:
Jim Sundberg 54
Ernie Whitt 49
Carlton Fisk 43
Rick Dempsey 37
Lance Parrish 37
Butch Wynegar 37
Brian Harper 36
Rich Gedman 33
John Wathan 32
Ron Hassey 29
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
10 Reasons Why I Love the DH
This is NOT what Alexander Cartwright had in mind as he set the rules of baseball...
10.) Hideo Nomo: 65/485 (.134), 222 K
9.) Randy Johnson: 76/599 (.127), 280 K
8.) Nolan Ryan: 94/852 (.110), 371 K
7.) Vida Blue: 53/512 (.104), 271 K
6.) Sandy Koufax: 67/672 (.100), 318 K
5.) Bob Friend: 58/599 (.097), 228 K
4.) Al Leiter: 45/530 (.085), 290 K
3.) Bill Hands: 37/472 (.078), 249 K
2.) Ben Sheets: 33/433 (.076), 204 K
1.) Dean Chance: 44/662 (.066), 420 K
Some pitcher standing at the plate and feebly waving his bat at three pitches is no way to represent the game of baseball. Lifting a pitcher for a pinch hitter isn't strategy when the pitcher is this bad. It's obvious. Every fan deserves to see the finest examples of baseball craftsmanship, and to see someone whose craft is so poorly cultivated is a disgrace to the game.
Anyone who'd rather see three weak bunts and a pinch hitter than Edgar Martinez or David Ortiz (nowadays) lining doubles everywhere has got to be crazy.
10.) Hideo Nomo: 65/485 (.134), 222 K
9.) Randy Johnson: 76/599 (.127), 280 K
8.) Nolan Ryan: 94/852 (.110), 371 K
7.) Vida Blue: 53/512 (.104), 271 K
6.) Sandy Koufax: 67/672 (.100), 318 K
5.) Bob Friend: 58/599 (.097), 228 K
4.) Al Leiter: 45/530 (.085), 290 K
3.) Bill Hands: 37/472 (.078), 249 K
2.) Ben Sheets: 33/433 (.076), 204 K
1.) Dean Chance: 44/662 (.066), 420 K
Some pitcher standing at the plate and feebly waving his bat at three pitches is no way to represent the game of baseball. Lifting a pitcher for a pinch hitter isn't strategy when the pitcher is this bad. It's obvious. Every fan deserves to see the finest examples of baseball craftsmanship, and to see someone whose craft is so poorly cultivated is a disgrace to the game.
Anyone who'd rather see three weak bunts and a pinch hitter than Edgar Martinez or David Ortiz (nowadays) lining doubles everywhere has got to be crazy.
"Playoff Experience"
"Playoff experience" is a phrase you hear a lot on baseball telecasts. It's a nice sounding phrase. Sounds meaningful. What it really is, is something broadcasters use to make it sound like they have something enlightening to say, when in fact they're simply too unwilling or lazy to do actual research. "Playoff experience" is a bunch of bunk. A team may have "playoff experience" but there's nothing to it to make you believe that this gives an advantage over any other team.
The rules remain the same. Still nine innings. Still three outs per inning. Same positions. Yet still, when someone wants to try to offer new and exciting analysis about the game, out comes the absurd concept of "playoff experience."
...But maybe there's some intangible power a team has because they've faced the pressure of elimination...
Maybe not.
How about the 2008 Rays? In the first round, the Rays, whose starting lineup playoff experience looks like this: Jason Bartlett - 3 games, Cliff Floyd - 12 games (4 hits in 19 ab...). And that's it.
They beat the White Sox, whose roster has AJ Pierzynski (with some wild playoff experiences), Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko, Joe Crede, Juan Uribe, Bobby Jenks, and Mark Buehrle all with a World Series ring.
Next, they beat the Red Sox, whose team was nearly intact from their 2007 World Series win.
Back to those 2005 White Sox.
At the time, they were relatively green as far as playoff action is concerned. Iguchi, Crede, Uribe, Podsednik, Rowand, Buehrle, Garland, Jenks... all had yet to taste the playoffs. Konerko played three games. Dye, Pierzynski, and Contreras played a bit in the postseason, but the Red Sox had just won a World Series the previous year.
Three game sweep.
The Angels still had many players from their 2002 Series win. White Sox in five.
Then the Sox took on an Astros team who were led by a pitching staff featuring Clemens and Pettitte, mainstays from the Yankees winners in the late 1990's. The team as a whole had played up to the NLCS the previous season. They had much more "playoff experience" than did the White Sox.
Sox in four.
How about the 2003 Marlins?
Juan Pierre, Miguel Cabrera, Derrek Lee, Mike Lowell, Juan Encarnacion, Alex Gonzalez, Luis Castillo... The whole pitching staff: Beckett, Pavano, Redman, Penny.... Ivan Rodriguez had a few previous series and Jeff Conine was on the 1997 Marlins, but that's it...
And stack them against the Yankees, who won the 1996, 98, 99, and 2000 World Series and lost in the 2001?
If there were ever any mismatch as far as playoff experience goes, this is it. And the Marlins won the damn thing.
It goes on... the 2002 Angels... even back in the 90's with the 1990 Reds beating the defending champion A's. Or the 1987 Twins beating Whitey's Cardinals, who were in the World Series two of the previous five seasons.
And you could find even more if you scour the pages of your baseball encyclopedia.
"Playoff experience" doesn't mean a thing.
The rules remain the same. Still nine innings. Still three outs per inning. Same positions. Yet still, when someone wants to try to offer new and exciting analysis about the game, out comes the absurd concept of "playoff experience."
...But maybe there's some intangible power a team has because they've faced the pressure of elimination...
Maybe not.
How about the 2008 Rays? In the first round, the Rays, whose starting lineup playoff experience looks like this: Jason Bartlett - 3 games, Cliff Floyd - 12 games (4 hits in 19 ab...). And that's it.
They beat the White Sox, whose roster has AJ Pierzynski (with some wild playoff experiences), Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko, Joe Crede, Juan Uribe, Bobby Jenks, and Mark Buehrle all with a World Series ring.
Next, they beat the Red Sox, whose team was nearly intact from their 2007 World Series win.
Back to those 2005 White Sox.
At the time, they were relatively green as far as playoff action is concerned. Iguchi, Crede, Uribe, Podsednik, Rowand, Buehrle, Garland, Jenks... all had yet to taste the playoffs. Konerko played three games. Dye, Pierzynski, and Contreras played a bit in the postseason, but the Red Sox had just won a World Series the previous year.
Three game sweep.
The Angels still had many players from their 2002 Series win. White Sox in five.
Then the Sox took on an Astros team who were led by a pitching staff featuring Clemens and Pettitte, mainstays from the Yankees winners in the late 1990's. The team as a whole had played up to the NLCS the previous season. They had much more "playoff experience" than did the White Sox.
Sox in four.
How about the 2003 Marlins?
Juan Pierre, Miguel Cabrera, Derrek Lee, Mike Lowell, Juan Encarnacion, Alex Gonzalez, Luis Castillo... The whole pitching staff: Beckett, Pavano, Redman, Penny.... Ivan Rodriguez had a few previous series and Jeff Conine was on the 1997 Marlins, but that's it...
And stack them against the Yankees, who won the 1996, 98, 99, and 2000 World Series and lost in the 2001?
If there were ever any mismatch as far as playoff experience goes, this is it. And the Marlins won the damn thing.
It goes on... the 2002 Angels... even back in the 90's with the 1990 Reds beating the defending champion A's. Or the 1987 Twins beating Whitey's Cardinals, who were in the World Series two of the previous five seasons.
And you could find even more if you scour the pages of your baseball encyclopedia.
"Playoff experience" doesn't mean a thing.
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