It’s time again for Baseball Roundtable’s Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesday. I hope you are enjoying this weekly presentation of baseball occurrences that for some reason caught The Roundtable’s eye. (I’m particularly fond of unexpected performances and statistical coincidences.) These won’t necessarily be momentous occurrences, just events, statistics or coincidences that grabbed my attention. I’m also drawn to baseball “unicorns,” one-of-a-kind MLB accomplishments or statistics. (Yes, I know it’s Monday, but I’ve got a conflict tomorrow and “better a day early than a day late. ”
This week we’re exploring the answer to the gripping (for some of us) question, “Who is the only MLB player in the Modern Era to have a season of at least one hundred plate appearances and put the ball in play every time – zero strikeouts and zero walks?” The records cited in this post will be for the Modern Era.
Photo: Los Angeles Mirror, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Perhaps not the answer you would expect. It was Braves’ right-handed pitcher Johnny Sain, who returned from three years of military service in 1946 and put up 20-14, 2.21 record on the mound (with a league-leading 24 complete games) and hit .298-0-17. Within that batting stat line, you’ll find zero walks and zero strikeouts in 104 plate appearances (40 games). Side note: In 1948, Sain nearly repeated the feat. He not only was once again a 20+ game winner on the mound, in 40 games (118 plate appearances), he fanned only once (he did draw three walks). That season, he hit .346-0-18..
Going a little deeper:
- From his last two at bats on July 21, 1942 through his game of June 22, 1947, Sain appeared in 69 games (153 consecutive plate appearances) without drawing a walk or striking out.
- For his career, 433 games (857 plate appearances) and had just 24 walks and 20 strikeouts. (I’ll do the math; that’s one strikeout every 42.9 plate appearances.) His final offensive stat line was .245-3-101.
Sain’s professional baseball career took some interesting turns. Signed as a teenager, he went 58-41, 3.60 over six minor-league seasons before making his MLB debut (as a 24-year-old) with the 1942 Braves. In his first season with Boston, Sain was used primarily in relief, going 4-7, 3.90 with six saves (awarded retroactively). Then, along came World War II and a draft notice.
In 1943, Sain enlisted in the Navy, where he completed flight training, apparently with such “flying colors” that he served as a Navy flight instructor. During his service, he also took time to pitch for the “North Carolina Pre-Flight” baseball team, known as the Cloudbusters.
Babe’s Send Off
On July 28, 1943, Johnny Sain pitched for his Navy Cloudbusters baseball team in an exhibition game at Yankee Stadium to raise war-relief funds. The opposition was a team of New York Yankee and Cleveland Indian reserves. Adding to the attraction was the Yankee-Indians team’s third-base coach – 48-year-old retired major-leaguer Babe Ruth. Sain was told to take it easy on Ruth, who ultimately walked. Why is that here in the Tidbits? It was Babe Ruth’s last at bat in an organized baseball game.
Thanks to Jan Finkel, who wrote Johnny Sain’s Society for American Baseball Research Bio.
Sain was discharged and returned to professional baseball – and the Braves – in 1946 and quickly proved that the three-year hiatus from the majors had not dulled his skills. In fact, it may have sharpened them. (Sain would later say learning to fly improved his ability to concentrate.)
Whatever the reasons, Sain’s return to civilian life and the baseball diamond was a success. In his first year out of a Navy uniform and back in a Braves’ uniform (1946), Sain went 20-14, 2.21, leading the National League in complete games (24) and finishing second in ERA, wins and games started and third in strikeouts.
A few other tidbits I stumbled across in putting together this post:
- Sain is one of just three Modern Era players with a season of 100 more plate appearances and zero strikeouts: OF Lloyd Waner had 234 plate appearances in 77 games (Braves, Reds, Pirates) in 1941 and hit .292-0-11,with zero whiffs and 12 walks; C Bill Randon had 108 plate appearances in 39 games (Reds) in 1920 and hit .283-0-10, with zero strikeouts and five walks.
- Fifty players have recorded seasons of 100 or more plate appearances with zero walks (all but eight were pitchers). Atop this list is White Sox’ P Ed Walsh, who (in 1907) came to the plate 156 times and hit .162-1-10, with zero walks (44 strikeouts). Among position players the leader is Phillies’ C Craig Robinson, who came to the plate 148 times in 1973 and went .226-0-7 with zero walks (25 strikeouts).
A Brief Diversion … How The Game Has Changed
Reggie Jackson struck out more than 100 times in a record 18 (out of his 21) MLB seasons, leading the league in strikeouts five times). Babe Ruth also led the league in strikeouts five times, but did not strikeout 100 times in any 22 seasons.
Back to Johnny Sain.
In his first three seasons back from the Navy, Sain was a two-time All Star and three-time 20-game winner (29-14, 2.31 in 1946; 21-12, 3.52 in 1947; and 24-15 in 1948). In 1948, he led the NL in wins, starts and complete games.
Things went a bit south in 1949 for Sain, as he developed a sore shoulder (perhaps from overwork the previous three season, or a screwball he experimented with, or both). He ended the season at 10-17, 4.81. Although he rebounded to 20-13, 3.94 in 1950, things still did not seem quite right and, after starting 1951 at 5-13, 4.21, Sain was traded to the Yankees in late August (for Lew Burdette, who would beat the Yankees three times in the 1975 World Series). Sain went 2-1, for the Bronx Bombers in 1951 (seven games/four starts).
Sain pitched for the Yankees from September 1951 through mid-May 1955 (traded to the Athletics during his final MLB season). To give you some idea of how his role changed in New York (perhaps recognizing a tender shoulder): Eighty percent of Sain’s 257 appearances with the Braves were starts, while 75 percent of his 155 appearances with the Yankees were in relief. Notably, Sain adapted well. In 1954, he went 6-6, 3.16 for New York, appearing in 45 games (all in relief) and leading the AL in games finished (39) and saves (awarded retroactively) with 26.
In 11 MLB seasons, Sain went 138-116, 3.49, with 53 saves (412 appearances, 245 starts). He was a three-time All Star and led the league once in wins and once in saves.
Primary Resources: Stathead.com; Johnny Sain Society for American Baseball Research Bio, by Jan Finkel.
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