Welcome to another edition Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesday, a weekly presentation of baseball occurrences that for some reason caught The Roundtable’s eye. (I’m particularly fond of unexpected performances, statistical coincidences or unusual circumstances.) These won’t necessarily be momentous occurrences, just events, statistics or coincidences that caught my attention.
This week, I was drawn to the career of four-time twenty-game winner, righthander Johnny Sain (of “Spahn and Sain and Pray for Rain” fame). What grabbed my attention was not his pitching, but his ability to put the bat on the ball. While, in the past, pitchers were often chided for their futility at the plate, Sain was a tough out.
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Boston Braves’ pitcher Johnny Sain is the only MLB player in the Modern Era to rack up a season of more than 100 plate appearances without a single strikeout or walk.
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Let’s get to the Sain saga.
In 1946, the Boston Braves’ righty was back in baseball after missing three seasons in the military. Sain got right down to business, putting up a 20-14, 2.21 season, with a league-leading 24 complete games in 34 starts. (Sain had made his MLB debut in 1942, primarily as a reliever.) Twenty wins in his first full season as a starter – pretty impressive. But, again, not what caught The Roundtable’s eye. That season, Sain came to the plate 104 times and did not strike out or walk once. He hit .298-0-14 for the campaign – with 28 hits, (25 singles, two doubles, one triple). His 104 plate appearances included ten sacrifice bunts.
Walks aside, Sain also is one of only three players (in MLB’s modern era) to complete a season of 100 or more plate appearances without a single strikeout (the other two did take a few free passes).
Side note: The Roundtable uses the Modern Era since it is more consistent with baseball rules as we know them. For example, Al Spalding of the 1974 Boston Red Stockings holds the MLB record for plate appearances in a zero-whiff season at 365 … but, at that time, batters could call for a pitch in a certain location and the pitchers were expected to comply. It also wasn’t until 1901 in the National League and 1903 in the American League that foul balls counted as strikes. As far as walks go, in baseball’s earliest days, there simply were no walks. Then, as various times , it took nine, eight, seven and six balls to garner a free pass – until the current four-ball walk rule was implemented in 1889. You get the idea.
So, here are your Modern ERA, zero-strikeout season leaders in plate appearances
Third Place … 104 Plate Appearances … Johnny Sain, RHP, Boston Braves
Since Sain prompted this Tidbit, we’ll start here. As already noted, in 1946, he was a 20-game winner and came to the plate 104 times without striking out. In some ways, he may have done even better the plate in 1947, when he hit .346-0-18 in 118 plate appearances (and had the patience to draw three walks), while going 21-12, 3.52 on the mound. If you look at Sain’s first three MLB seasons (1942, 1946-47, he hit .294 in 252 plate appearances and struck out just twice. He did not keep up that pace. In 11 MLB seasons (1942, 1946-55 … Braves, Yankees, Athletics) he hit .245-3-101 in 433 games. Over his career, he struck out a total of 20 times (versus 24 walks) in the regular season, an average of one strikeout every 42.9 plate appearances. He had five seasons with at least 100 plate appearances and three or fewer strikeouts (0,1,2,3,3) On the mound, the three-time All Star went 139-116, 3.49 and four times won 20 or more games in a season (leading the NL with 24 wins in 1948). He also led the league in complete games twice, saves once and innings pitched once.
Second Place… 108 Plate Appearances … Bill Rariden, C, 1920 Reds
Rariden actually achieved this rare feat in his final MLB season (at age 32). In 39 games, he hit .248-0-10 (five walks). Rariden played in 12 MLB seasons (1909-1920 … Doves/Braves, Federal League Hoosiers, Giants, Reds). He hit .237-7-275 in 982 games. He struck out 256 times in 3,316 place appearances – an average of once every 13 plate appearances (which makes his zero-whiff season a bit of a career outlier).
First Place … 234 Plate Appearances … Lloyd Waner, OF, 1941 Red, Pirates & Braves
Waner, at age 35 and in his 15th MLB season, got into 77 games in 1941, hitting .292-0-11 (drawing 12 walks). The 5’9”, 150-pound Waner played in 18 MLB seasons (1927-42, 1944-45 … Pirates, Braves, Reds, Phillies), hitting .316-27-598, with 1,201 runs scored in 1,993 games. He averaged jus one whiff per 48.2 plate appearances over his career and had three seasons of 100 or more plate appearances and five or fewer strikeouts (0,5,5). He had nine seasons in which he played in at least 100 games and hit .300 or better. The Hall of Famer led the league in runs scored once (three times stopping 100 runs); hits once (four times topping 200 hits); and triples once.
Joe Sewell – The King of Contact
Joe Sewell is the undisputed “King 0f Contact. In his 14-season MLB career (1920-33 … Indians, Yankees), the 5’6”, 155-pound infielder struck just 114 times in 8,333 plate appearances (1,903 games) – once every 73.1 plate appearances. During the 1920 season, he set two records between the third inning of a game on May 17 and the sixth inning of a September 20 contest. During that span, he logged streaks of 521 plate appearances and 115 games without a strikeout. For his career, the Hall of Famer hit .312-49-1,054, hitting .300 or better in all but four seasons. In 1925, he fanned just four times in 699 plate appearances.
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