Archives for September 2020

From Triple Plays to No-Hitters to Some True (Big) Fly Fishing … Baseball Roundtable’s September Wrap Up

September 28, 2020 by David

MLB’s 2020 regular-season has come to an end and it’s time for Baseball Roundtable’s traditional monthly wrap up:

A look at the previous (in this case, final) month of the season, and the stories and stats that caught BBRT’s eye;
September and final won-lost records;
BBRT’s Players and Pitchers of the month; and
BBRT’s “Trot Index”.

In this post, I’ll also share a few thoughts/predictions on the post-season. Before we get into the details, here are a few events that helped shape September 2020 (more on these and other September “happenings” in the “Highlights” section).

Six National Leaguers shared the September lead in triples (2) – two were catchers (D-backs’ Daulton Varsho & Giants’ Joey Bart).
Everyone speculated the Astros might become HBP targets this season. Twenty-three Astros were plunked – slightly below the MLB average of 27. (The Cubbies “felt” 52 plunkings.)
Fly Fishing. Mike Trout topped Tim Salmon‘s Angels’ franchise long-ball record.
The Rays put the first all-lefty MLB lineup on the field.
Alex Mills threw 2020’s second no-hitter – in his first MLB complete game.
Indians’ 3B Jose Ramirez led MLB (qualifiers) in September slugging percentage at .841 – 91 percentage points up on the NL leader and 174 points up on second-best in the NL.
Billy Hamilton made it home the easy way (home run) and the hard way (steal of home) … in the same game.
The Brewers turned MLB’s first 2020 triple play … on the final day of the regular season.
DJ LeMahieu became the first player to win a batting championship in both the NL and AL.
The top seven pitchers (and 12 of the top 15) in September strikeouts were National Leaguers.
Three pitchers were trusted with an MLB-high six starts in September … they went a combined 3-7, 4.92.

Again more on these and other September “stories” in the highlights section. Before we get deeper into September and year-end stats, let’s look at BBRT’s Players and Pitchers of the Month.

—–PLAYERS AND PITCHERS OF THE MONTH (SEPTEMBER)—–

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Player of the Month – Marcell Ozuna, OF/DH. Braves

Photo by hueytaxi

Marcell Ozuna was a dominant force for the Braves in September – and still barely edged out teammate Freddie Freeman for this honor. Looking at MLB stats for the month, Ozuna’s .394 average led MLB (Freeman was second at .375); Ozuna’s 33 RBI also led MLB (Freeman was second at 32). Ozuna’s ten home runs were second only to teammate Adam Duvall’s eleven and Ozuna’s 41 hits led MLB (Freeman was third at 36). In addition, Ozuna tied with Freeman for the NL’s top slugging percentage at .750. For the month, Ozuna had a hit in 23 of 26 games -including ten multi-hit games. He opened the month (September 1) with a three-homer, six-RBI performance against the Red Sox.

Honorable Mentions: As noted above Freddie Freeman was in the running. In fact, he had a couple of things going for him: he spent more time on the field (rather than DH) than Ozuna; he struck out only 14 times to Ozuna’s 25. Ultimately, the margin was razor thing between Freeman and Ozuna. Also have to put in a good word for the Phillies’ 24-year-old rookie 3B Alec Bohm, whose 40 September hits were second only to Ozuna’s 41. Bohm hit .367 for the month, with three home runs,16 RBI and 17 runs scored.

Pitcher of the Month – Corbin Burnes, RHP, Brewers

What can you say about Corbin Burnes? He was pretty much lights out in September until suffering an oblique strain that knocked him out of his last start. To that point in the month, he was 3-0, with a tiny 0.38 earned run average in four starts. Even with that last start hiccup, Burnes finished with a September record of 3-1, with a 1.32 earned run average (second in the NL only to the Reds’ Trevor Bauer’s 1.29) and 42 strikeouts (only seven walks) in 27 1/3 innings. His 13.8 strikeouts per nine frames in September trailed only Jason deGrom and Shane Bieber in MLB – pretty good company.

Corbin Burnes has had an up-and-down MLB run. Called up to the Brewers in July of 2018. He appeared in 30 games for Milwaukee that season (all in relief) and went 7-0, 2.61. Then in 2019, he appeared in 32 games for the Brew Crew (four starts) and went 1-5, 8.82. This season, he appeared in 12 contests (nine starts) and went 4-1, 2.11.

Honorable Mentions: The Reds’ Trevor Bauer also deserves recognition, despite going just 2-2 for the month. Bauer pitched to a 1.29 earned run average and fanned 46 batters (second in MLB), with just six walks in 35 innings. Luis Castillo, also of the Red gets shout out for picking up four wins in five September starts (the only MLB pitcher with four September victories), with a 2.20 earned run average, one complete game and 37 strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings. Like Burnes, Castillo is a surprise in this competition. Going into the month, he was 0-5, with 4.10 earned run average. Finally, there is hard-luck Padre Dinelson Lamet, who started five times, produced a 1.76 ERA and fanned 42 batters in 27 innings, but got only one win and four no-decisions (despite the fact that San Diego won all five of his September starts.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Player of the Month – Jose Ramirez, Indians, 3B

Jose Ramirez’ hit a robust .366 in September (second in the AL), with an AL-topping (and MLB’s second-best) ten home runs. Ramirez drove in 24 runs (fourth in the AL) and scored 18. Ramirez also swiped two bases and had more walks (11) than strikeouts (10). Nineteen of Ramirez’ 30 hits went for extra bases and His .841 slugging percentage far outdistanced the pack (second best in MLB was .750).

Honorable Mentions: Ramirez inched out White Sox ‘1B Jose Abreu, who hit .320, drove in 28 September runs (first in the AL); scored 19 times (fifth in the AL); and popped seven home runs. Abreu’s 29 September hits were third in the AL and seventh in MLB. Blue Jays’ outfielder Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. was also in the chase, after hitting an AL-best .368 in September, with seven home runs, 16 RBI and 19 runs scored.

Pitcher of the Month – Tie: Gerrit Cole, Yankees & Chris Bassitt, A’s

Gerrit Cole came through for the Yankees in the stretch – going 3-1, giving up just three earned runs in 27 innings pitched (1.00 September ERA.) Cole’s 34 strikeouts were fourth-best in the AL – and he walked just five. His September performance included a 6-0, complete game, two-hit shutout over the Orioles (seven innings). Chris Bassitt of the A’s went 3-0, 0.34 and gave up just one run in 26 2/3 September innings. (four starts). Bassitt fanned 25 batters (five walks) in 26 2/3 innings. This was really a toss=up for me.

Honorable Mentions: Can’t leave out the White Sox’ Dallas Keuchel, who may have only gotten one win in four starts, but pitched to a 0.45 earned run average. We should also recognize Indians’ closer Brad Hand, who picked up six September saves (in six opportunities) and two wins in eleven appearances, while putting up a 0.79 ERA and fanning 16 in 11 1/3 innings.

Surprise Player of the Month – Jared Walsh, Angels, 1B

Jared Walsh came into September 41 career MLB games on his resume – with a .173 average, one home run and five RBI. Further, in July and August of this season, he was zero-for-thirteen in ten games. Then came September. Walsh got in 22 games and went 29-for-86 (.337), with four doubles, two triples, nine home runs and 26 RBI. Drafted in 39^th round of the 2015 MLB draft (out of the Universality of Georgia), Walsh has been a two-way player. In 2019, he pitched in five games for the Halos, putting up a 1.80 earned run average with five strikeouts in five innings.

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TROT INDEX … A REGULAR BBRT FEATURE

For 2020, 37.3 percent of MLB’s 66,506 2020 plate appearances ended in a trot (back to the dugout, around the bases, to first base). We’re talking about strikeouts, home runs, walks, hit by pitch and catcher’s interference – all outcomes that are, basically, devoid of action on the base paths or in the field. Here’s the breakout: strikeouts (23.4%); walks (9.1%); home runs (3.4%); HBP (1.2%); catcher’s interference (less than 1%). Personally, I’d like more action in the field of play.

The 37.4 percent figure is up from 2019’s (full season) 36.2 percent and 2018’s 34.8 percent Trot Index.

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You’ll find full standings and stats near the end of this post, but here are your Round One opponents and seeding. Side note: I see this as fine for this strange season (it did add interest), but I’m not a fan for the future. This year, for example; the Astros and Brewers made “the tournament” with sub-.500 records. I prefer fewer teams and recognition (again next season) of the marathon that is an MLB season.

Some minor predictions for Round One. Predictions on late rounds coming soon. Wanted to get this out before tomorrow’s games.

Rays over Blue Jays. Rays’ pitching slows Jays’ offense and not vice versa.
Yankees over Indians. Yankees offense and Gerrit Cole should edge the Tribe.
Twins over Astros. Twins 24-7 at home. Astros 9-23 on the road. Enough said.
White Sox over A’s. Pretty even match up, but White Sox offense should prevail.
Dodgers over Brewers. Brewers seem over matched to me.
Padres over Cardinals. Really a toss up, but home field helps and it feels like a Padres year to me.
Cubs over Marlins. Two run-of-the-mill offenses, but Cubs have a pitching edge.
Reds over Braves. This is all about Reds pitching versus Braves offense. Betting that Bauer, Castillo and Gray can slow down Acuna, Ozuna and Freeman. This is my long-shot prediction.

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Among the hottest teams in September were the Dodgers (17-7), Twins (16-8), Padres (15-8) and Reds (16-9) … and they illustrated the value of pitching. All four squads registered among the six lowest September earned run averages. Notably, the 17-7 Dodgers also put up some solid offense. Their 145 September runs were third among the 30 MLB teams. LA kind of had the best of both worlds. Meanwhile the Padres were 16th in scoring, the Twins 18th and the Reds 25th. Clearly, pitching was of premium value. On the other end of the mound spectrum, , the Tigers (7-19) and Rockies (9-19) boasting two of the three worst September records, also recorded two of the three worst September ERA’s.

Looking for exceptions to prove the rule? The Blue Jays had September’s second worst ERA at 5.85, but overcame that with solid offense (fourth-most runs scored) to put up a 14-13 record and the Braves led MLB in September runs scored (173), helping overcome a 4.64 ERA (11th worst) to produce a 15-11 record.

————-September 2020 Team Statistical Leaders August——————-

RUNS SCORED

National League – Braves (173); Dodgers (145); Phillies (138)

American League – Yankees (153; Blue Jays (144); Red Sox (130)

The Pirates scored the fewest runs in September (91); while the Tigers were at the bottom of the American league at 97. The only other team to score fewer than 100 September runs was the Mariners (98). For a bit of comparison, the Braves averaged 6.7 runs per game for the month, the Pirates averaged 3.3.

BATTING AVERAGE

National League – Mets (.284); Giants (.279);Braves (.277)

American League – Red Sox (.277); Angels (.270); Blue Jays (.264)

The Reds averaged an MLB-low .206 for the month. The Mariners had the lowest average in the AL at .216.

ON-BASE PERCENTAGE

National League – Braves (.372); Giants (.355); Mets (.349)

American League – Yankees (.348); Red Sox (.345); Angels (.345)

HOME RUNS

National League – Braves (55); Dodgers (50); Mets (43)

American League – Twins (42); Yankees (41); Red Sox (38)

Doing a bit to factor out the differences in games (and innings) played, the Dodgers had the most powerful “at bats per home run” ratio at 16.44 The fewest at bats per long ball in the American League went to the Twins at 18.43.

WALKS

National League – Braves (126); Phillies (121); Reds (105)

American League – Yankees (128); A’s (98); Blue Jays (91)

The Braves’ had the highest on-base percentage in August (.372). The Yankees led the AL at .348.

STOLEN BASES

National League – Padres (24); Nationals (24); Rockies (21)

American League – Rays (31); Royals (25); Red Sox (20); Rangers (20)

The Mets stole the fewest bases during September – just four in nine attempts. (The Rays were also “caught stealing” five times during the month, but were successful 31 times.)

BATTER’S STRIKEOUTS

National League – Cardinals (282); Marlins (257); Phillies (254)

American League – Rays (275); Rangers (268); Tigers (253)

EARNED RUN AVERAGE

National League – Padres (3.15); Reds (3.37); Cubs (3.38)

American League – Twins (3.28); Rays (3.32); Indians (3.89)

The highest ERA for September belonged to the Rockies at 5.42. In the American League that “high” (low?) mark went to the Blue Jays at 5.85. Overall, eight of the 30 teams had ERAs north of 5.00.

STRIKEOUTS

National League – Phillies (268); Cardinals (268); Brewers (261)

American League – Indians (261); Yankees (245); Astros (238)

Whiff-Masters

Six teams fanned at least ten batters per nine frames in September: Brewers (10.78); Padres (10.64); Indians (10.58); Reds (10.45); Mets (10.29); Phillies (10.01).

WALKS (fewest)

National League – Dodgers (47); Padres (58); Brewers (66)

American League – Rays (60); Twins (61); A’s (63)

The Dodgers’ staff showed the greatest control with 1.96 walks per nine innings in September, while the Rays were best in the AL at 2.58. The Blue Jays’ staff walked an MLB-high 4.67 batters per nine innings over September. The Dodgers, by the way, also led in strikeouts per walk at 4.55. The Indians led the junior circuit at 3.95.

SAVES

National League – Cardinals (8); Diamondbacks (7); Marlins (7)

American League – Blue Jays (9); Royals (8); Rays (8)

The Pirates had just two save (in nine save opportunities) for September. The only other teams successful in less than half their save opportunities were the Rangers (two-for-six);Tigers (four-for-nine); and Phillies (six-for-thirteen).

——-Individual Statistical Leaders September ———-

AVERAGE (minimum 75 at bats)

National League – Marcell Ozuna, Braves (.394); Freddie Freeman, Braves (.375); Jeff McNeil, Mets (.356)

American League – Lourdes Gurriel, Jr., Blue Jays (.368); Jose Ramirez, Indians (.366); Adalberto Mondesi, Royals (.356)

The lowest August average (minimum 75 at bats) belonged to the Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber at .130 (10-for-77). The AL’s lowest could be found across town – the White Sox’ Luis Robert at .136 (11-for-81).

HOME RUNS

National League – Adam Duvall, Braves (11); Marcell Ozuna, Braves (10); AJ Pollock, Dodgers (10)

American League – Jose Ramirez, Indians (10); George Springer, Astros (9); Jared Walsh, Angels (9); Luke Voit, Yankees (9)

No player had more at bats without a long ball in September than Rangers’ 2B Nick Solak (93).

RUNS BATTED IN

National League – Marcell Ozuna, Braves (33); Freddie Freeman, Braves (32); Chris Taylor, Dodgers (23); Trea Turner, Nationals (23)

American League – Jose Abreu, White Sox (28); Jared Walsh, Angels (26); Luke Voit, Yankees (26)

HITS

National League – Marcell Ozuna, Braves (41); Alec Bohm, Phillies (40); Freddie Freeman, Braves (36)

American League – DJ LeMahieu, Yankees (36); Lourdes Gurriel, Jr., Blue Jays (35); Will Castro, Tigers (34)

DOUBLES

National League – Freddie Freeman, Braves (12); Dominic Smith, Mets (9); Alex Dickerson, Giants (9)

American League – Eloy Jimenez, White Sox (9); Jose Ramirez, Indians (9); DJ LeMahieu, Yankees (9); Cavan Biggio, Blue Jays (9)

TRIPLES

National League – Daulton Varsho, D-backs (2); Ke’Bryan Hays, Pirates (2); Asdrubal Cabrera, Nationals (2); Trea Turner, Nationals (2); Joey Bart, Giants (2); Trevor Story, Rockies (2)

American League – Cedric Mullins, Orioles (3); Yoan Moncada, White Sox (3); nine with two

The Indians’ Jose Ramirez led MLB in September slugging percentage at a robust .841. Second, and sharing the NL lead were the Braves’ Freddie Freeman and Marcell Ozuna far behind at .750.

STOLEN BASES

National League – Trea Turner, Nationals (9); Trevor Story, Rockies (7); three with six

American League – Adalberto Mondesi, Royals (16); Manual Margot, Rays (8); Leody Taveras, Rangers (7); Jonathan Villar, Blue Jays (70)

Trea Turner stole the most September bases without being caught (9).

WALKS

National League – Juan Soto, Nationals (28); Christian Yelich, Brewers (26); Bryce Harper, Phillies (25)

American League – Aaron Hicks, Yankees(21); Cavan Biggio, Blue Jays (20); Mike Trout, Angels (18)

The Nationals’ Juan Soto had September’s highest on-base percentage (.533). No other player reached the .500 mark.

BATTER’S STRIKEOUTS

National League – Keston Hiura, Brewers (37); Christian Yelich, Brewers (36); Paul DeJong, Cardinals (36)

American League – Miguel Sano, Twins (39); Evan White, Mariners (37); Matt Olson, A’s (36); Joey Gallo, Rangers (36)

PITCHING VICTORIES

National League – Luis Castillo, Reds (4-1); nine with three

American League – 12 with three

The Nationals’ Patrick Corbin led MLB in September losses, going 0-5, 5.64 in five starts.

EARNED RUN AVERAGE (minimum 20 IP)

National League – Trevor Bauer, Reds (1.29); Corbin Burnes, Brewers (1.32); Kyle Hendricks, Cubs (1.45)

American League – Chris Bassitt, A’s (0.34); Dallas Keuchel, White Sox (0.45); Gerrit Cole, Yankees (1.00)

Eight pitchers with at least four September starts posted ERAs under 2.00. Of those, three notched just one win each: Dallas Keuchel, White Sox (1-0, 0.45); Dinelson Lamet, Padres (1-0, 1.76); Carlos Carrasco, Indians (1-1, 1.97).

STRIKEOUTS

National League – Aaron Nola, Phillies (48/35 1/3 IP); Trevor Bauer, Reds (46/35 IP); Jacob deGrom, Mets (46/27 IP)

American League – Shane Bieber, Indians (38/24 2/3 IP); Carlos Carrasco, Indians (37/32 IP); Framber Valdez, Astros (36/32 1/3 IP)

September’s leader in strikeouts per nine innings was the Mets’ Jacob deGrom at 15.33; followed by the Indians’ Shane Bieber (Indians) at 13,86.

INNINGS PITCHED

National League – Kyle Hendricks, Cubs (37 1/3); Aaron Nola, Phillies (35 1/3); Trevor Bauer, Reds (35)

American League – Zach Plesac, Indians (34 1/3); Jordan Lyles, Rangers (33 1/3); Lance Lynn Rangers (32 2/3)

The Phillies’ Aaron Nola was the only pitcher with two complete games in September. He also led MLB with six starts (tied with Kyle Freeland of the Rockies and Jon Lester of the Cubs). Nola went 2-3, 3.57.

SAVES

National League – Stefan Crichton, D-backs (5); Brandon Kintzler, Miami (5); Josh Hader, Brewers (5)

American League – Ryan Pressley, Astros (6); Matt Barnes, Red Sox (6); Brad Hand, Indians (6)

Jimmy Cordero of the White Sox and Mike Mayers of the Angels took the mound in the most September games (11 each).

—–SEPTEMBER 2020 HIGHLIGHTS —-

Elvis Has Left the Building

On September 2, the Rangers’ Elvis Andrus hit his first home run of the 2020 season – off the Astros’ Ryan Pressley. Nice coincidence there. Oh, and it was meaningful one, tying the game at four apiece in the top of the ninth. (The Rangers won 6-5 in ten innings.) Truly, Elvis (off Pressley) left the building.

More COVID Weirdness … Home Away from Home

On September 5, the Angels swept a doubleheader from the Astros by the narrowest of margins … 10-9 and 7-6. While both games were played at Angels Stadium (before a crowd of zero), thanks to COVID scheduling, the Astros were the visiting team in Game One and the home squad quad in Game Two.

Trout Rounds the Bases with Number 300 … Takes Angels’ Franchise Lead (Something fishy there?)

Photo by A.Rutledge

On September 5, during the Angels “Home & Away” doubleheader against the Astros, Mike Trout hit a two-run homer in the third inning of game one (a 10-9 Angels win). Side note: As the two teams players to a 10-9 final, the game time temperature was an Angel Stadium 109 degrees. See what I did there?

Trout‘s long ball was his 300^th career homer – a nice round number that also gave him sole possession of the Angels’ franchise mark. (He had been tied with Tim Salmon at 299).

No need to Round Up, It’s 1,500

On September 9, as the Braves pummeled the Marlins 29-9 in Atlanta, Freddie Freeman popped a two-run home in the third inning – notching his 1,500^th MLB hit. The Braves 29-tally outburst set a post-1900 National League record and was one shy of the post-1900 MLB record of thirty runs in a game – set by the Rangers in 2007. For more on high-scoring games and big innings, click here.

Baseball has its Up and Downs

Photo by boomer-44

The Yankees’ Gerrit Cole won his first four decisions in 2020 – giving him a 20-decision winning streak dating back to May of 2019. Then, on August 28, the Braves broke the streak – topping Cole and the Bronx Bombers 5-1 in Atlanta. (Notably, the pitcher who finally bested Cole, Ian Anderson, was making his first MLB appearance.)

Cole went on to lose his next two starts (to the Rays and Orioles) In those three consecutive losses, he surrendered 14 runs (ten earned) in 16 innings. He righted the ship thereafter, winning his next three decisions to finish the season 7-3, 2.84.

For more on Cole’s streak and other hurlers who won 20 or more consecutive decisions, click here.

We Do Like Round Numbers

Shane Bieber‘s 2020 season has been special – as he led all of MLB with 122 strikeouts (in 77 1/3 innings). He added a complementary touch to this performance on September 12, when he fanned eight batters in seven frames – despite taking the loss (3-1 to the Twins). Bieber fanned Twins’ C Ryan Jeffers in the fifth inning for his sixth strikeout of the game. It also was his 100th whiff of the season. He reached that round number in 62 2/3 innings – the fastest ever in a season by an MLB pitcher. His pace edged out Max Scherzer, who reached the 100K mark in 63 innings in 2018.

Look at Life from Both Sides Now … Or Not

On September 11, the Rays (often hailed for the innovative pitching strategies) put together a unique offensive lineup. Facing Red Sox righty Andrew Triggs, the Rays started (reportedly for the first time in modern base baseball – since 1900 – history) an all left-handed batting lineup. It went like this: Austin Meadows LF; Joey Wendle SS; Brandon Lowe 2B; Ji-Man Choi 1B; Kevin Kiermaier CF; Yoshi Tsutsugo 3B; Nate Lowe DH; Brett Phillips RF; Michael Perez C.

Despite the fact that no one in the lineup had an average over ,259 (seven of the nine were under .230), the port-sided Rays bashed 12 hits on their way to an 11-1 win. DH Nate Lowe, who came into the game with just one-hit in 14 at bats (.071 on the season) and no RBI, led the way going three-for-four with two home runs and four RBI. The Red Sox kind of played into the Rays’ strategy, they used six pitchers in the contest – five of them right-handed. Of note, is that fact that starter Triggs had actually looked pretty good against left handers (one-for-fourteen against him to that point in the season). Trigg left the contest after just one inning (neck issues). It should be noted that the Rays did score four of their runs off the only southpaw used by the Red Sox (Matt Hall) and that Hall (again the only southpaw used by the BoSox) took the loss.

No Run of the Mill(s) Start

On September 13, Cubs’ 28-year-old righty Alec Mills picked up his sixth major-league win (15^th career start and 29t^h MLB appearance – in four season). To that point in his career, he was 5-4 with a 4.19 earned run average. So, what did he do on the unlucky 13th? He threw the second 2020 no-hitter, shutting down the Brewers 12-0 in Milwaukee. In his nine-inning stint, Mills walked three and fanned five – throwing 114 pitches (74 for strikes). It was his first major-league complete game. Mills was a 22nd round draft pick (Royals) in 2012 – traded to the Cubs in 2017. In eight minor league seasons, he went 32-29, 3.69 – with one complete game in 115 starts.

That Yankee Offense Goes Pretty Deep

From September 15 through September 17, the New York Yankees – in sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays – bashed a total of 19 home runs. That gave them a number of records including most home runs in a three-game series and most consecutive games with six or more home runs. Included in this run of long balls was a record-tying five home run inning (September 17). For more detail on this power outburst (and other five-homer frames), click here.

Gerrit Cole and a Nice Round Number

On September 16, as the Yankees routed the Blue Jays 13-2 in New York, Gerrit Cole notched his 100^th career victory – Cole went seven innings, giving up one run and three hits, while walking two and fanning eight. The win came in Cole’s 203^rd career start (eighth MLB season) and ran Cole’s career record to 100-55, 3.20, with 1,423 strikeouts in 1,261 innings pitched.

Plesac’s Immaculate Inning

On September 18, Indians’ starter Zach Plesac pitched 7 2/3 innings of scoreless ball (five hits, one walk and eleven strikeouts) as the Tribe defeated the Tigers 1-0 in Detroit. The highlight of Plesac’s fourth win of the season may have come in the second frame, when Plesac struck out Tigers’ LF Jorge Bonafacio, 2B Niko Goodrum and C Austine Romine on nine pitches – becoming the 93^rd MLB pitcher to log an immaculate inning.

A few other immaculate Inning tidbits.

The Athletics’ Lefty Grove (1928) and Red Sox’ Chris Sale (2019) the only pitchers to throw two immaculate innings in one season.
Nolan Ryan (Mets & Angels) is the only pitcher to throw an Immaculate Innings in both the NL and AL.
The Royals’ Danny Jackson is the only pitcher to throw an Immaculate Inning in the World Series (Game 5, 1985).

Albert Pujols hit three home runs in September, giving him six on the season and 662 for his career – pulling him past William Mays (660) into fifth place all time. Next target for the 40-year-old Pujols? Alex Rodriguez (696).

Pulled While Throwing a No-Hitter … But No Surprise

On September 20, Dylan Cease started for the first-place Chicago White Sox against the Reds in Cincinnati. Cease came into the fourth inning having allowed no hits – and he did not give up a safety to any of the first three batters of the inning. Still, he was pulled, no-hitter intact. But it was no surprise. Cease had a 1-2-3 first inning., In the second frame, he gave up two walks and hit a batter (but held the Reds scoreless). He gave up two more walks, but no runs, in the third – and then walked the first three hitters in the fourth, before being replaced by Ross Detwiler. Cease’s final line was three innings pitched, no hits, five walks, one hit batsman, five strikeouts and three earned runs. Cease threw a total of 80 pitches – 43 balls and 37 strikes. The White Sox lost the game 7-3 and, in the process, walked 11 and hit three Reds’ batters.

Another Round Number

On September 20, Twins’ outfielder Max Kepler popped his eighth home run of the 2020 season – and the 100^th of his MLB career. Kepler, in his sixth MLB season, increased his home run total each season from 2015-2019 … zero in 2015 (just seven at bats); 17 in 2016; 19 in 2017; 20 in 2018; 36 in 2019.

Big Day for a Big Guy

On September 21, as the Blue Jays topped the Yankees 11-5 in Toronto, 21-year-old Blue Jays’ rookie catcher Alejandro Kirk had a big day at the plate. Kirk came into the hitting .200 (two-for-ten in five games). In the September 21 contest, Kirk went four-for-four (his first MLB multi-hit game), scored three times, collected his first MLB extra base hit (a double) to lead off the fifth and added his first MLB home run and RBI (a solo shot leading off the seventh). Why the “Big Guy” in the headline. Kirk looks more like and NFL player than an MLB player … 5’8″, 265-pounds. The big guy has proven he can wield a big bat. In three minor league seasons (151 games), Kirk hit .315, with 17 home runs and 101 RBI.

Yadi’s Big Day – A Walk -Off Out of the Park

Yadiel Hernandez, a 32-year-old rookie for the Nationals, hit his first MLB home run on September 22 – and he made it count. It was a walk-off game-winner in the bottom of the eighth inning, in the second game of a double bill against the Phillies (in Washington D.C.). The 5’9′, 185-pound outfielder was signed by the Nationals after defecting from Cuba in 2015. He was a .324 hitter in six seasons in the Cuban National Series. in 2019, Hernandez hit .323-33-90 in 126 games for the Triple A Fresno Grizzlies.

Another Yadi’s Landmark

In the vein of round numbers, on September 24, Cardinals’ catcher Yadier Molina – a nine-time All Star, nine-time Gold Glover and .281 career hitter – slapped a single to shallow center in the seventh inning of the Cardinals’ 4-2 win over the Brewers. It was Molina’s 2,000 MLB hit (in 17 seasons, all for the Cardinals). The home town crowd would have gone wild. If there had been one.

Put a Flight Attendants on the One

On September 25, as the Braves topped the Red Sox 8-7 (11 innings) in Atlanta, still rising star Ronald Acuna, Jr, hit the longest home run (as measured by Statcast) of the 2020 season – a 495-footer off the Red Sox’ Chris Mazza to lead oft the bottom of the first. It was the 22-year-old’s 14th home run of the short season. In 2019, Acuna went .280-41-101 in 156 games and lead the National League with 37 stolen bases. Some of Acuna’s long-ball thunder may have been stolen on the 25th, as Braves’ 1B Freddie Freeman ended the contest with a walk-off home run to open the bottom of the 11th inning. It was Freeman’s 13th of the campaign.

Two Paths to that First MLB Hit

On September 26, two members of the Angels collected their first MLB base hits – both in their first MLB at bats; and in back-to back at bats. The similarities end there, as the pair took widely different paths to those first MLB safeties. It happened with one out in the top of the third. First, rookie second baseman Jahmai Jones single to center on the first MLB pitch he ever saw. Next up was rookie SS Elliot Sot0. Like Jones, it was Soto’s first MLB at bat. Soto, singled to right on the second MLB pitch he ever saw.

Those different paths to first base? Jones, a second-round pick in the 2015 draft) made the majors at age 23, in his sixth professional season. Soto was a “touch” senior, making his MLB debut at age 31. He was a 13th-round pick in the 2007 draft and was in his 11th pro season.

Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun

Photo by jenniferlinneaphotography

When the scorebooks closed on the Yankees’ September 27 5-0 loss to the Marlins, New York’s DJ LeMahieu had logged a pair of singles – to finish the 2020 regular season with a .364 average. That made LeMahieu, who won the National League batting crown (.348) with the Rockies in 2016, the American League’s 2020 batting leader. It also made him the first player to win undisputed batting titles in both the AL and NL.

Saving the Best for Last

On the final day of the 2020 season (September 27), the Brewers turned 2020’s first triple play. It came in the bottom of the eighth of the Brew Crew’s 5-2 loss to the Cardinals. It was a “natural” around-the-horn triple-killing. The Cardinals’ Yadier Molina came up with runners on first and second. Molina grounded to Brewers’ third baseman Jace Peterson (who had made on error on the previous play to set up the triple play possibility). Peterson gloved the grounder and stepped on the bag for out number one and threw to second baseman Keston Huira for out number two. Huira then relayed the ball to first baseman Jedd Gyorko for the final out. One up, three down.

Power and Speed

On September 27, the Cubs’ Billy Hamilton surprised a lot of people – perhaps even himself. First, in the second inning of the Cubs’ game against the crosstown White Sox, Hamilton (after a walk and a single by Cameron Maybin) found himself on third base, one out and Maybin on first. Maybin took a long lead and made a move toward second while pitcher Carlos Rodon still had the ball. Rodon made a throw to first baseman Jose Abreu who threw to shortstop Tim Anderson covering – and Hamilton broke for home. Hamilton beat the throw from Anderson to the plate with a head first slide. Then in the fourth, Hamilton surprised, perhaps even himself, by popping a home run to left-center – his first round tripper since August 29, 2018. A steal of home and a home run – a surprising day.

——-Individual Statistical Leaders Final ———-

AVERAGE (qualifying, 3.1 plate appearances per team game played)

National League – Juan Soto, Nationals (.351); Freddie Freeman, Braves (.341); Marcell Ozuna, Braves (.338)

American League – DJ LeMahieu, Yankees (.364); Tim Anderson, White Sox (.322); David Fletcher, Angels (.319)

The lowest August average among qualifiers belonged to the Mariners’ Evan White at .176 (32-for-182). In the National League, it was the Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber at .188 (38-for-191). Others falling below the Mendoza line (under .200) included: Joey Gallo, Rangers (.181); Matt Olson, A’s (.195); Bryan Reynolds, Pirates (.189); Max Muncy, Dodgers (.192); Carlos Santana, Indians (.199)

HOME RUNS

National League – Marcell Ozuna, Braves (18); Fernando Tatis, Jr., Padres (17); Mookie Betts, Dodgers (16); Adam Duvall, Braves (16); Manny Machado, Padres (16); Kole Calhoun, Diamondbacks (16); Pete Alonso, Mets (16): AJ Pollock, Dodgers (17)

American League – Luke Voit, Yankees (22); Jose Abreu, White Sox (19); Jose Ramirez, Indians (17); Mike Trout Angels (17)

Reds’ OF Shogo Akiyama had the most 2020 at bats without a home run (155). Akiyama hit .245, scoring 16 runs and driving in nine (in 54 games played).

RUNS BATTED IN

National League – Marcell Ozuna, Braves (56); Freddie Freeman, Braves (53); Manny Machado, Padres (47)

American League – Jose Abreu, White Sox (60); Luke Voit, Yankees (52); Mike Trout, Angels (46); Jose Ramirez, Indians (46)

HITS

National League – Trea Turner, Nationals (78); Marcel Ozuna, Braves (77); Freddie Freeman, Braves (73)

American League – Jose Abreu, White Sox (76); DJ LeMahieu, Yankees (71); Whit Merrifield, Royals (70)

DOUBLES

National League – Freddie Freeman, Braves (23); Dominic Smith, Mets (21); Christian Walker, D-backs (18)

American League – Cesar Hernandez, Indians (20): Jose Iglesias, Orioles (17); five with 16

Freddie Freeman led MLB with 32 extra-base hits.

TRIPLES

National League – Trevor Story, Rockies (4); Mike Yastrzemski, Giants (4); Trea Turner, Nationals (4)

American League – Kyle Tucker, Astros (6); six with three

Juan Soto of the Nationals led qualifiers in slugging percentage .695. Jose Abreu of the White Sox topped the AL at .617.

STOLEN BASES

National League – Trevor Story, Rockies (15); Roman Quinn, Phillies (12); Trea Turner, Nationals, (12)

American League – Adalberto Mondesi, Royals (24); Manuel Margot, Rays (12); Dylan Moore, Mariners (12); Whit Merrifield, Royals (12)

Jonathan Villar stole the second most bases in MLB (16) – nine for the Marlins and seven for the Blue Jays.

WALKS

National League – Bryce Harper, Phillies (49 ); Christian Yelich, Brewers (46); Freddie Freeman, Braves (45)

American League – Carlos Santana, Indians (47); Cavan Biggio, Blue Jays (41); Aaron Hicks, Yankees (41)

The Nationals’ Juan Soto drew the most intentional walks with 12.

BATTER’S STRIKEOUTS

National League – Keston Hiura, Brewers (85); Christian Yelich, Brewers (76); Javier Baez, Cubs (75)

American League – Miguel Sano, Twins (90); Evan White, Mariners (84); Joey Gallo, Rangers (79)

A’s /Angels’ 2B Tommy La Stella had the best walks-to-strikeouts ratio at 2.25 (27 walks/12 strikeouts). By comparison, MLB whiff leader Miguel Sano (Twins) recorded 90 whiffs and just 18 walks (205 plate appearances.)

PITCHING VICTORIES

National League – Yu Darvish, Cubs (8-3); Max Fried, Braves (7-0); Zach Davies, Padres (7-4)

American League – Shane Bieber, Indians (8-1); Marco Gonzalez, Mariners (7-2); Gerrit Cole, Yankees (7-3)

The Diamondbacks’ Luke Weaver (1-9, 6.58) was the MLB leader in losses.

EARNED RUN AVERAGE (at least one inning pitched for reach team game played)

National League – Trevor Bauer, Reds (1.73); Yu Darvish, Cubs (2.01); Dinelson Lamet (2.09)

American League – Shane Bieber, Indians (1.63); Dallas Keuchel, White Sox (1.99): Chris Bassitt, A.s (2.29)

The Tigers’ Matt Boyd had the highest earned run average among pitchers with enough innings to qualify. He was 3-7, 6.71 in 12 starts.

STRIKEOUTS

National League – Jacob deGrom, Mets (104/68 IP); Trevor Bauer, Reds (100/73 IP); Aaron Nola, Phillies (96/71 1/3 IP)

American League – Shane Bieber, Indians (122/77 1/3 IP); Lucas Giolito, White Sox (97/72 1/3 IP); Gerrit Cole, Yankees (94/73 IP)

The leader in strikeouts per nine innings was the Indians’ Shame Bieber at 14.20. The Mets’ Jacob deGrom topped the NL at 13.76.

On the control side of the mound, the Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks walked the fewest batter per nine frames (0.89), with eight walks in 81 1/3 innings pitched. The only other qualifier under one walk per nine innings was the Mariners’ Marco Gonzalez at 0.90 (seven free passes n 69 2/3 innings).

COMPLETE GAMES

National League – Trevor Bauer, Reds (2); Adam Wainwright, Cardinals (2): Aaron Nola, Phillies (2)

American League – Gerrit Cole, Yankees (2); many with one

INNINGS PITCHED

National League – German Marquez, Rockies (81 2/3); Kyle Hendricks, Cubs (81 1/3); Yu Darvish, Cubs (76)

American League – Lance Lynn Rangers (84); Shane Bieber, Indians (77 1/3); Aaron Civale, Indians (74)

SAVES

National League – Josh Hader, Brewers (13); Brandon Kintzler, Marlins (12 ); Kenley Jansen, Dodgers (11); Mark Melancon, Braves (11)

American League – Brad Hand, Indians (16); Liam Hendriks, A’s (14); Alex Colome, White Sox (12); Ryan Pressley, Astros (12)

The Indians’ Brad Hand was a perfect 16-for-16 in save opportunities for the season.

————-Team Statistical Leaders Through August 31——————-

RUNS SCORED – Team Average … 278

National League – Dodgers (349); Braves (348); Padres (325)

American League – Yankees (315); White Sox (306); Blue Jays (302)

The Pirates and Rangers scored the fewest runs in 2020 – 219 and 224, respectively. To add some perspective, The Dodgers scored an average of 5.82 runs per game – the Pirates 3.65.

BATTING AVERAGE – Team Average … .245

National League – Mets (.272); Braves (.268); Nationals (.263)

American League – Red Sox (.265); White Sox (.261); Orioles (.258)

The lowest team batting average for the season was .212 for the Reds. The Ranger were at the bottom of the AL at .217.

ON-BASE PERCENTAGE – Team Average … .322

National League – Braves (.349); Mets (.348); Phillies (.342)

American League – Yankees (.342); Angels (.332); Red Sox (.330)

HOME RUNS – Team Average … 77

National League – Dodgers (118); Braves (103; Padres (95)

American League – White Sox (96); Yankees (94); Twins (91)

The Cardinals hit the fewest home runs (51) – averaging 0.87 per game. By comparison, the Dodgers averaged 1.97 per game.

SLUGGING PERCENTAGE – Team Average … .418

National League – Dodgers (.483); Braves (.483); Padres (.466)

American League – White Sox (.453); Yankees (.447); Red Sox (.445)

WALKS – Team Average … 203

National League – Braves (239); Reds (239); Phillies (229)

American League – Yankees (251); Rays (243); Angels (239); Indians (239)

Crowding the Plate

No team got plunked (HBP) more than the Cubs, who had 52 batters reach base via the Hit-By-Pitch. In the America League, the A’s led the way with 39 plunkings. The Rockies had the fewest hit batters (10), while the MLB team average was 27.

STOLEN BASES – Team Average … 29

National League – Padres (55); Marlins (51); Rockies (42)

American League – Mariners (50); Rangers (49); Royals (49)

The Twins stole the fewest bases (14) and made the fewest attempts (21). The average number of attempted steals was 39.

BATTER’S STRIKEOUTS – Team Average … 520

National League – Brewers (582); Braves (573); Cubs (568)

American League – Rays (608); White Sox (571); Tigers (567)

EARNED RUN AVERAGE – Team Average … 4.44

National League – Dodgers (3.02); Reds (3.84); Padres (3.86)

American League – Indians (3.29); Rays (3.56); Twins (3.58)

The highest 2020 ERA belonged to the Tigers at 5.63. The Rockies were the highest in the NL at 5.59.

STRIKEOUTS – Team Average … 520

National League – Reds (615); Brewers (614); Mets (574)

American League – Indians (621); Rays (552); Red Sox (537)

As noted earlier, Strikeout totals have been affected by games played (particularly with the COVID and civil protest postponements), as well as by seven-inning doubleheader games. So, let’s look at strikeouts per nine innings. Only four teams fanned at least ten batters per nine frames: Reds (11.o); Brewers (10.7); Indians (10.4); Mets (10.1). The MLB average was 9.1.

WALKS (Fewest) – Team Average … 203

National League – Dodgers (145); Padres (170); Cubs (182)

American League – Indians (157); A’s (165); Rays (168)

No team walked fewer hitters per nine innings than the Dodgers at 2.4. No team issued more free passes per nine frames than the Pirates at 4.4.

SAVES – Team Average … 14

National League – Marlins (18); Cubs (16); Rockies (16)

American League – Rays (23); Indians (20); Royals (19)

Primary Resources: MLB.com; Baseball-Reference.com; MLB.com; ESPN.com

Baseball Roundtable is on the Feedspot list of the Top 100 Baseball Blogs. To see the full list, click here.

I tweet baseball @DavidBBRT

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Filed Under: BB Fun Facts, News

Yankees “chase” Anderson … and other Five-Homer Innings

September 18, 2020 by David

Yesterday (September 17, 2020), the surging New York Yankees faced off (In New York) against the Blue Jays and starter Chase Anderson – and chase Anderson they did, as the Bronx Bombers prevailed 10-7.

The big damage came in the bottom of the fourth inning. Third baseman (number-six hitter) Gio Urshela started it with a line out to deep center, followed by a walk to RF Clint Frazier. Then the wheels came off. Catcher Gary Sanchez doubled to left on a 1-0 pitch, LF Brett Gardner followed by hitting the first pitch in his at bat out of the park (to RF) and 2B DJ LeMahieu hit the first pitch he saw over the RF fence. Not to be outdone, 1B Luke Voit slashed the first pitch he saw for a home run to right-center. CF Aaron Hicks followed by fanning on three pitches. DH Giancarlo Stanton went back to the established trend for the inning, lacing the first pitch he saw for a home run to right-center. SS Gleyber Torres then worked the count full before hitting a home run to left-center – and that was all for Chase Anderson. Wilmer Font came on and retired the next two Yankee batters (Urshela and Frazier) to end the frame with the Yankees having plated seven runs to take a 9-2 lead (in a game they would win 10-7).

In the process, the Yankees became just the seventh MLB team to record a five-homer inning. More on that in a bit, but it should be noted the Yankees popped six home runs in the contest, making them the first team to collect six or more homers in three straight games and 19 home runs in a three-game series. The New York homers in that series belonged to Luke Voit (4); DJ LeMahieu (4); Kyle Higashioka (3); Gary Sanchez (2); Clint Frazier (2); Glyber Torres (1); Giancarlo Stanton (1); Aaron Hicks (1); Brett Gardner (1).

Now for those five-homer innings. First, few observations:

Four of the seven five-homer innings in MLB history have been fashioned against the Reds. Ouch!
The home team has launched the five-homer fireworks in six of the seven instances.
Sixteen of the 35 home runs have come with two outs.
The Milwaukee Brewers are the only team to both smash and surrender a five-home inning.
Andy Seminick is the only player to strike two home runs in a team’s five-homer inning.
Two of the five-homer innings includes an inside-the-park round tripper.
Two of the five-homer innings included a home run by a pitcher.
A total of 57 runs scored in the seven five-homer innings – the fewest at six, the most at 12.

Now a closer look.

June 6, 1939 …. Giants 17- Reds 3 …. In New York

Pitcher Manny Salvo hit an inside-the-park home run in Giants five-homer inning.

The first-ever five-homer inning also may be the most unlikely five-homer inning. It included the only home run of Giants’ pitcher Manny Salvo’s season and career (quite an historic salvo) – and that four-bagger was an inside-the-parker. It also included 2B Burgess Whitehead’s first homer of the season, one of only two he would hit that year. Among the five blasts were also LF Jo-Jo Moore’s second of the year and CF Frank Demaree’s second of the season. The pitchers who suffered the indignity of the five-homer fourth inning had a couple of great baseball names. Peaches Davis and Wesley Livengood.

In this game, the sixth-place Giants (20-24 record) surprised the league-leading Reds (29-15) by a 17-3 score, plating all 17 runs in the first five innings.

The record-setting five-homer power display came in the bottom of the fourth inning, with the Giants already up 6-0. Peaches Davis, who had relieved Johnny Vander Meer in the first inning (Vander Meer had given up six hits and three runs in 2/3 of an inning), retired Giants’ LF Jo-Jo Moore and SS Billy Jurges to start the inning. Then things went awry. C Harry Danning laced a home run to center (his sixth). Next, clean-up hitter Mel Ott drew a walk, 1B Zeke Bonura singled and CF Frank Demaree hit the second home run of the inning. That ended Davis’ day and brought Wesley Livengood (whose MLB career would consist of five appearances and a 9.53 ERA) to the hill. Livengood was not living so good. He walked Tony Lazzeri and then gave up a home run to 2B Burgess Whitehead. Giants’ pitcher Manny Salvo was up next. A weak hitter (at best), Salvo surprised everyone in the ball park with the only home run of his five-season MLB career – an inside-the-park round tripper off the right field fence. Next up was lead-off hitter Jo-Jo Moore, who hit the fifth and final homer of the inning. Jurges then drew a walk and, finally, Danning fanned to end the inning.

June 2, 1949 … Phillies 12 – Reds 3 … in Philadelphia

Andy Seminick hit two round trippers in the Phillies’ five-homer inning.

In this one, Phillies’ catcher Andy Semincik hit three home runs in the game and two in the five-homer eighth inning. Notably, the outburst blew open a close game. Phillies’ pitcher Schoolboy Rowe, who had relieved Curt Simmons in the top of the eight, hit one of the five round trippers. It was his only homer of the season.

As already noted, this started out as a close game, with the Reds actually leading 3-2 after seven innings behind a strong performance by starting pitcher Ken Raffensberger (who would win 18 games that season). Things, however, went south in the bottom of the eighth.

CF Del Ennis (the Phillies’ clean-up hitter) led off the inning with a home run (his seventh of the season), which was followed by C Andy Seminick’s second home run of the game – marking Raffensberger’s exit. Jess Dobernic came on in relief and retired RF Stan Hollmig on a liner to short before giving up a home run to 3B Willie Jones (his third of the year). Dobrenic then induced a soft fly ball out to second base by 2B Eddie Miller, bringing up P Schoolboy Rowe, who had relieved Philadelphia starter Curt Simmons in the top of the eighth (Stan Lopata had pinch hit for Simmons in the bottom of the seventh). Rowe promptly rapped a home run to left (the only home run of the year for the 39-year-old veteran, in his last MLB season). Kent Petersen came on in relief of Dobernic and added fuel to the fire in this order: walk to CF Richie Ashburn; double to SS Granny Hamner; 1B Eddie Waitkus safe on an error (Ashburn scores); an Ennis’ single to right (Hamner scores); and Seminick’s second home run of the inning (third of the game and seventh of the season). That was the end of the home runs, but the inning continued with the Phillies adding another run on a hit batsman and a triple. Suddenly a 3-2 Reds lead was a 12-3 deficit.

August 23, 1961 … Giants 14 – Reds 0 … in Cincinnati

Lots of big names going yard in this one: Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, Felipe Alou. You get the idea.

Notably, this five-homer, 12-run ninth inning broke open a tight contest. Note: While in the chart Cepeda is listed as the right fielder – the position at which he started the game, he was a left fielder when he hit his home run. Felipe Alou had just come into the game in the eighth inning, replacing LF Ed Bailey. At that point, Cepeda moved to LF and Alou took over in RF.

Jim Davenport contributed a three-run inside-the-park homer to the Giants record-tying inning.

As the game moved into the ninth inning, the Reds trailed the San Francisco Giants 2-0 and both starters (Juan Marichal for the Giants and Joey Jay for the Reds) were still in the game. A low-scoring game had been expected, Marichal came into the contest with a 12-7 record for the third-place Giants, while Jay was 18-7 for the first-place Reds.

In the top of the ninth, however, the Giants broke the contest wide open. First baseman Willie McCovey opened with a double off Jay and then scored on an error by Reds’ 2B Don Blasingame (after a Willie Mays’ pop out). LF Orlando Cepeda and RF Felipe Alou followed with a pair of deep home runs (to center and left, respectively). It was Cepeda’s 36th of the year and Alou’s 15th. That brought Jim Brosnan in from the bullpen – and led to a fly ball out by C John Orsino, singles by SS Jose Pagan and Marichal, 2B Joey Amalfitano reaching on an error by Reds’ third baseman Gene Freese (Pagan scoring), a three-run inside-the-park home run by 3B Jim Davenport (his eighth homer of the year) and a single to McCovey. Next in the line of fire (relieving Brosnan) was Bill Henry, who gave up a two-run homer to Willie Mays (his 34th of the season), a single to Cepeda, and had Alou reach on Freese’s second error of the inning (and the Reds’ third miscue of the frame). Orsino then took Henry deep (just his second of the year) before Pagan struck out to mercifully end the 12-run, ninth-inning uprising.

June 9, 1966 … Twins 9 – 4 … In Minnesota

The Twins trailed 4-3 in the seventh, when they broke the game open with a five-homer, six-run inning.

Things did not start out well for the Twins on the day of their historic power display. With the game being played at Metropolitan Stadium (Bloomington, MN), the Athletics got off to a fast start, knocking out Twins’ ace Camilo Pascual in the top of the first. (Pascual lasted 2/3 of an inning, giving up four runs on three hits and a walk.) With Catfish Hunter on the mound, the Twins’ chances looked slim. The Twins scored one in the fifth and two in the sixth (on a Harmon Killebrew home run) and then, trailing 4-3, broke the game open with five home runs in the seventh.

It started innocently enough with a Catfish Hunter walk to C Early Battey, followed by an infield fly out for 2B Bernie Allen. That brought pinch hitter (for the pitcher) Rich Rollins to the plate, and he hit the inning’s first homer (just the second of ten HRs Rollins would hit in 1966). Lead-off hitter SS Zoilo Versalles followed with his fifth homer of the year – and Paul Lindblad replaced Hunter on the mound. Lindblad got Twins’ LF Sandy Valdespino on a grounder to short, but then gave up consecutive round trippers to RF Tony Oliva (his 14th) and 1B Don Mincher (his sixth). That brought John Wyatt in from the bullpen and he quickly gave up a home run to 3B Harmon Killebrew (his second of the day and 11th of the year). Wyatt then gave up a double to RF Jimmie Hall and C Earl Battey reached on an error before 2B Bernie Allen ended the inning on a ground ball (catcher to first).

April 22, 2006 … Brewers 11 – Reds 0 … in Milwaukee

The Brewers were less than hospitable hosts to the Reds on April 22, 2006 – when they pounded the visitors 11-0, racking up the fourth five-homer inning against the Reds’ franchise along the way. The outburst came in the bottom of the fourth inning with starter Brandon Claussen still on the mound and the Reds trailing 3-0.

Milwaukee 3B Bill Hall (the number-six hitter) started it with a home run (his third of the young season). Then 2B Richie Weeks singled to left, scoring on C Damian Miller’s home run (his first of the year). That seemed to establish a (brief) HR-1B-HR pattern, as Brewers’ pitcher Dave Bush followed the Miller home run with a single and CF Brady Clark backed up the Bush single with his first home run of 2006. SS J.J. Hardy broke the pattern with a home run (his third of the year). At this point, Claussen had faced six batters in the inning, giving up four home runs and two singles – and his day was done. Chris Hammond came on in relief and provided just that, striking out the first two batters he faced (RF Geoff Jenkins and LF Carlos Lee). Then Prince Fielder gave the Brewers a piece of the five-homers in one inning record, hitting his third of the year. The carnage ended on a fly out to center by Hall.

July 27, 2017 … Nationals 15 – Brewers 2 … in Washington

The Nationals (60-39, running away with the NL East) faced off (at home) against the Milwaukee Brewers, who were trying to keep pace with the division-leading Cubs in the NL Central. Washington was starting its staff “ace” – Max Scherzer – going for his twelfth win. Milwaukee countered with Michael Blazek getting his first start of the season (fifth appearance). It was also the first start of Blazek’s four MLB seasons (109 appearances). After Scherzer worked a 1-2-3 top of the first, Blazek gave up a two-run home run to Bryce Harper to fall behind 2-0. Neither team scored in the second and Scherzer continued to hold the Brewers scoreless in the top of the third.

In the bottom of the third, Scherzer drew a walk to start things off. Center fielder and leadoff hitter Brian Goodwin followed with a home run to right (his tenth HR of the season). Then SS Wilmer Difo hit one out to right-center (his third HR of the season). Next, RF Bryce Harper hit his second long ball of the game (27th of the season) to left-center and Ryan Zimmerman added the fourth consecutive blast of the inning (his 21st of the year) to left-center. Daniel Murphy then flew out to center, and 3B Anthony Rendon followed with the fifth homer of the inning (his 21st), this one to straight-away center. That prompted a pitching change. New Brewers’ moundsman Wily Peralta gave up two singles and a double – and one more run – before getting out of the inning.

September 17, 2020 …. Yankees 10 – Blue Jays 7 … in New York

The details of this one were discussed at the top of this post; but here’s the obligatory BBRT chart.

Primary Resource: Baseball-Reference.com

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Missing and Musing About Complete Games

September 14, 2020 by David

Yesterday (July 3, 2021), Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough (in the past known for his role as a long-inning reliever following the Ray’s short-stint “opener’) tossed his first MLB complete game. It was the Rays’ first-complete game since May 14, 2016 – a span of 731 games. In the 9-2 win, Yarbrough gave up two runs on six hits, with no walks and six strikeouts. He threw 113 pitches. That set Baseball Roundtable to thinking it might be an appropriate time to update a past post on the MLB unicorn known as the complete game.

This season, through June 3, there have been 1,672 MLB starts – of which 26 have resulted in a complete-game by the starting pitcher. Those 26 complete games represent just 1.6 percent of the total starts. In addition nine (34.6 percent) of those complete games have come in MLB’s new seven-inning doubleheader contests. Factor those out and just 1.0 percent of 2021 starts have resulted in traditional complete game performance. Compare that to 1980, when the future topped 20 percent of even 1990 when it was still slightly over ten percent. (More on those stats coming in this post.

Jim Devlin, A Complete-Game Machine

In 1877, Jim Devlin of the National League’s Louisville Grays started and completed all 61 of the team’s games– the only pitcher ever to pitch all of a team’s innings in a season. This, by the way, came one season after he started all but the final game of the Grays’ season (a record 68 consecutive games pitched in) and finished 66 of them. Devin logged a total of 1,181 innings. Side Note: Sadly, Devlin’s career was cut short when he was banned after the 1877 season, as the result of a game-fixing scandal.

So, I dug a little deeper and found that (even with the seven inning doubleheader games) the Jays, Braves, Twins and Red Sox have no complete games in 2020-21). Further, in the 2019 season (the last full MLB season on the books), MLB saw a total of just 45 complete games – one every 108 starts. And, in 2019, seven teams recorded zero complete games and, overall, MLB teams used an average of 4.41 pitchers (per team) per game. As usual with Baseball Roundtable, “one thing led to another.” So, here’s a look at what I discovered as I was drawn deeper into the topic.

I would note here that this is an observation not an opinion piece. The game has changed – more strikeouts, more home runs, more defensive shifts, fewer complete games, fewer bunts – and I have adjusted my expectations. (Although I would still like to see the occasional mound workhorse reach double digits in complete games.)

The age of the 20-complete-game season (maybe even ten) and the 300-innings-pitched (or even, perhaps, 250 innings) are over. And, it’s not all the pitchers’ fault. (I’ll get into some of the reasons later, but let’s look at some numbers first.)

First, how about the steady decline in complete games? Back in 1900. more than 80 percent of starts resulted in complete games. As the chart below shows, that number declined fairly steadily – and was at less than 1 percent in 2019 (the last full season), with just 45 complete games in 4,858 starts. As you saw in the first chart, even with the seven-inning doubleheader games, MLB has stayed around the 1 percent mark in complete games in 2020-21.

Some observations from my examination of this trend. It wasn’t until 1955 that we saw a league leader in complete games with less than 20 finished starts (Whitey Ford, Yankees, 18 CGs). And, 1980 was the first year that a league leader notched less than 14 complete games. The last time, we saw 20 complete games in a season? Fernando Valenzuela in 1986. James Shields, in 2011, became the first pitcher to reach double-digits (11) in complete games in a dozen years – and earned a reputation as an iron man. In 2019, Shane Bieber and Lucas Giolito shared the MLB complete-game lead – with three each.

Jack Taylor and Will White – Finishing What They Started.

Between 1901 and 1906 (Cubs and Cardinals), Jack Taylor threw a record 187 consecutive complete games (with 15 relief appearances interspersed). Then there’s Will White (Cincinnati), who, in 1879, completed a single-season record 75 complete games (in 75 starts). White went 43-31 that year, with a 1.99 ERA and 680 innings pitched. For his career, White completed 394 of 401 starts.

How different is today’s game? In 2019, the MLB co-leaders in complete games (Shane Bieber and Lucas Giolito) tossed a total of six complete games combined. in 1968, Don Drysdale set a record by tossing six consecutive complete-game shutouts. Then there’s Walter Johnson, who threw a career record 110 complete-game shutouts and, in September of 1908, threw three complete-game shutouts in four days – and might have done it in three days, except for baseball’s sabbath laws.

The record for career complete games belongs to Cy Young at 749. Young completed 91.9 percent of his starts. The active leader in career games is Justin Verlander with 26 in 454 starts over 16 seasons. (Verlander may not pitch in 2021, as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.) Among pitchers pitching this season, Clayton Kershaw and Adam Wainwright share the lead in career complete games at 25. The combined 76 complete games twirled by Verlander, Kershaw and Wainwright would place them 548th on the all-time list. Babe Ruth, by the way, tossed 107 complete games in 147 career starts.

As complete games have dropped, the numbers of pitchers used in each game have risen. In the 1950’s, when I started watching major league baseball, you were likely to see four pitchers per game (the average in 1950 was 2.01 pitchers per team/per game). In 2019, you were more likely to see between eight and nine players take the mound in a game. MLB attempted to address that trend (and its impact on game time) with a new rule in 2020 – requiring each pitcher to either face at least three hitters or complete the half-inning. The jury’s still out on the impact of this rule change. Thus far, in 2021, team are actually using 4.27 pitchers per team/per game – up from 2019’s 4.41.

So, why the dramatic decline in complete games?

Five-man Rotations … and. more recently “openers” and “bullpen games.”

In baseball’s early days, team got by with two or three primary starters. Even in the 1960’s a four-man rotation was pretty common. As we moved into the 1970s, teams started moving to five-man pitching rotations. Fewer starts, fewer opportunities for wins, complete games, innings pitched. (Notably, swifter travel – trains not planes – has contributed somewhat to this. In the days of train travel, more travel time meant more days between series and fewer pitchers were needed. )

In 1968, when Bob Gibson went 22-9, 1.12 for the Cardinals, he tossed 28 complete games (13 shutouts) in 34 starts.

More recently, in a strategy first led by the Rays, teams are going to the use of relief pitchers as “openers,” sometimes followed by a primary pitcher and late-inning relievers – or even entire “bullpen” games, with a series of reliever each taking on one or two innings.

The “Quality” Start

In today’s game, six innings and three or fewer runs is a quality start. Starting pitchers, as recently as the 1980’s, would have considered six innings pitched a day off. The quality start has helped change the way we (as well as managers and pitchers) look at starting pitchers’ performances. Pitchers simply are no longer expected to finish what they start.

In 2021, through June 3, starting pitchers are averaging 5.1 innings per start.

The Advent of the Save

Years ago, relief pitchers were mostly starters past their prime brought in to “mop up.” In fact, the “save” was not even established as a statistic until 1969 (saves were awarded retroactively for seasons prior to 1969). Today, relievers are more valued and respected then ever – which leads us to the next point – the rise of relief specialists.

The Rise of Relief Specialists

Today, not only does the manager look to the closer (primarily for the ninth inning), the bullpen also features key “set up” men, earmarked for the seventh or eighth inning. And, not only do most teams have their seventh- and eighth-inning specialists, we also see “arms” in the bullpen ready for long- and middle-relief. Recently, until this year’s rule change,(requiring a pitcher to faced at least three batters or finish an inning), even one-batter (lefty or righty), specialists were stalwarts in MLB bullpens. No wonder managers are so quick with the hook. They’ve got to keep that multi-million dollar bullpen happy.

The Dreaded Pitch Count

And, of course, there is the “pitch count,” considering the financial investment teams have in pitchers, the thinness of pitching staffs (we do, after all, now have thirty teams), pitchers are treated with great care, often held to pitch counts in the neighborhood of 100 – no matter how well they are throwing. Pitchers simply are throwing less these days.

Phil Humber threw only one complete game in his eight-season MLB career – and it was a perfect game. Why is it included in this pitch count section? He needed just 95 pitches to complete the outing.

Strikeouts

The growing emphasis on strikeouts has also contributed to the decline in complete games (particularly when combined with pitch counts). The fact is, it most often takes more pitches to rack up strikeouts than to pitch to weak contact. (In most cases, it also requires an increased focus on velocity, also tougher on the arm.) Consider the record of Warren Spahn, who led the National League in complete games an MLB-record nine times, won 20 or more games in 13 seasons and led the league in strikeouts four times – yet averaged just 4.4 strikeouts per nine innings, never struck out 200 batters nor six batters per nine innings in a season. In 2019, MLB pitchers averaged 8.9 strikeouts per nine frames – and the MLB leader in wins (Justin Verlander) fanned 300 batters in 223 innings (12.1 per nine innings), but threw only two complete games.

In 2021, through June 3, we are seeing 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings – up from 8.9 in 2019 (MLB’s last full season). In 2020, the average was 9.1.

Sidebar – Innings Pitched Leaders

From 1950-59, Robin Roberts AVERAGED 301 innings pitched (and 23.7 complete games) per season. And, if you pick any decade from 1900 through 1979, the average innings pitched for the league leaders was over or very near 300. However, innings pitched have dropped significantly since Steve Carlton became the most recent pitcher to hurl 300 innings in (1980). For the last decade, the average for league leaders has been shy of 250.

Here’s the chart of average innings pitched by league leaders (by decade) with major strike-shortened seasons deleted:

Decade                 Average Innings Pitched by League Leaders

1909-09                                                350

1910-19                                                348

1920-29                                                318

1930-39                                                304

1940-49                                                305

1950-59                                                294

1960-69                                                303

1970-79                                                327

1980-89                                                279

1990-99                                                261

2000-09                                                244

2010-19 231

A final tidbit on complete games. Put this one in the “We won’t see that again” column. On August 29, 1926, Cleveland Indians’ right-hander Emil “Dutch” Levsen became the last pitcher to record two complete-game victories in a doubleheader – winning by scores of 6-1 and 5-1, giving up just four hits in each contest and not fanning a single batter. For more on pitchers with two complete-game victories in a single day, click here.

So, there are BBRT’s musings about complete games. I do kind of miss them, but that the way today’s game is played.

Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; MLB.com; Baseball-Almanac.com.

Baseball Roundtable is on the Feedspot list of the Top 100 Baseball Blogs. To see the full list, click here.

I tweet baseball @DavidBBRT

Follow/Like Baseball Roundtable’s Facebook Page here. More baseball commentary; blog post notifications; PRIZES.

Member: Society for American Baseball Research (SABR); The Baseball Reliquary; The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

Filed Under: BB Fun Facts

Big Games … Big Innings …. Baseball Roundtable Looks at Offensive Explosions

September 10, 2020 by David

Yesterday (September 9, 2020), the Atlanta Braves set a post-1900 National League record for runs scored (by one team) in a game – trouncing the Miami Marlins 29-9 in Atlanta. The fell just one run short of the overall post-1900 record of 30 runs (the Texas Rangers topped the Orioles – in Baltimore, sadly – 30-3 in the first game of a doubleheader (also sadly) on August 22, 2007. Yesterday’s Braves’ outburst also fell short of the all-time MLB and National League mark of 36 runs, set by the Chicago Colts (Cubs) on June 29, 1897. (More on both the Rangers and Colts’ onslaughts in a bit.)

Photo by Gamma Man

The star of the game was Braves’ LF Adam Duvall, hitting out of the seven-spot, who came within one of hitting for the home run cycle (solo, two-run, three-run and Grandl Slam homers in one game). Duvall hit a two-run home run in the second inning, a three-run shot in the fifth and a Grand Slam in the seventh.) His nine RBI in the game tied the Braves’ all-time record – set by pitcher Tony Cloninger back on July 3, 1966, when Cloninger became the first National Leaguer (any position) to hit two Grand Slams in a game.

The Home Run Cycle (solo, two-run, three-run and Grand Slam homer in one game)

On July 27, 1998, Tyrone Horne, playing for the Double A Arkansas Travelers became (and still is) the only professional ballplayer to hit for the home run cycle. For the full story, click here.

Other offensive stars for the Braves in the game, were Freddie Freeman (three-for-six with six RBI) and Ronald Acuna, Jr. (three-for-four with five driven in). Surprisingly, despite taking a 13-5 lead into the top of the third, starter Tommy Milone did not hang around for the win. He was knocked out of the game with one out in the third inning – and ended up giving up eight earned runs in the outing. The win went to Grant Dayton, who pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

The loss in the game went to Marlins’ starter Pablo Lopez who gave up seven runs on four hits and four walks in 1 2/3 innings. The most damage was done, however, against reliever Jordan Yamamoto, who surrendered 13 runs (12 earned) on 11 hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings. Ouch! All nine Braves starters collected a least one hit – with five players having three-hit games.

Highest One-Team Scoring Binge Ever

On June 29, 1897, the National League’s Chicago Colts (Cubs) set the all-time MLB record for runs scored by a team in a game – topping the Louisville Colonels 36-7 in Chicago. The star of that contest was Colts’ shortstop Barry McCormick, who had six hits in eight at bats – including a triple and one of the game’s two home runs (the other four-bagger was rapped by Colt’ RF Jimmy Ryan). McCormick also had two of the Colts’ six stolen bases. (The 22-year-old McCormick finished the season with a ..267 average, two home runs, eight doubles, ten triples and 44 steals).

As you might expect, every Colts’ player had a least one hit, with starting pitcher Nixey Callahan (who went the distance), going five-for-seven, with two doubles.

Jim Jones – Tough Debut

Twenty-year old Jim Jones of the Louisville Colonels made his MLB debut in the record-breaking loss, relieving Louisville starter Chick Fraser in the third frame. Jones gave up 22 runs (14 earned) on 19 hits and five walks over 6 2/3 innings. Jones – who was converted to an outfielder (no surprise there) – appeared on an MLB mound only once more (1901 Giants), giving up six runs in a five-inning stint. In three MLB seasons (1897, 1901, 1902), he also appeared in 87 games in the outfield, putting up a .270-0-19 stat line.

Overall, the Colts collected 32 hits and were aided by ten walks, two hit batsman, and nine Louisville errors (16 of the Colts runs were unearned). We need to keep in mind that baseball gloves at the time were web-less, thin-leather affairs, more akin to what we would consider a workman’s glove today.

Thirty-Six Tallies … It Might Not have been

At the time the Chicago Colts set the MLB record for runs in a game, MLB rules allowed the home team (in this case, the Colts) to decide if they wanted to bat first or second. The Colts decided to bat first. They ended up scored eight of their record-setting tallies in the top of the ninth – when they already had a 28-7 lead.

A look at #HowTheGameHasChanged – despite the offensive fireworks, the contest took just two hour and 18 minutes.

This game, by the way, was not a matchup of NL juggernauts. The Colonels finished the season with a 52-78 record (eleventh in the 12-team league), while the Colts finished in ninth place with a 59-073 mark.

MLB Post-1900 Record

On August 22, 2007, the Texas Rangers were in Baltimore for a twi-night double header (first game start 5:05 p.m.) against the Orioles. Baltimore fans, it proved, were in for a long evening. The first game started out pretty well for the Birds, who carried a 3-0 lead into the top of the fourth inning – starter Daniel Cabrera had allowed three hits over the first three frames (all singles), while fanning two. Things thing began to unravel, as the Rangers plated five runs in the top of the fourth – three on a home run by number-nine hitter, 3B Ramon Vazquez. That proved to be just the top of the iceberg, as the Rangers blasted their way to a 30-3 win (scoring nine runs in the sixth, ten in the eighth and six in the ninth). Overall, the Rangers collected 29 hits (six home runs).

The offensive stars of the game were the Rangers’ number-eight and number-nine hitters, C Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Vazquez, respectively. The each collected four hits, two home runs and seven RBI. Cabrera took the loss for the Orioles giving up six runs on nine hits in five innings – although the relievers did the Birds no favors. Brian Burres surrendered eight runs in 2/3 of an inning, Rob Bell gave up seven tallies in 1 1/3 frames and Paul Shuey was touched for nine runs in two innings. All the Rangers runs were earned.

Rangers’ starter Kason Gabbard got the win, holding the O’s to three runs in seven innings and running his 2007 record to 6-1, 3.65. Gabbard would finish the season at 6-1, 4.65 – and would have jut nine wins (seven losses) in his three-season MLB career (4.53 earned run average).

After sitting through the thee-hour and 21-minute debacle, Oriole fans got to see their squad lose the second game 9-7 – with that contest ending at 29 minutes after midnight. A long evening, but at least the say some baseball history.

Most Runs By Both Teams in a Game

On August 25, 1922, the Phillies visited the Cubs and the Chicago faithful got to see plenty of fireworks – despite the Cubbies’ loss. The two teams combined for a still MLB-record 49 runs, with the Cubs prevailing 26-23. Up just 1-0 after the first inning, the Cubbies scored ten runs in the second and 14 in the third, to take a 25-6 lead.

The Phillies, however, stormed back late – scoring 14 runs over the eighth and ninth innings to lose by a “more respectable” 26-23 score). The two teams combined for a still MLB-record 51 hits, 21 walks (which is far short of the record for a nine-inning game … 30) and nine errors. Phillies’ starter Jimmy Ring took the loss, giving up 16 runs (just six earned) in 3 1/3 innings), while the Cubs’ Tony Kaufmann was awarded the win, after giving up six runs (three earned) over four frames.

The two hitting stars of the game were the Cubs’ LF Hack Miller (four-for-five with two home runs and six RBI), SS Charlie Hollocher (three-for-six, with one double and six RBI) and CF Cliff Heathcote (five-for-five, with two doubles, five runs scored and four RBI.) On the Phillies’ side, leadoff hitter 3B Russ Wrightstone had the best day (four for seven, with a triple, three runs scored and four RBI). Eleven different players collected hits for the Philliles and nine players collected safeties for the Cubs. As one might expect, there were no outstanding pitching performances.

Side Note: The second-highest scoring game (both teams) also involved the Cubs and Phillies – at Wrigley Field. On May 17, 1979, the Cubs topped the Phillies 23-22 in ten innings. In that one, the two squads combined for fifty hits. The two team scored 13 runs in the very first inning (Phillies 7 – Cubs 6). Notably , all nine Phillies’ starting players had at least one hit in the contest. Eight of the nine Cubs starters had at least one safety, the only exception being starting pitcher Dennis Lamp, who didn’t make it out of the top of the first. Donnie Moore, who relieve Lamp, however, did collect a hit.

18 Tallies … One Inning

On September 6, 1883, the National League Chicago White Stockings (Cubs) carried a 6-3 lead over the over the Detroit Nationals into the bottom of the seventh. The Chicago club then exploded for 18 tallies – still the biggest half-inning in MLB history. In the inning, Chicago scored 13 runs – on 13 hits and one error – before the first out was recorded. They added five more hits (and one safe on an error) and five more runs before the inning closed. Overall, the White Stockings collected 11 singles, five doubles, one triple and one home run in the frame.

It’s also of note that the first three batters of the inning: Ned Williamson, Tom Burns and Fred Pfeffer each collected an MLB record three hits in the inning – with Burns rapping two doubles and a home run (he’s still the only MLB player with extra base hits in one inning) and Williamson and Pfeffer each knocking a double and two singles. The only other MLB players to collect three hits in an inning are the Red Sox Gene Stephens (June 18, 1953) and Johnny Damon (July 27, 2003). For more on three hit innings, click here.

Chicago, by the way, won the contest 26-6.

Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; MLB.com; Baseball-Almanac.com; “June 29, 1897: The Chicago Colts Record Romp for 36 Runs,” by Bill Felber, in “Inventing Baseball: The 100 Greatest Games of the 19th Century.”

Baseball Roundtable is on the Feedspot list of the Top 100 Baseball Blogs. To see the full list, click here.

I tweet baseball @DavidBBRT

Follow/Like Baseball Roundtable’s Facebook Page here. More baseball commentary; blog post notifications; PRIZES.

Member: Society for American Baseball Research (SABR); The Baseball Reliquary; The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

Filed Under: BB Fun Facts

From DiMaggio to Bouton to Berra to Gomez … Baseball Roundtable’s Favorite BB Quotes

September 7, 2020 by David

Baseball players sometimes say things that are as timeless as the national pastime itself. In this post, I’d like to share 25 of BBRT’s favorite baseball quotes (and a few bonus quotes). Some are profound, some are funny, some provide food for thought – but they all strike a chord with me.

“There is always some kid (in stands) who might be seeing me for the first or last time. I owe him my best.”

Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio … a touch of class from a classy ballplayer and individual.

————————

“I’d walk through hell in a gasoline suit to pay baseball.”

All-time hits leader Pete Rose … unbridled passion for the game.

——————–

“I have discovered in twenty years of moving around a ball park, that the knowledge of the game is usually in inverse proportion to the price of the seats. “

Owner/Executive Bill Veeck … real fans are found in the cheap seats, with scorecards in their laps.

——————-

“The best thing about baseball is you can do something about yesterday tomorrow.”

17-season MLB infielder Manny Trillo … the blessing sof the everyday grind of a “long season.”

——————–

“You spend your whole life gripping a baseball and, in the end, it turns out it was the other way around all the time.”

Pitcher/Author Jim Bouton … a look into his passion for our pastime.

——————

Why do people sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” when they are already there?

17-season MLB reliever Larry Anderson …plenty of time for deep thoughts in the bullpen.

——————–

BONUS QUOTE

“Chicks Dig the Long Ball” … Tom Glavine to Greg Maddux, 1999 Nike Commercial

“If I had to hit all those singles like Pete (Rose), I’d wear a dress.”

Mickey Mantle, about Pete Rose … Mantle also preferred the long ball.

——————–

“Cadillacs are down at the end of the bat.”

` Hall of Famer and seven-time NL home run champion Ralph Kiner. (Kiner led the NL in HR in his first seven seasons — and was also credited with noting that “Singles hitters drive Fords, home run hitters drive Cadillacs.)

___________________

“I don’t want to throw him (Jimmie Foxx) nothin’. Maybe he’ll get tired of waiting and leave.”

Hall of Famer Lefty Gomez telling HOF catcher bill Dickey how he’d like to pitch to HOF slugger Jimmie Foxx.

____________________

“Trying to sneak a fastball past Hank Aaron is like trying to sneak sunrise past a rooster.”

Attributed in various places to Aaron teammate first baseman Joe Adcock and/or opposing pitcher Curt Simmons … being Milwaukee-born Aaron was one of my childhood heroes.

——————-

“When I hit the ball especially hard, I could smell the leather start to burn as it struck the wooden bat.”

Hall Famer Ted Williams … Wow! This one kind of blows me away. Apparently his nose was as good as his eyes.

——————–

You always get a special kick on opening Day, no matter how many you go through. You look forward to it like a birthday party when you’re a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen.

Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio … how we all feel.

—————–

Baseball is like church. Many attend, but few understand.

Hall of Famer Leo Durocher … he understood.

——————

I’ve known three or four perfect swings in my time and this lad (Eddie Mathews) has one of them.

Hall of Famer Ty Cobb commenting on Eddie Mathews, early in Mathews’ Hall of Fame Career. (Mathews is my all-time favorite player, so I had to include a Mathews-related quote.)

BONUS QUOTES – RIP HALL OF FAMERS TOM SEAVER AND LOU BROCK

“The good players feel the kind of love for the game that they did when they were Little Leaguers.”

Tom Seaver

“Show me a guy who’s afraid to look bad and I’ll show you a guy you can beat every time.”

Lou Brock

I could never play in New York. The first time I came into a game there, I got in the bullpen car and they told me to lock the doors.

Orioles’ pitcher Mike Flanagan … one tough town.

——————

“Bob Gibson is the luckiest pitch I ever saw. He always pitched when the other team didn’t score any runs.”

Catcher Tim McCarver … he should know.

——————

BONUS QUOTE

“If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant’s life, she will choose to save the infant’s life without even considering if there is a man on base.”

Dave Barry, comedian/author

“There isn’t enough mustard in the world to cover Reggie Jackson.”

16-season MLB pitcher Darold Knowles … a Reggie teammate in the early ’70’s.

——————-

“It helps if the hitter thinks you’re a little crazy. “

Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan … the MLB strikeout king’s outlook on intimidation.

——————–

“I’m throwing as hard as I ever did, but the ball is just not getting there as fast.”

Lefty Gomez … AARPsters (like me) should relate this one.

——————–

“Baseball players are smarter than football players. How many times to you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?”

Jim Bouton … thanks, Jim, for putting my football-loving friends in their place.

——————–

“It actually giggles at you as it goes by.”

19-season MLB outfielder Rick Monday, on Phil Niekro’s knuckleball … great description of the futility of facing a “floater.”

——————–

22. “People ask me what I do when there is no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”

Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby …. don’t we all?

BONUS QUOTE

“Baseball fans love numbers. They like to swirl them around in their mouths like Bordeaux wine.”

Author Pat Conroy

“It’s so crowded nobody goes there anymore.”

Hall of Famer Yogi Berra on Toots Shor’s popular restaurant … Casey Stengel would get it.

——————–

“He (Sparky Lyle) went from Cy Young to sayonara in a year.”

Yankee Craig Nettles on Hall of Famer Sparky Lyle, who won the Cy Young Award as a Yankee in 1977, was replaced as closer by Goose Gossage in 1978 and was traded to the Rangers before the 1979 season … nice word play.

——————–

25. “The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and then pick it up.”

Six-season MLB catcher (and later a broadcaster, actor and humorist) Bob Uecker … you could fill a book with his self-deprecating remarks.

BONUS QUOTES

About My Favorite Player of All Time – Eddie Mathews … known for more than one kind of slugging.

“If you ever wanted to pitch inside, you didn’t have to worry about (the batter) making it the mound with Eddie at third.”

Teammate Tony Cloninger

“I didn’t mind starting fight. Mathews was always there to finish them for me.”

Teammate Johnny Logan

“Eddie was a tough competitor and a touch guy. He didn’t back down from anybody.”

Teammate Warren Spahn

Then there is my favorite baseball quote of all … “Pitchers and catchers report.”

Baseball Roundtable is on the Feedspot list of the Top 100 Baseball Blogs. To see the full list, click here.

I tweet baseball @DavidBBRT

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Member: Society for American Baseball Research (SABR); The Baseball Reliquary; The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

From Giolito’s No-No to a “Lead Off” Sacrifice Fly to the “Trot Index” … Baseball Roundtable’s August Wrap

September 1, 2020 by David

It’s the first of the month (September) and that means it’s time for Baseball Roundtable’s (previous) Monthly Wrap Up – a BBRT tradition that continues even in this unusual, truly up-and-down season. Those familiar with BBRT know that the wrap up includes a host of stats and stories (from the previous month) that caught BBRT’s eye, BBRT’s Players/Pitchers of the Month and “Trot Index,” and MLB’s standings and leaders. (month and year-to-date). Before, we get into the details, here are a few events that helped shape August 2020.

The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts had his sixth (and MLB record-tying) three-homer game.
The White Sox Lucas Giolito threw 2020’s first no-hitter.
We saw our first MLB extra-inning runner placements; and our first seven-inning doubleheader games.
Power proved ageless,as the MLB home run leaders at the close of play on August 31 were 21-year-old Fernando Tatis, Jr. (Padres), 29-year-old Luke Voit (Yankees) and 40-year-old Nelson Cruz (Twins) with 13 each.
We saw a “Lead Off” sacrifice fly.
The Tigers had a game in which they hit four home runs (and a single) before the first out was recorded.
The Dodgers set a new National League record for home runs in a calendar month (57); and puts up the only team ERA under 3.00.
The White Sox became just the tenth team to hit back-to-back-to-back-to back home runs.
The Braves’ Max Fried and Cubs Yu Darvish each went 5-0 for the month, with earned run averages under 1.50.
National shortstop Trea Turner hit .408 for the month.
A’s closer Liam Hendriks was lights out in August 2-0, 0.64 with nine saves in nine opportunities.
The Twins’ Miguel Sano struck out in 41 percent of his August plate appearances – and still hit .284-7-15 for the month.

You’ll find these stories and more in the highlights section later in this post. But let’s start with a look at BBRT’s Players and Pitchers of the Month for August.

—–BASEBALL ROUNDTABLE PLAYERS AND PITCHERS OF THE MONTH—–

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Player of the Month – Jose Abreu, 1B, White Sox

Photo by rrescot

Jose Abreu led the surging White Sox to a 19-9 August, hitting .330, with 11 home runs (tied for first in MLB) and an MLB-topping 29 August RBI. August RBI. His 38 hits led the American League – and his .330 average was third in the junior circuit. Abreu was held without a hit in only five of 28 August games and ended the month on a 14-game hitting streak.

Honorable Mentions: The Angels’ Mike Trout tied Abreu for the most August home runs in MLB and finished just one RBI behind Abreu at 28. His .263 average was the difference maker (although he was closer in on-base percentage – .359 to Abreu’s .374). Also high on my list were the Yankees’ Luke Voit (.326-11-21 for the month) and the White Sox’ Eloy Jimenez (.295-10-24).

Pitcher of the Month (tie) … Shane Bieber, Indians

Shane Bieber tied for the American League lead in August victories, going 4-0, 1.63 (the AL’s second-lowest August ERA). Bieber fanned 57 batters in 38 2/3 August innings (six starts) tying Lucas Giolito for the most whiffs in MLB for the month. (Bieber averaged 13.3 strikeouts per nine innings for August.) He fanned ten or more hitters in three of his August starts and had now fanned ten or more in five of eight 2020 starts. He currently has an MLB-leading six 2020 wins (tied with Yu Darvish and Max Fried) and an MLB-best 1.20 ERA.

Honorable Mention: At 6’6” and 245 pounds, Lucas Giolito looks big on the mound – and he lived up to that appearance in August. Giolito went 3-1, 2.12 in his six August starts and, on August 25, threw a no-hitter (missing a perfect game by one walk), with 13 whiffs versus the Pirates. How close was he to Bieber? Bieber’s one extra win and sub-2.00 ERA made the difference. BBRT also considered the Blue Jays’ Hyun-Jin Ryu, who had the lowest earned run average among American League qualifiers at 1.29. Ryu never gave up more than one earned run in any of his five August starts. However, he, went only 2-0 and average just 5.6 innings per start.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Player of the Month – (Tie) Fernando Tatis, Jr., SS, Padres; Trea Turner, SS, Nationals

Fernando Tatis Jr. raked at a .315 pace for August, tied for the MLB lead in home runs for the month with 11 and scored an MLB-high 29 runs. He also drove in 22 runs (third-best in the NL) and even stole four bases. The 21-year old had eleven multi-hit games in August, homered in four straight games (August 5-9) and had a seven-RBI game (August 17).

While Tatis’ numbers were outstanding, BBRT could not ignore the MLB-best .408 average and 42 hits put up by the Nationals’ Trea Turner, who also had six long balls, 16 RBI and 26 runs scored. For BBRT, a .400 average is also a “bright and shiny thing” that attracts my attention. Turner ended August on a 16-game hitting streak.

Honorable Mentions: BBRT also considered the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts (.315-10-21) and National League August RBI leader, Padre Manny Machado (.324-9-25).

National League Pitcher of the Month – Yu Darvish, Cubs

Photo by mikelachance816

Yu Darvish was one of just two MLB pitchers with five wins (no losses) in August – and the only one to do it in five starts. In addition, his 1.09 earned run average was the lowest among MLB qualifiers and his 40 strikeouts (in 33 innings pitched) were fourth in the National League. In his five August starts, Darvish never gave up more than one earned run in an outing – averaging 6.6 innings pitched per start. A dominating month for the 6’5” righty, now in his eighth MLB season. Darvish’s overall record for the season (through August 31) is 6-1, 1.47 with 52 strikeouts and just eight walks in 43 innings.

Honorable Mentions. BBRT also looked at the Braves’ Max Fried, MLB’s only other pitcher to earn five August wins. Fried went 5-0, 1.35 in six starts, fanning 31 hitters in 33 1/3 innings – falling just a bit behind Darvish. The Mets’ Jacob deGrom (2-1, 1.80 with 46 strikeouts in 30 innings) also deserves mention here, as does the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw, who went 4-1, 1.80 for the month.

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TROT INDEX … A REGULAR BBRT FEATURE

Through August, 37.4 percent of MLB’s 37,952 2020 plate appearances ended in a trot (back to the dugout, around the bases, to first base). We’re talking about strikeouts, home runs, walks, hit by pitch and catcher’s interference – all outcomes that are, basically, devoid of action on the base paths or in the field. Here’s the breakout: strikeouts (23.3%); walks (9.3%); home runs (3.5%); HBP (1.3%); catcher’s interference (less than 1%). Personally, I’d like more action in the field of play.

The 37.4 percent figure is up from 2019’s (full season) 36.2 percent and 2018’s 34.8 percent Trot Index.

Above, you can see the won-loss records for August. No surprise to the see the Dodgers at 21-7, they had the lowest team ERA in August, as well as the most home runs and runs scored. The Padres are surprising a lot of people in the National League. Never known as a offensive team, they combined youth and veteran presence (from Fernando Tatis, Jr. to Manny Machado) to deliver the National League’s second-highest batting average, home runs and runs scored in August. (And they made some solid trade deadline moves., indicating they are serious about the 2020 post-season.)

Over in the American League, the White Sox may be the biggest surprise. They came on strong in August, topping the AL in August average, home runs and runs scored – driven by the bats of Jose Abreu, Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert and Tim Anderson. Add the arms of Lucas Giolito and and Dallas Keuchel and they look to be in the race to stay.

You’ll find full current (through August 31) standings and statistics toward the end of this post, but here’s a look at hoe the post-season would look (under COVID Rules) if the season ended August 31.

Post-Season Qualifiers if the Season Ended August 31

American League: Division Champions and Second-Place Teams: White Sox, Rays, A’s; Indians; Blue Jays; Astros. “Wild Cards:” Yankees, Twins.

National League: Division Champions and Second-Place Teams: Cubs, Braves; Dodgers; Cardinals, Marlins; Padres; “Wild Cards:” Phillies, Rockies.

Now, some August stats – and then some August highlights.

————-August 2020 Team Statistical Leaders August——————-

RUNS SCORED

National League – Dodgers (164); Padres (159);Phillies (153)

American League – White Sox (154); Rays (147); A’s (140)

Looking at runs scored per game (to factor out the differences in games played), the top scoring teams for August were the Dodgers (5.86 runs per game), Phillies (5.67), White Sox (5.50), Padres (5.48) and Rays 5.25). At the bottom of the list were the Reds (3.61); Rangers (3.88), Brewers (3.96); and Mariners (3.97). Note: Even runs per game is not a totally solid indicator, given the proliferation of seven-inning double head games.

BATTING AVERAGE

National League – Nationals (.276); Padres (.271); Braves (.268)

American League – White Sox (.278); Orioles (.262); Tigers (.261)

The only teams hitting under .220 for August were the Cubs (.217). Brewers (.217) and Reds (.219).

ON-BASE PERCENTAGE

National League – Cardinals (.351); Mets (.350); Nationals (.344)

American League – Rays (.345); White Sox (.342); Yankees (.338)

HOME RUNS

National League – Dodgers (57); Padres (56); Reds (42)

American League – White Sox (54); Blue Jays (43); A’s (42)

Again, doing a bit to factor out the differences in games played, the Dodgers had the most powerful “at bats per home run” ratio at 16.33. Others averaging under 20 at bats per long ball were the Padres (17.36) and the White Sox (17.85). The Cardinals were at the other end of the spectrum – 42.53 at bats per August homer.

WALKS

National League – Cubs (115); Mets (103); Reds (98)

American League – Indians (123); Rays (121); Angels (117)

STOLEN BASES

National League – Marlins (30); Phillies (19); Rockies (18)

American League – Mariners (29); Rangers (24); Royals (21)

BATTER’S STRIKEOUTS

National League – Brewers (271); Cubs (260); Marlins (256)

American League – A’s (277); White Sox (261); Rays (261)

EARNED RUN AVERAGE

National League – Dodgers (2.98); Cardinals (3.60); Reds (4.02)

American League – Indians (3.09); White Sox (3.09); A’s (3.46)

The highest ERA for August belonged to the beleaguered Red Sox at 6.26. In the National League that “distinction” goes to the Nationals at 5.77.

STRIKEOUTS

National League – Brewers (288); Reds (274); Padres (260)

American League – Indians (266); White Sox (261); Rays (251)

Whiff-Masters

Strikeout totals were, of course, affected by games played (particularly with the COVID and civil protest postponements), as well as by seven-inning doubleheader games. So, let’s look at strikeouts per nine innings. Only three teams fanned at least ten batters per nine frames: Reds (10.80); Brewers (10.52); Mets (10.18). The Indians led the AL, with 9.89 whiffs per nine frames.

WALKS (fewest)

National League – Dodgers (69); Rockies (76); Cubs (77)

American League – Tigers (76): Indians (77); Yankees (78)

The Dodgers’ staff show the greatest control with 2.51 walks per nine innings in August, while the Indians were best in the AL at 2.86. The Pirates’ staff walked an MLB-high 4.47 batters per nine innings in August.

SAVES

National League – Marlins (10); Cubs (9); Rockies (9)

American League – Rays (13); A’s (11); Indians (10);

There were only nine complete games thrown in August – two by the Reds (both Trevor Bauer) and one each by the White Sox, Indians, Angels, Giants, Mariners, Cardinals and Rangers.

——-Individual Statistical Leaders for August ———-

AVERAGE (minimum 75 at bats)

National League – Trea Turner, Nationals (.408); Jesse Winker, Reds (.369); Paul Goldschmidt, Cardinals (.359)

American League – Jeimer Candelario, Tigers (.356); Yandy Diaz, Rays (.355); Jose Abreu, White Sox (.352)

The lowest August average (minimum 75 at bats) belonged to Mariners’ 2B Shed Long Jr. at .145 (12-for 83).

HOME RUNS

National League – Fernando Tatis, Jr., Padres (11); Juan Soto, Nationals (11); Jesse Winker, Reds (10); Cody Bellinger, Dodgers (10); Mookie Betts, Dodgers (10)

American League – Jose Abreu, White Sox (11); Mike Trout, Angels (11); Luke Voit, Yankees (11); Eloy Jimenez, White Sox (10); Nelson Cruz, Twins (10)

RUNS BATTED IN

National League – Manny Machado, Padres (25); Juan Soto, Nationals (25); Fernando Tatis, Jr., Padres (24)

American League – Jose Abreu, White Sox (29); Mike Trout, Angels (28); Steve Piscotty, A’s (26)

HITS

National League – Trea Turner, Nationals (42); Charlie Blackmon, Rockies (38); Fernando Tatis, Jr., Padres (36); Manny Machado, Padres (36)

American League – Jose Abreu, White Sox (38); Hanser Alberto, Orioles (34); Eloy Jimenez, White Sox (33); David Fletcher, Angels (33)

DOUBLES

National League – Dominic Smith, Mets (12); Nick Markakis, Braves (10); Christian Walker, Diamondbacks (9); Freddie Freeman, Braves (9)

American League – Alex Verdugo, Red Sox (12): Anthony Santander, Orioles (11); Cesar Hernandez, Indians (10):

TRIPLES

National League – Ten with two

American League – Kyle Tucker, Astros (6); Jeimer Candelario, Tigers (3); six with two

STOLEN BASES

National League – Jonathan Villar, Miami (9); Jon Berti, Marlins (8); Trevor Story, Rockies (6); Roman Quinn, Phillies (6)

American League – Jose Ramirez, Indians (7); Adalberto Mondesi, Royals (7); Dylan Moore, Mariners (6); Whit Merrifield, Royals (6)

WALKS

National League – Brandon Nimmo, Mets (21); Ian Happ, Cubs (20); Bryce Harper, Phillies (20)

American League – Carlos Santana, Indians (26); Cavan Biggio, Blue Jays (19); four with 18

The Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt led MLB in on-base percentage in August – at .512. He had nearly as many hits as walks – 23 hits and 20 walks in 21 games. Goldschmidt also had the best walks-per-strikeout ratio at 2.250 (20 walks versus 8 whiffs).

BATTER’S STRIKEOUTS

National League – Keston Hiura, Brewers (42); Javier Baez, Cubs (40); Ryan McMahon, Rockies (36); Trent Grisham, Padres (36);

American League – Miguel Sano, Twins (43); Jorge Soler. Royals (39); Renato Nunez, Orioles (38)

The Twins’ Miguel Sano fanned in 41.3 percent of his August plate appearances (43 whiffs in 104 trips to the plate.) Despite those numbers, he hit .284 -7-15 for the month.

PITCHING VICTORIES

National League – Yu Darvish, Cubs (5-0); Max Fried, Braves (5-0); Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers (4-1); Zach Davies, Padres (4-2)

American League – Matt Foster, White Sox (4-0); Shane Bieber, Indians (4-0); Dylan Cease, White Sox (4-1); Randy Dobnak, Twins (4-1); Mike Fiers, A;s (4-1)

EARNED RUN AVERAGE (minimum 25 IP)

National League – Yu Darvish, Cubs (1.09); Max Fried, Braves (1.35); Jacob deGrom, Mets (1.80)

American League – Hyun-Jin Ryu, Blue Jays (1.29); Shane Bieber, Indians (1.63); Framber Valdez, Astros (1.89)

STRIKEOUTS

National League – Jacob deGrom, Mets (46/30 IP); Trevor Bauer, Reds (41/31 2/3 IP); Aaron Nola, Phillies (41/30 2/3 IP)

American League – Shane Bieber, Indians (57/38 2/3 IP); Lucas Giolito, White Sox (57/39 IP); Gerrit Cole, Yankees (48/34 1/3 IP)

August’s leader in strikeouts per nine innings was the Mets’ Jacob deGrom at 13.80; followed by the Indians’ Shane Bieber at 13.27.

COMPLETE GAMES

National League – Trevor Bauer, Reds (2); Tyler Anderson, Giants (1); Adam Wainwright, Cardinals (1)

American League – Aaron Civale, Indians (1); Dylan Bundy, Angels (1); Lance Lynn, Rangers (1); Lucas Giolito, White Sox (1); Marco Gonzales, Mariners (1)

Both of Trevor Bauer’s complete games were shutouts.

INNINGS PITCHED

National League – Antonio Senzatela, Rockies (38 1/3); German Marquez, Rockies (36 1/3); Zach Davies, Padres (36 1/3)

American League – Aaron Civale, Indians (40); Lance Lynn Rangers (39 1/3); Lucas Giolito, White Sox (39)

SAVES

National League – Kenley Jansen, Dodgers (8); Josh Hader, Brewers (7); Brad Kintzler, Marlins (6)

American League – Liam Hendriks, A’s (9); Brad Hand, Indians (8); five with six

——————————-August 2020 Highlights ———————–

150 Wins and counting

On August 5, Rick Porcello won his first game as a Met and picked up the 150^th win of his 12-season MLB career – going seven innings and giving up just one run on five hits and no walks as the Mets top the Nationals 3-1. That game was the bright spot this far this season for the 2016 American League Cy Young Award winner, who ended the month with a 2020 stat line of 1-4, 6.00.

Walk, Don’t Run (until you have to)

Photo by IDSportsPhoto

August 6 was a unique day at the plate for Brewers’ LF Christian Yelich – with five
leisurely and one explosive plate appearance. He was able to casually stroll to first base in four plate appearances (walks in the first, third, sixth and eighth innings). He could also take his time walking back to the dugout after his ninth-inning strikeout. In the only plate appearance that didn’t result in a “stroll,” it was full afterburner – as Yelich dashed out an inside-the-park home run in the fifth frame. It came as White Sox’ LF Eloy Jimenez made an attempt to catch a Yelich fly to left field and stumbled into the protective netting down the LF line. As Jimenez struggled to right himself, Yelich circled the bases. The Brewers, by the way, prevailed 8-3.

Four Homers Before the First Out

In recent seasons, home runs have been flying off MLB bats. This August 8, the Tigers were out to continue the trend. In a game against the Pirates (in Pittsburgh), the Bengals poked four home runs before the game’s first out was recorded The top of the first inning started like this: SS Niko Goodrum, homer to left on a 1-0 pitch; 2B Jonathan Schoop, single to left on an 0-1 pitch; DH Miguel Cabrera, homer to left on an 0-2 pitch; 1B, C.J. Cron, homer to left-center on an 0-2 pitch; RF Jeimer Candelario, homer to left-center on the first pitch of his at bat. So, starter Derek Holland – just 11 pitches into the game – had given up a single, four home runs and five runs. Holland’s line for the game (which the Tigers won 11-5) was five innings pitched, with nine runs allowed on 13 hits and one walk (six strikeouts.)

Blue Jays Take Wing(s) in Buffalo

It took a while for the Toronto Blue Jays to find a COVID-season home, but they ended up at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York. They played their first “home” game in Buffalo on August 11 and the fans got their money’s worth. (Oh, wait, there were no fans.) At any rate, the Jays topped the Marlins in that first Buffalo game on a walk-off, run-scoring single by 3B Travis Shaw in the bottom of the tenth inning. (Had there been fans, they would have gotten their money’s worth. )

100, That’s a Nice Round Number

On August 9, Lance Lynn of the Rangers (in his ninth MLB season) won his second game (against no losses) of the 2020 season. More notably, it was his 100th career win. Lynn gave up two runs on four hits and three walks (six strikeouts), as the Rangers topped the Angels 7-3. Lynn got four more August starts, running his 2020 record to 4-1, 1.93 and his career mark to 102-69, 3.53. Lynn won 15 or more games in four of his first eight MLB campaigns.

Six-for-Three (not three-for-six)

On August 13, the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts tied an MLB all-time record by recording his sixth three-homer game, as the Dodgers manhandled the Pirates 11-2. In the game, Betts was four-for-four, with three home runs, four runs scored and five RBI. The only other players with six three-homer games are Johnny Mize and Sammy Sosa. It’s a good bet that Betts will eventually have the three-dinger record all to himself. For more on Betts’ accomplishment,click here.

1,000, Another Nice Round Number

On August 11, Dodgers’ 3B Justin Turner opened up the bottom of the second inning (of a 6-2 loss to the Padres) with a double to left off San Diego starter Garrett Richards. It didn’t have an impact on the game, but it was Turner’s 1,000^th career safety.

Another COVID Quirk … A Lead Off Sacrifice Fly – A Perfect Inning and a Loss

August 15, as the Angels and Dodgers squared off on the West Coast (Anaheim), the perfect storm led to the quintessential COVID-Era play – MLB’s first-ever leadoff sacrifice fly (Dang, I can’t unsee that). The game went into the tenth inning tied at five apiece. In the top of the inning, with the Angels’ Kenyan Middleton taking over on the mound, Dodgers’ LF Chris Taylor (last out of the LA ninth) was placed (via “COVID Rules”) at second base. With LA 3B Max Muncy leading off the inning, Taylor stole third on an 0-2 pitch that missed the plate. On the next offering, Muncy lifted a fly ball to warning track in right field for a run-scoring, leadoff sacrifice fly that proved to be the game-winning run. Middleton then got PH Joc Pederson and C Austin Burnes on ground outs. The Angels did not score in the bottom of the inning, so Middleton pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, yet was charged with the loss on a truly unearned (at least from a pitcher’s point of view) run. Ouch!

Four-For-Four

On August 16. The 2020 Chicago White Sox became just the tenth MLB team to hit four consecutive home runs in an inning. The four four-base blasts came with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning of a game against the Cardinals. At the time, the White Sox were up by a 1-0 score. White Sox’ 3B Yoan Moncada started it off with a three-run shot to right; next was a home run to right by C Yasmani Grandal, then a dinger to left field by 1B Jose Abreu and, finally, another home to right by LF Eloy Jimenez. At that point, Roel Ramirez (who gave up all four home runs) was replaced by Seth Elledge, who fanned DH Edwin Encarnacion for the final out of the inning. Ramirez’ line for the game, won by the White Sox 7-2, was 2/3 inning pitched, six hits, one walk on strikeouts and six earned runs.

Grand Slam-Diego

On August 20, the San Diego Padres’ became the first MLB to record a Grand Slam home run in four straight games. The streak started with a Grand Slam by SS Fernando Tatis, Jr. in the top of the eighth inning of an August 17 14-4 Padres’ route of the Rangers. (Tatis also had a three-run homer in the seventh inning). On August 18, as the Padres again topped the Rangers (this time by a 6-4 score), San Diego RF Wil Myers popped a first-inning Grand Slam. The Padres continued to have the Rangers’ number, winning 6-3 on August 19 – behind a walk-off Grand Slam by 3B Manny Machado in the bottom of the tenth. (This one aided by the rule placing a runner on second base to start each extra frame). August 20^th saw another Padres ‘extra-inning, walk off win over the Rangers (8-7 in ten innings). In that game, 1B Eric Hosmer launched a fifth-inning Grand Slam.

A new opponent for the Padres ended the streak on August 21, as the Astros held the Padres without home run in San Diego’s 4-3 win at home. San Diego was back at it again on August 22, with 2B Jake Croenworth popping a second-inning Grand Slam in a 13-2 Padres win over the Astros.

300 for Longo

On August 21, in a 6-2 win over the Diamondbacks, Giants’ third baseman Evan Longoria became the 150^th major leaguer to reach 300 career home runs. Longoria’s blast, a two-run shot to left-center gave the Giants a two-run lead. Longoria’s 300^th long ball (his third HR of the season) came in the 34-year-old’s 13^th MLB campaign. Longoria has hit 20 or more home runs in nine seasons, topping 30 four times.

Tigers Finally Growl at the Indians

On August 21, the Tigers topped the Indians 10-5 in Cleveland, ending a streak of 20 consecutive losses to the Tribe. For a deeper look into the 20-loss streak and the Orioles’ MLB-record 23 straight wins over the Royals, click here.

Quite a “Feet”

On August 25, Marlins’ CF/leadoff batter Jon Berti became the 44^th MLB player to “steal for the cycle” – pilfering second, third and home all in the same inning. It came in the sixth inning of a 3-0 Marlins win over the Mets (part of a doubleheader sweep) – and represented the definition of a “manufactured” run.

Berti opened the inning (Marlins up 2-0) with a five-pitch walk off the Mets’ Jeurys Familia. He then stole second on the first pitch to DH Jesus Aguilar, who later lined out to center. On the second pitch to the next batter (LF Corey Dickerson), Berti swiped third – where he was held when Dickerson grounded out second-to-first. Next up was 3B Brian Anderson and, with the count, 0-2, Berti swiped home. Anderson was eventually hit by a pitch and 1B Lewin Diaz followed with a ground out to end the inning. Berti ended the game zero-for-one with two walks, two runs scored and three stolen bases.

Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner share the career record for stealing second, third and home in one inning, having each done it four times.

Lucas “No-No” Giolito

Photo by IDSportsPhoto

On August 25, Lucas Giolito tossed the first no-hitter of the 2020 season – shutting down the Pirates 4-0, with the only base runner being Pirates’ shortstop Erik Gonzalez, who drew a four-pitch walk to open the fourth inning. Giolito needed just 101 pitches (74 strikes) to complete the no-no, in which he fanned 13 batters. Going into the game, Giolito had a 2-2, 3.89 record and had averaged 5.8 innings pitched over six starts. He ended August with a 3-2, 3.14 record on the season.

Pujols Climbs RBI List – To Where?

Photo by Dirk DBQ

In the top of the fifth inning of an August 24 game against the Astros, Albert Pujols found himself facing Framber Valdez with runners on first and third and two-out (with the Angels trailing 3-5). Pujols laced an 0-1 pitch to left to drive in Mike Trout from third. While the run meant little in the Angels’ ultimate 11-4 loss, the RBI was a significant one for Pujols. It was his 2, 087th career MLB RBI and moved him past Alex Rodriguez into sole possession of third place (or perhaps second place) on the all-time MLB RBI list (Hank Aaron is the all-time leader at 2,297 career runs driven in).

Why do I say second or third for Pujols? Well, RBI were not an official stat until 1920 – and the Elias Sports Bureau lists only Aaron, Pujols and Rodriguez as members of the 2,000 RBI Club. Other sources, like Baseball Reference, have worked to attribute pre-1920 RBI retroactively and, as of August 24, their list read: Hank Aaron (2,297); Babe Ruth (2,214); Albert Pujols (2,087); Alex Rodriguez (2,086); Cap Anson (2,075). Then, of course, there’s MLB.com which does not include Cap Anson and lists Babe Ruth at 2,013. Note: At month’s end Pujols had brought his RBI total up to 2,090.

No matter how you count them, Pujols has brought a lot of runs home over his career.

Another Streak Comes to an End

On August 26, Braves rookie Ian Anderson – making his major-league debut – pitched a gem. Anderson went six innings, giving up just one run on one hit (a Luke Voit home run), while fanning six and walking two – as the Braves topped the Yankees 5-1. Not only did, he pick up his first MLB victory, he became the first pitcher to best Cole since May 22, 2019 – breaking Cole’s streak of twenty regular-season winning decisions. For more on Cole’s streak, click here.

Long Ball Outfield

On August 30, as the Cubs trounced the Reds 10-1, the Chicago squad became the first MLB team to get multi-homer games from all three starting outfielders in the same contest (more of #InBaseballWeTrackEverything). The long balls came off the bats of LF Kyle Schwarber (a solo shot in the fourth inning and a Grand Slam in the ninth), CF Ian Happ (a two-run shot in the fifth and a solo homer in the seventh) and RF Jason Heyward (solo dingers in the fourth and sixth). All ten Cubs runs scored on the six round trippers.

Happy Birthday Waino

Photo by bk1bennett

Adam Wainwright celebrated his 39^th birthday (August 30) in style. The 6’7” righty, in his 15^th MLB season, threw his first complete game since 2016, as his Cardinals topped the Indians 7-2 in Cleveland. Wainwright gave up two earned runs on four hits and two walks, while fanning nine – bringing his 2020 record to 3-0, 2.65.

I Get by With a Little Help from Designated Hitters

The Dodgers, with a little help from the expansion of the Designated hitter to the National League, set a new National League team record for home runs in a calendar month with 57 – seven of which were hit out of the DH slot. The MLB record is 74, set by the Yankees in August 2019.

Move Over Babe and Mickey, Here Comes Gary

Photo by BeGreen90

With the Yankees’ long history as the Bronx Bombers – written by players with names like Babe, Mickey, Joe, Roger and Aaron – it seemed doubtful there were any long-ball feats that had eluded the Yankee heritage. Oops, just a minute there. On August 30, Gary Sanchez delivered the first-ever, pinch-hit, extra-inning Grand Slam home run in Yankee history. Oh, to add to its uniqueness, it came in eighth inning of the second game of one of the COVID-era’s seven-inning doubleheader contests.

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——-Individual Statistical Leaders Year-To-Date (through August 31) ———-

AVERAGE (qualifying, 3.1 plate appearances per team game played)

National League – Trea Turner, Nationals (.377); Juan Soto, Nationals (.367); Charlie Blackmon, Rockies (.351)

American League – Tim Anderson, White Sox (.330); Kyle Lewis, Mariners (.328); Hanser Alberto, Orioles (.321)

The lowest August average among qualifiers belonged to the A’s Matt Olson at .169 (21-for-124).

HOME RUNS

National League – Fernando Tatis, Jr., Padres; (13) Mookie Betts, Dodgers (11); Manny Machado, Padres (11); Juan Soto, Nationals (11)

American League – Nelson Cruz, Twins (13); Luke Voit, Yankees (13); Jose Abreu, White Sox (12); Teoscar Hernandez, Blue Jays (12); Mike Trout, Angels (12)

The Royals’ Adalberto Mondesi had the most at bats through August 31 without a home run (129). The Royals’ SS had a .186 average, with 11 runs scored and two RBI in 35 games.

RUNS BATTED IN

National League – Fernando Tatis, Jr., Padres (33); Manny Machado, Padres (30); Charlie Blackmon, Rockies (28)

American League – Jose Abreu, White Sox (32); Mike Trout, Angels (32); Anthony Santander, Orioles (29); Nelson Cruz, Twins (29); Kyle Tucker, Astros (29)

HITS

National League – Trea Turner, Nationals (49); Charlie Blackmon, Rockies (47); Fernando Tatis, Jr. Padres (46)

American League – Jose Abreu, White Sox (45); David Fletcher, Angels (45); Hanser Alberto, Orioles (45)

DOUBLES

National League – Christian Walker, Diamondbacks (13); Dominic Smith, Mets (12); Freddie Freeman, Braves (11); Ketel Marte, D-backs (11); Mike Yastrzemski, Giants (11)

American League – Anthony Santander, Orioles (13); Hanser Alberto, Orioles (12); Willy Adames, Rays (12); Cesar Hernandez, Indians (12): Alex Verdugo, Red Sox (12)

Orioles’ LF Anthony Santander had the most extra-base hits through August 31 at 24; followed by Padres’ SS Fernando Tatis, Jr. at 23.

TRIPLES

National League – Mike Yastrzemski, Giants (3); Jake Cronenworth, Padres (3); 12 with two

American League – Kyle Tucker, Astros (6); Jeimer Candelario, Tigers (3); 11 with two

Juan Soto of the Nationals led qualifiers in slugging percentage through August 31 at an even .800. Luke Voit of the Yankees led American League qualifiers at .709. They were the only players above .700.

STOLEN BASES

National League – Jonathan Villar, Marlins (9); Jon Berti, Marlins (8); Trevor Story, Rockies (8)

American League – Jose Ramirez, Indians (8); Adalberto Mondesi, Royals (8); Whit Merrifield, Royals (7)

Indians’ 3B Jose Ramirez had the most steals without being thrown out through August 31 at 8.

WALKS

National League – Freddie Freeman, Braves (25); Bryce Harper, Phillies (24); Rhys Hoskins, Phillies (24); Mike Yastrzemski, Giants (24)

American League – Carlos Santana, Indians (33); Anthony Rendon, Angels (25); Yandy Diaz, Rays (23)

The Phillies’ Bryce Harper drew the most intentional walks through August 31, with five.

BATTER’S STRIKEOUTS

National League – Keston Hiura, Brewers (48); Javier Baez, Cubs (47); Ryan McMahon, Rockies (46)

American League – Miguel Sano, Twins (51); Jorge Soler, Royals (50); Niko Goodrum, Tigers (49)

A’s 2B Tony La Stella had the best walks-to-strikeouts ratio through August 31 at 2.14 (15 walks/seven strikeouts). Next was Cardinals’ 1B Paul Goldschmidt at 1.69 (22 walks/13 whiffs).

PITCHING VICTORIES

National League – Max Fried, Braves (6-0); Yu Darvish, Cubs (6-1); Sony Gray, Reds (5-1); Zach Davies, Padres (5-2)

American League – Shane Bieber, Indians (6-0); Randy Dobnak, Twins (5-2); Dallas Keuchel, White Sox (5-2)

Five pitchers had lost five games through August: Luis Castillo, Reds (0-5, 4.10); Mike Minor, Rangers (0-5, 5.60); Trevor Williams, Pirates (1-5, 5.50); Luke Weaver, D-backs (1-5, 8.23); and German Marquez, Rockies (2-5, 4.88).

EARNED RUN AVERAGE (minimum 30 IP)

National League – Yu Darvish, Cubs (1.47); Max Fried, Braves (1.60); Jacob deGrom, Mets (1.76)

American League – Shane Bieber, Indians (1.20); Lance Lynn, Rangers (1.93); Framber Valdez, Astros (2.35)

The Tigers’ Matt Boyd had the highest earned run average among pitchers with at least 30 innings pitched through August. He was 1-4, 7.27 in seven starts (34 2/3 innings pitched).

STRIKEOUTS

National League – Jacob deGrom, Mets (58/41 IP); Sonny Gray, Reds (55/41 2/3 IP); Max Scherzer, Nationals (55/37 1/3 IP); Dinelson, Padres (51/38 1/3 IP)

American League – Shane Bieber, Indians (84/52 2/3 IP); Lucas Giolito, White Sox (66/48 2/3 IP); Gerrit Cole, Yankees (60/46 IP)

The leader in strikeouts per nine innings through August was the Indians’ Shame Bieber at 14.35. The Nationals’ Max Scherzer topped the NL at 13.26.

COMPLETE GAMES

National League – Trevor Bauer, Reds (2); Tyler Anderson, Giants (1); Kyle Hendricks, Cubs (1); Max Scherzer, Nationals (1); Adam Wainwright, Cardinals (1)

American League – Aaron Civale, Indians (1); Dylan Bundy, Angels (1); Lance Lynn, Rangers (1); Lucas Giolito, White Sox (1); Gerrit Cole, Yankees (1); Marco Gonzales, Mariners (1)

INNINGS PITCHED

National League – German Marquez, Rockies (48); Max Fried, Braves (45); Kyle Hendricks, Cubs (44);

American League – Shane Bieber, Indians (52 2/3); Lance Lynn Rangers (51 1/3); Lucas Giolito, White Sox (48 2/3)

SAVES

National League – Kenley Jansen, Dodgers (9); Josh Hader, Brewers (8); four with seven);

American League – Brad Hand, Indians (10); Liam Hendriks, A’s (10); Zack Britton, Yankees (9)

The Indians’ Brad Hand was a perfect 10-for-10 in save opportunities through August.

————-Team Statistical Leaders Through August 31——————-

RUNS SCORED – Team Average … 145

National League – Padres (211); Dodgers (204); Braves (175)

American League – Rays (188); White Sox (184); Astros (176)

With Teams having played such a varying number of games – from the Cardinals 26 to 37 for the Padres and Mariners, the following chart probably better illustrates scoring.

BATTING AVERAGE – Team Average … .244

National League – Nationals (.270); Padres (.266); Mets (.264)

American League – White Sox (.270); Orioles (.259); Red Sox (.257)

The lowest team batting average through August 31 was .212 for both the Brewers and .212 the Rangers.

ON-BASE PERCENTAGE – Team Average … .322

National League – Mets (.348); Phillies (.343); Padres (.343)

American League – Rays (.340); Yankees (.336); White Sox (.333)

HOME RUNS – Team Average … 44

National League – Dodgers (68); Padres (67); Reds (54)

American League – White Sox (65); Blue Jays (54); Yankees (53)

The Cardinals hit the fewest home run (21), but also played the fewest games (26). By way of comparison, the MLB average was 1.31 home runs per game, the Cardinals’ average was 0.81.

SLUGGING PERCENTAGE – Team Average … .419

National League – Padres (.493); Dodgers (.471); Phillies (.465)

American League – White Sox (.485); Yankees (.449); Blue Jays (.443)

WALKS – Team Average … 117

National League – Cubs (142); Dodgers (134); Reds (134)

American League – Rays (158); Angels (154); Indians (152)

Crowding the Plate

No team got plunked (HBP) more than the Cubs, who had 29 batter reach base via the Hit-By-Pitch. In the America League, the A’s led the way with 25 plunkings. The Rockies had the fewest hit batters (4), while the MLB team average was 16. The Astros, popularly speculated as potential targets, suffered 14 hit batsmen (below the overall team average).

STOLEN BASES – Team Average … 16

National League – Padres (31); Marlins (31); Rockies (21)

American League – Mariners (37); Rangers (29); Royals (24)

BATTER’S STRIKEOUTS – Team Average … 295

National League – Braves (335); Cubs (334); Brewers (331)

American League – A’s (340); Rays (333); Mariners (311)

EARNED RUN AVERAGE – Team Average … 4.45

National League – Dodgers (2.76); Cardinals (3.59); Reds (4.18)

American League – Indians (2.87); A’s (3.51); Blue Jays (3.72)

The highest ERA through August belonged to the Red Sox at 6.04 – the only team north of six.

STRIKEOUTS – Team Average … 295

National League – Reds (367); Brewers (353); Padres (332)

American League – Indians (360); Rays (336); White Sox (314)

As noted earlier, Strikeout totals have been affected by games played (particularly with the COVID and civil protest postponements), as well as by seven-inning doubleheader games. So, let’s look at strikeouts per nine innings. Only three teams fanned at least ten batters per nine frames: Reds (1.38); Brewers (10.61); Indians (10.32).

WALKS (Fewest) – Team Average … 117

National League – Cardinals (89); Phillies (94); Rockies (96)

American League – Indians (91); Yankees (94); Tigers (98)

No team walked fewer hitters per nine innings than the Indians at 2.61, also under three walks per nine frames were the Dodgers (2.73) and Rockies (2.78). No team issued more free passes per nine frames than the Pirates at 4.60.

SAVES – Team Average … 8

National League – Rockies (11); Marlins (11); Dodgers (10); Cubs (10)

American League – Rays (15); Indians (14); A’s (13)

Primary Resources: MLB.com; Baseball-Reference.com; MLB.com; ESPN.com; The Official Rules of Baseball Illustrated, by David Nemec, Sports Publishing, 2020

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