Baseball Roundtable https://baseballroundtable.com Baseball's like life-only better Tue, 19 Mar 2024 19:14:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.7.8 Opening the Record Book on Opening Day https://baseballroundtable.com/opening-the-record-book-on-opening-day/ https://baseballroundtable.com/opening-the-record-book-on-opening-day/#respond Tue, 19 Mar 2024 19:14:23 +0000 https://baseballroundtable.com/?p=16745 MLB’s Opening Day is upon us, with the Dodgers and Padres opening the season tomorrow in Seoul, South Korea. I, by the way, am not a big fan of these overseas “Openers” – mostly because of the necessary time gap between the openers for the rest of MLB. Still, Opening Day is a time to […]

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MLB’s Opening Day is upon us, with the Dodgers and Padres opening the season tomorrow in Seoul, South Korea. I, by the way, am not a big fan of these overseas “Openers” – mostly because of the necessary time gap between the openers for the rest of MLB. Still, Opening Day is a time to celebrate – and I’ll do so with some MLB Opening Day trivia tidbits, as well as my predictions for the 2024 season.

Two disclaimers here. Given statistical accuracy and game formats, I am limiting myself to the Modern Era (post 1900) and not all Negro League game stats have been fully documented and incorporated into the MLB record book. (In 2020, the Negro Leagues from 1920-48 were designated major leagues.)

“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.’

                                                                                                           Joe DiMaggio

So, let’s look at some Opening Day stats and stories.

 THESE PLAYERS WERE A ‘HANDFUL” ON OPENING DAY

In the Modern Era (since 1901) only 14 MLB players have collected five hits (five is a handful, isn’t it?) in an Opening Day game.  Looking for unicorns within this list, on March 30, 2023, we saw the first (still only) Opening Day in which two players collected five hits (it happened in two different games). The players were Andy Rutschman of the Orioles and George Springer of the Blue Jays. Rutschman also became the first (only) catcher to record a five-hit Opening Day.

 

Now, there are some potential trivia tidbits (that you can turn into trivia questions) in this list, but here’s one that intrigues The Roundtable.

In a statistical anomaly, seven of the 14 players to enjoy a five-hit Opening Day played the same position.  What position was it?

Your answer: Second base and the players were Craig Biggio; Jeff Kent; Nellie Fox; Billy Herman; Aaron Miles; Larry Doyle; and Eddie Collins. For those who like to know such things, the list also includes three left fielders, two third baseman, one right fielder and one catcher.  As you might guess, most of these players were batting high in the order:  Five leading off, five batting second, two in the three-hole, one at cleanup and one sixth,

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THREE’S A CROWD – OR A CROWD OF THREES

The Opening Day, single-game record of three home runs is shared by four players.  The quarter includes: the Blue Jays’ George Bell, Cubs’ Tuffy Rhodes, Tigers’ Dmitri Young and White Sox’ Matt Davidson.  Here’s another anomaly that would make a good trivia question. Three of the four three-homer Opening Day games were logged against the same franchise.  Who were the unlucky opponent so those three triple-round tripper openers?

Your answer.  The Kansas City Royals.  Here’s the full list.

George Bell … On April 4, 1988, Bell – batting clean-up and serving as the DH – became the first major leaguer to hit three home runs in an Opening Day game, as his Blue Jays topped the Royals 5-3 in Kansas City. Bell’s power outburst was no surprise. He was coming off a 1987 season in which he hit 47 homers, drove in 134 runs and was the AL MVP. Bell went three-for-four with three runs scored and four RBI, hitting all three home runs off Royals’ starter Brett Saberhagen.

Tuffy Rhodes … On a windy April 4, 1994, Rhodes (leading off and playing CF for the Cubs in Chicago) hit three solo shots off Mets’ starter Dwight Gooden. Rhodes also had a single and a walk in five plate appearances. Despite Rhodes’ record-tying performance, the Cubs lost to the visiting Mets 12-8. At the time, Rhodes had played 107 MLB games in four seasons – hitting a total of five home runs. His MLB career consisted of 225 games in six seasons, with a .224 average and just 13 round trippers (with a high of eight in 1994). Rhodes did go on to hit 474 home runs in eleven seasons in Japan.

Dmitri Young … On April 4, 2005 the Tigers’ Young joined Bell and Rhodes on the list of batters with three home runs in an Opening Day game – as the Tigers topped the Royals 11-2 in Detroit. Young started at DH and went four-for-four with four runs and five RBI.  Young, an All Star in 2003 and 2007, hit a total of 21 home runs in 2005 – and 171 in 13 MLB seasons. He hit a career-high 29 round trippers in 2003.

Matt Davidson … On March 29, 2018, as the White Sox topped the Royals 14-7 in Kansas City, DH and (appropriately) cleanup hitter Davidson opened the season with a three-homer, five-RBI game. He went three-for-four with a walk, four runs scored and five RBI. Davidson went deep off three different pitchers: solo shots in the fourth and fifth off Danny Duffy and Blaine Boyer and a three-run blast in the eighth off Brian Flynn. Davidson, in his fourth MLB season, went on to a .228-20-62 campaign.  In his 306 MLB games (2013, 2015-18, 2020, 2022), Davidson has  ja .220-54-157 stat line.

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A UNICORN OF A WIN

In 1980, Mike Parrot was the Opening Day starter (at home) for the Seattle Mariners – an honor he earned with a 14-12, 3.77 season for the 67-95 Mariners in 1979.   He picked up the win, going 6 1/3 innings in an 8-6 Seattle victory over Toronto. Why then unicorn designation? Parrot would pitch in 26 more games that season (15 more starts) and not record another victory – ending the campaign at 1-16, 7.28. Parrot pitched in five MLB seasons (1977-81, all for the Mariners) – going in 19-39, 4.87.

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WHO’S ON FIRST? NONE OF YOU. 

Who was the first MLB pitcher to throw nine no-hit innings in an Opening Day start? I’ll toss in a little hint here.  It’s not the Feller you may be thinking of – and it’s not a good Day to guess.

MLB has seen a pair of Opening Day no-hitters, Bob Feller of the Indians on April 16, 1940 and Leon Day of the of the Newark Eagles (Negro National League II) on May 5, 1946.

Still, neither of these gentlemen can lay claim to be the first MLB pitcher to throw nine no-hit innings in an Opening Day start. Back on April 15, 1909 – as the Giants opened against the Superbas (Dodgers) in Brooklyn – Giants’ righty Leon “Red” Ames started and, with just the minimum of support, could have made history. Ames held Brooklyn hitless for nine innings, but got nary a run of support from his batsmen.  Ames finally gave up a hit with one out in the tenth and, while he kept the shutout going through the 12th inning, eventually lost 3-0 in 13 innings.  How the game has changed:  Both Ames and Brooklyn starter Irvin “Kaiser” Wilhelm went the distance.

Ames, by the way, had a 17-season MLB career (1903-10), going 183-167, 2.63. His best season was 1905 (Giants), when he went 22-8, 2.74.

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A VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE

Which player became a “victim of circumstance” and set an Opening Day single-game record by fanning five times? That would be Ron Karkovice.

On March 31, 1996, White Sox’ catcher Karkovice set an MLB Opening Day record by striking out five times as Chicago lost 3-2 in Seattle.  Karkovice, however, may have been a victim of circumstance.

First Circumstance: Future Hall of Famer (and whiff artist) Randy Johnson started on the mound for the Mariners – striking out 14 in seven innings (including Karkovice three times). Johnson holds the record for Opening Day career strikeouts with 107.

Second Circumstance:  The White Sox could muster only two runs on four hits over the first nine innings – taking a slim 2-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth (at that point, Karkovice had fanned just three times).

Third Circumstance: The Mariners tied the contest in the ninth, and the game went to 12 innings before the Mariners prevailed 3-2.  In those three extra innings, Karkovice struck out against Norm Charlton (tenth inning) and Edwin Hurtado (twelfth inning) to set the Opening Day record.

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PLEASE, (DON’T) GIVE ME A BREAK

Robin Roberts holds the MLB record for consecutive Opening Day starts for the same team – 12 for the Phillies from 1950 through 1961. The record for overall consecutive Opening Day starts belong to Jack Morris at 14 (1980-93 – Tigers,  Twins, Blue Jays.)

More: How the Game has Changed

In the 1950’s (1950-59), Robin Roberts won 199 games and threw 3,011 2/3 innings – an average of 301 innings pitched per season.

I’d like to go a little deeper for a tidbit/question in this category. Hall of Famer Steve Carlton started 14 of the 15 Phillies’ Opening Day games from 1972 through 1986. The one year he missed cost him the record for both overall consecutive Opening Day starts and consecutive Opening Day starts for the same team. Who was the pitcher who interrupted Carlton’s streak? 

In 1976, Jim Kaat (like Carlton, a lefty and future Hall of Famer) got the Opening Day nod from the Phillies. Kaat, at the time, was a three-time 20-game winner, and an All Star for the White Sox the year before (he had been traded to the Phillies in December of 1975).   For those who may be wondering whether Carlton’s health played an issue in Kaat’s Opening Day start, Carlton started the second game of the season and went on to a 20-7 record in 35 starts.

Oh, one other tidbit, Tom Seaver holds the record for total opening day starts with sixteen – 11 for the Mets, three for the Reds and two for the White Sox. Seaver recorded seven wins, two losses and seven no decisions on Opening Day,

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Just A chart for your entertainment.

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TOSSING YOU A CURVE ON THIS ONE

What pitcher holds the mark for the most strikeouts in an Opening Day game? Answer: Camilo Pascual.

This is a bit of a unicorn, as Pascual’s 15 strikeouts on Opening Day 1960 have never been matched. (Three players have fallen just one short of the total: Randy Johnson (twice – 1963 & 1996, Mariners); Don Drysdale (1960 Dodgers); and Shane Bieber 2020 Indians).

On April 18, 1960, Pascual (known for his sweeping curve ball) took the mound at Griffith Stadium for the Washington Senators (against the Boston Red Sox). In 1959, the Senators had finished in last place in the AL, but Pascual had gone 17-10, 2.64, leading the league with 17 complete games and six shutouts. As the Senators’ Opening Day starter in 1960, Pascual picked up right where he left off – tossing a complete game three-hitter, walking three and striking out a still Opening Day record 15 batters in a 10-1 win over the Red Sox. It was one of two 15-whiff games in his career.

Pascual pitched 18 MLB seasons (1954-71), winning 174 and losing 170, with a 3.63 earned run average. He was a five-time All Star, two-time twenty-game winner and led the league in complete games, shutouts and strikeouts three times each.

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WALK DON’T RUN

Can you name the pitcher who holds the record for the most walks surrendered in an Opening day game (11)?  Hint, despite the 11 free passes, the opposition only scored three runs (two earned) off him in 11 innings. Answer: Herb Score.

On April 16, 1957, Cleveland southpaw Herb Score set the Opening Day record for pitcher’s walks, delivering eleven free passes to the visiting White Sox.  Despite Score’s wildness, it was a close contest, with Score going the distance in a 3-2, 11-inning loss.  Score struck out ten and gave up just seven hits and two earned runs – stranding 14 Chicago base runners.

Score was the 1955 AL Rookie of the Year, when the 22-year-old lefty went 16-10. 2.85 and led the league in strikeouts with 245.  In 1956, he was even better, going 20-9, 2.53 and again topping the league in whiffs (263). His 1957 season ended on May 7, when he was it in the face by a line drive off the bat of Yankee Gil McDougald.  Score suffered a broken nose, as well as damage to is right cheek bone and right eye.  He was hospitalized for about three weeks and did not return to the mound that season.

Score came back in 1958, but suffered an elbow injury early in the season (some wondered if he had changed his delivery after the McDougald incident, but Score denied that – and had been pitching well to that point). At any rate,  from 1958 until he retired in 1962, Score was 17-26, 4.43.

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A PAINFUL WAY TO START THE SEASON

On April 9, 1990, Astros’ first baseman and cleanup hitter Glenn Davis was hit by a pitch an Opening Day record three times. Davis came to the plate six times and never put the ball in play – but still made only one out.  Davis (who led the league in HBP that season with eight) was hit by a pitch three times, walked twice and struck out once as the Astros lost to the visiting Reds 8-4.  Davis finished Opening Day with a batting average of .000, but an on-base percentage of .833.

Second Inning – Davis, leading off, HBP (on 1-0 count) from Tom Browning;

Third Inning – Davis (one out, none on) hit by a 2-2 pitch from Browning;

Fifth Inning – Five-pitch walk off Tim Layana;

Seventh Inning – Davis fans on three pitches from Norm Charlton;

Ninth Inning: Runner on second two out, Davis intentionally walked by Rob Dibble (score tied at four);

Eleventh Inning: Davis hit by pitch (one out, one on) on a 2-2 pitch from Randy Myers.

Davis played 10 MLB seasons (1984-93), hitting .259, with 190 home runs and 603 RBI.  He was hit by a pitch 55 times.

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OPENING DAY STARTS – GIMME FIVE!

Gaylord Perry ten scoreless innings in relief (seven hits. one walk, nine whiffs).

Gaylord Perry was honored by the most teams with Opening Day starts. He started on Opening Day for an MLB-record five different teams:

  • Giants (1970)
  • Indians (1972 through 1975)
  • Rangers (1976)
  • Padres (1978-79)
  • Mariners (1983)

Perry pitched in 22 MLB seasons (1962-83 … Giants, Indians, Rangers, Padres, Yankees, Braves, Mariners, Royals. He went 314-265, 3.11, with won two Cy Young Awards, led his league in wins three times, wining 20+ games in five seasons.

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THE LONGEST DAY– 15 SHUTOUT INNINGS

On April 13, 1926, the Senators’ Walter Johnson pitched a 15-inning, complete-game shutout (six hits, three walks, nine strikeouts) as Washington topped the Philadelphia Athletics 1-0 in Washington.  The opposing starter, Eddie Rommel tossed the second-most innings in an Opening Day appearance – going 14 1/3, as Washington scored the winning run with one out in the 15th.  Johnson, by the way, was 38-years-old at the time.

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YOU CAN’T TOUCH THIS

Jimmy Key holds the record for Opening Day wins without a loss at seven – and he did in the minimum seven starts (Blue Jays, Yankees and Orioles). In those seven wins, he threw 44 1/3 innings, with a 3.05 ERA.

Key played in 15 MLB seasons (1984-98 … Blue Jays, Yankees, Orioles), going 186-117, 3.51. He was a five-time All Star and won 15 or more games in five seasons.

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BRINGING THE BOYS HOME SWEET HOME

The Opening Day single-game record for RBI (seven) is shared by the Twins’ Brant Alyea and the Cubs’ Corey Patterson.

On April 7, 1970 – in his very first game as a Twin – LF Brant Alyea drove in an Opening Day record seven runs as Minnesota topped the White Sox 12-0 in Chicago. Batting fifth, Alyea went four-for-four, with two home runs, two singles and two runs scored.  The game, it turned out, would foreshadow a strong April for Alyea.  In 17 April games, he hit .415, with seven runs, 23 RBI, four doubles and five home runs.

On March 31, 2003, the Cubs’ CF Corey Patterson tied Alyea’s record. In a 15-2 win over the Mets in New York, Patterson, batting seventh, drove in seven runs, going four-for-six with two home runs and two runs scored.  Patterson, a career .252 hitter (12 seasons), was a true Opening Day All Star. In seven Opening Day appearances, Patterson hit .440, with seven runs, 12 RBI and three home runs.

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EIGHT IS ENOUGH

Eight is a career magic number for Opening Day. Frank Robinson, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Adam Dunn share the career record for Opening Day home runs with eight each.  Robinsons were all hit in one-homer games, giving him the record for the most Opening Days with a home run.

 

—-BBRT KINGS OF OPENING DAY – IN THE BATTER’S BOX AND ON THE MOUND—- 

 

Photo by wild mercury

Perhaps no one looked forward to Opening Day more than Ted Williams – the king of the Opening Day batter’s box.  A career .344 hitter, Williams was even better on Opening Day.  Teddy Ballgame played in fourteen “Openers” and was never held without a hit.  He compiled a .449 Opening Day average (22 hits in 49 at bats), with three home runs, eight doubles, one triple, nine runs scored, 14 RBI and eleven walks.  His Opening Day on-base percentage was .550 and his season-opener slugging percentage was .837.

 

Photo by pingnews.com

The Washington Senators’ Walter Johnson can be crowned king of the Opening Day hill.  On his first-ever Opening Day start (April 14, 1910), the 22-year-old Johnson tossed a 3-0 one-hit shutout against the Philadelphia Athletics.  Sixteen years (and 13 Opening Day starts) later, a 38-year-old Johnson fulfilled his last Opening Day assignment with a 15-inning, complete-game, 1-0 win (6 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts) over the A’s.  Johnson holds the record for Opening Day pitching victories with nine and shutouts with seven.

 

 

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

 

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Double Play Oddity – When Mets’ Infielders Joe Torre ands Felix Millan Became MLB’s Top DP Combo https://baseballroundtable.com/double-play-oddity-when-mets-infielders-joe-torre-ands-felix-millan-became-mlbs-top-dp-combo/ https://baseballroundtable.com/double-play-oddity-when-mets-infielders-joe-torre-ands-felix-millan-became-mlbs-top-dp-combo/#respond Sun, 03 Mar 2024 21:31:02 +0000 https://baseballroundtable.com/?p=16735 On July 21, 1975, Mets’ infielders Felix Millan (2B) and Joe Torre (1B) became a record-setting double play combination – but that was not necessarily a good thing. In 6-2 loss to the Astros in New York, Millan went four-for-four (four singles) and each time was forced at second base, as Torre grounded into four […]

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On July 21, 1975, Mets’ infielders Felix Millan (2B) and Joe Torre (1B) became a record-setting double play combination – but that was not necessarily a good thing.

In 6-2 loss to the Astros in New York, Millan went four-for-four (four singles) and each time was forced at second base, as Torre grounded into four double plays in his four plate appearances. Plenty of unicorns here. By grounding into four twin killings, Torre became the first (and still only) National League player to ground into four double plays in a game. (The only other MLB player to “accomplish” this feat is Tigers’ LF Goose Goslin, who grounded not four twin killings as the Tigers topped the Indians 4-1 on April 28, 1934.)  The Millan/Torre combination also  became the first (and still only) MLB combo to be partners on wrong end of a double play four times in a game. Further, Astros’ starter Ken Frosch, who went the distance (11 hits, two runs, one walk, two strikeouts) became the first (and still only) pitcher to induce the same batter to hit into four double plays  in a game. That day, by the way, Millan was batting second and playing second base for the Mets, while Torre was batting third and playing third base (nice symmetry there).  Side note: Some of this could possibly change as Negro League game stats from 1920-48 are further documented and incorporated into the MLB record book.  

Here’s the Millan/Torre story:

  • In the bottom of the first, already trailing 2-0, Millan singled with one out. Torre followed by hitting into an inning-ending double play – Forsch to second baseman Larry Milbourne to first baseman Bob Watson.
  • In the third frame, with the Mets down 5-1, Millan singled with one out and one on. Torre followed by grounding into an inning-ending shortstop Roger Metzger to Milbourne to Watson DP.
  • In the sixth frame, Millan led off with his third one-bagger of the day. This time, Torre hit into a Melbourne to Metzger to Watson twin killing.
  • In the seventh, Millan punched another single (with one man on). Torre followed by grounding into a Metzger to Milbourne to Watson double play.

Double Whammy

Nice coincidence. Torre and Millan each had a consecutive double consonant in their last names. In the game, seven players with a double consonant in their last name (Torre, Millan, Greg Gross, Enos Cabell, Mike Phillips, Hank Webb and Jack Heidemann) took the field.  Also in the game was the double-voweled Ed Kranepoole. Honorable mentions go out to first name, double-consonant players that game (Cliff Johnson, Larry Milbourne and Jerry Grote).

That season, Torre grounded into 22 double plays – second most in the NL. During his 18-year MLB playing career, Torre led the NL in GIDP three times. His final stat line was .297-252-1,185 in 2,209 games.

A few double- play tidbits.

  • Albert Pujols holds the career record for GIDP at 426 (Over 22 seasons (He led the league in GIDP four times.)
  • Miguel Tejada led the league in GIDP he most times in MLB history (five – 2004-06, Orioles and 2008-09, Astros).
  • Jim Rice holds the record for most GIDP in a season at 36 (1984 Red Sox).

As always, when Baseball Roundtable begin looking a topic “one thing seemed to lead to another.”  This led me to the MLB career of Ron Wright.

RON WRIGHT.  Three at bats – six outs – and done

Attitude is everything – and we could all learn a lot from Ron Wright, a one-time MLB prospect who calls his one-game major-league career “the best day of my professional life,” despite the fact that he missed, hit and ran his way into six outs in only three at bats (and a total of nine pitches). Starting his first – and only – game after being called up in April 2002 by the Mariners, Wright began his MLB career by striking out with two on in the second inning – and it was all downhill from there. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Wright’s day went like this:

Second Inning: With Ruben Sierra on second and John Olerud on first, Wright – who started at DH, batting seventh – took a called third strike (on an 0-2 pitch) from Rangers’ starter Kenny Rogers.

Fourth Inning: With Sierra on third and Olerud on first, Wright  hit a grounder to Rogers (on a 2-2 pitch), who threw to SS Alex Rodriguez at second for the force. Sierra, who had broken for home, was caught in a SS-C-3B-P rundown for a second out, and Wright who tried to take second during the run down was thrown out P-2B.  An unusual triple play.

Sixth inning: Again up with both Sierra and Olerud on base (second and first, respectively), Wright hit the first offering from Rogers  into a more traditional short-to-second-to first double play.

Seventh Inning: Up again with Sierra and Olerud on base (first and third) with one out, Mike McLemore pinch hit for Wright (ending Wright’s MLB stat line).  McLemore, by the way, struck out.

The Mariners trailing 5-1 after six frames, came back to win the game 9-7.

RON WRIGHT HITS/RUNS INTO A TRIPLE PLAY

 

Wright went back down to the minors before getting another MLB at bat and never made it back. (He did hit .273 with 15 HRs for Tacoma in 2002).  So, his major-league career consisted of three at bats, nine pitches and six outs – strikeout, triple play, double play.  For The Roundtable, the key words are major-league. Ron Wright made it to The Show.

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

Baseball Roundtable – Blogging Baseball Since 2012.

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

Baseball Roundtable is also on the Anytime Baseball Supply Top 66 Baseball Sites list.  For the full list, click here

I tweet (on X) baseball @DavidBaseballRT

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

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Why I Love the National Pastime https://baseballroundtable.com/why-i-love-the-national-pastime/ Mon, 26 Feb 2024 14:23:56 +0000 https://baseballroundtable.com/?p=16731 With Spring Training Games in full swing and the 2024 MLB season just around then corner, it seems a good time to again  reflect on ten reasons why I love this game.   Baseball comes along every spring, accompanied by sunshine and optimism. Baseball is the harbinger of better times.  It signifies the end of […]

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With Spring Training Games in full swing and the 2024 MLB season just around then corner, it seems a good time to again  reflect on ten reasons why I love this game.

Opening Day … A Gift Waiting to be Opened!

 

  1. Baseball comes along every spring, accompanied by sunshine and optimism.

Baseball is the harbinger of better times.  It signifies the end of winter (not a small thing if you’re from Minnesota) and the coming of spring, a season of rebirth, new life and abundant optimism.   Each season, you start with a clean slate.   Last year’s successes can still be savored but last year’s failures can be set aside (although rival fans may try to refresh your memory), replaced by hope and anticipation.   On Opening Day, in our hearts, we can all be in contention.

 

  1. Baseball is timeless and, ultimately, fair in the offering of opportunity.

The clock doesn’t run out.  No matter what the score, your team gets its 27 outs and an equal opportunity to secure victory.  What could be more fair?  And then there is the prospect of “extra” innings, bonus baseball for FREE.

 

  1. Plays and players are distinct (in space and time).

Baseball, while a game of inches, is also a game of considerable space.   The players are not gathered along an offensive line or elbow-to-elbow under a basket. They are widely spaced, each with his own area of responsibility and each acting (as part of a continuing play) in their own time frame.  (On a groundout, for example, the first baseman can’t catch the ball until after the shortstop throws it.)   This enables fans to follow, understand and analyze each play (maybe not always accurately) in detail.   And, baseball’s distinct spacing and timing makes it possible to see the game even when you are not there.  A lot of people grinned at President Gerald Ford’s comment that he “watched a lot of baseball on the radio.”  In my view, he was spot on.  You can see baseball on the radio – you can create a “visual” of the game in your mind with minimal description.    That’s why on summer nights, in parks, backyards and garages across the country, you’ll find radios tuned to the national past time.

 

  1. The scorecard.

Scorecards piling up.

Can there be anything more satisfying than keeping an accurate scorecard at the ball park?  It serves so many purposes.  The keeping of a scorecard ensures your attention to the happenings on the field.  Maintaining the score card also makes you, in a way understandable only to fellow fans, more a part of the game.   That magical combination of names, numbers and symbols also enables you to go back and check the progress of the game at any time.  “Oh, Johnson’s up next.  He’s walked and grounded out twice.”  It’s also a conversation starter, when the fan in the row behind you asks, “How many strikeouts does Ryan have today?”   And, it leaves you (if you choose to keep it) with a permanent record of the game, allowing you to replay it in your mind (or share it with others) at will.  Ultimately, a well-kept score card enhances the game experience and offers a true post-game sense of accomplishment.

 

  1. The long season.

Baseball, as so many have pointed out, is a marathon rather than a sprint.  It’s a long season with ample opportunity to prove yourself and lots of chances to redeem yourself.  For fans, the long season also represents a test of your passion for the game.  Endurance is part of the nature of the true baseball fan.  And, and in the end, the rigors of a 162-game season prove your mettle and that of your team.   Not only that, but like a true friend … baseball is there for you every day.

 

  1. The pace of the game invites contemplation.

Although the relatively new pitch clock has altered this perception a bit, baseball still offers a “pace of game” that invites contemplation. Between innings, between batters, during pitching changes, sometimes even during a plate appearance, baseball leaves us time to contemplate what just occurred, speculate on what might happen next and even share those thoughts with nearby spectators.  Baseball is indeed a thinking person’s game.

 

  1. Baseball invites, encourages, even demands, conversation.

Reason number six hinted at the importance of conversation, noting that the pace of the game offers time to contemplate the action (past and future) and share those thoughts with others.   I love that about the game, but I also love the fact that whenever baseball fans gather, their passion comes out in conversation – and they find plenty to talk about:

  • Statistics, statistics, statistics. Baseball and its fans will count anything.  Did you know that Yankee Jim Bouton’s hat flew off 37 times in his 2-1, complete-game victory over the Cardinals in game three of the 1964 World Series?  More seriously, statistics are part of a common language and shared passion that bring baseball fans together in spirited conversation.  As best-selling author Pat Conroy observed “Baseball fans love numbers.  They love to swirl them around in their mouths like Bordeaux wine.”  I agree, to the fan, statistics are intoxicating.
  • Stories, stories, stories. Baseball and its fans celebrate the game’s history.  And, I’m not talking just about statistics.  I’m also talking about the stories that give this great game color, character and characters – from Rube Waddell’s zaniness to Joe DiMaggio’s elegance or from Rickey Henderson’s baserunning bravado to Hamon Killibrew’s stoic power.  And, there also are moments in time that mark hardball history, like Ty Cobb sharpening his spikes on the dugout steps, Babe Ruth’s called shot, Willie Mays’ basket catch, Dock Ellis’ LSD-fueled no-hitter.
  • Trivia, trivia, trivia. This may fall close to the “stories, stories, stories” category, but fans cherish the trivia that surrounds our national past time – whether that trivia is iconic or ironic.  For example, it’s ironic that iconic Yankee slugger Babe Ruth holds the best winning percentage against the Yankees of any pitcher with 15 or more decision against them (17-5, .773) or that the Bambino stole home more times than base-stealing icon Ricky Henderson.

Basically, I took a long time to say I love the fact that baseball fans will talk with passion about something that happened in today’s game, yesterday’s game, over time or even in a game that took place on August 4, 1947.  And, as a bonus, all this conversation – all the statistics, stories and trivia – make the games, moments within the games and the characters of the game (heroes, goats and mere participants) as timeless as baseball itself.

 

  1. The box score.

Today’s box score – a thing of beauty.

My mother used to refer to an accordion as “an orchestra in a box.”  That’s how I view the daily box score – the symphony of a game recorded in a space one-column wide by four inches deep.   Some would say the box score reduces the game to statistics, I would say it elevates the game to history.  What do you want to know about the contest?   Who played where, when?  At bats, hits, stolen bases, strikeouts, errors, caught stealing, time, attendance, even the umpires’ names?   It’s all there and more – so much information, captured for baseball fans in a compact and orderly space.  I am, of course, dating myself here, but during baseball season, the morning newspaper, through its box scores, is a treasure trove of information for baseball fans.

 

 

 

  1. The irony of a team game made up of individual performances.

While baseball and baseball fans live for individual statistics and, while the spacing of the players drives individual accountability, the game is, ironically, deeply dependent on the concept of “team.”

Consider the offense.  Unlike other sports, where you can deliver victory by giving the ball or puck – time and time again (particularly as the clock runs down) – to your best runner, skater, receiver or shooter, in baseball, your line-up determines who will be “on the spot” and at the plate when the game is on the line.  It may be your .220-hitting second basemen, rather than your .320-hitting outfielder.  Yet, even as the team depends on the hitter, he is totally alone in his individual battle with the pitcher.  And, achieving individual statistics that signify exceptional performance also demands a sense of team.  You don’t score 100 runs without a team mate to drive you in (although the statistic remains your measure of performance) …  and, you don’t drive in 100 runs if no one gets on base in front of you.   And, can you think of any other sport that keeps track of – and honors – the team-oriented “sacrifice.”

On defense, the story is the same.  A ground ball pitcher, for example, needs a good infield behind him to optimize his statistical presence in the “win” column.  And the six-four-three double play requires masterful teamwork as well as individual performance – duly recorded in the record books as an assist for the shortstop, a putout and an assist for the second baseman and a put out for the first baseman.  Then there is the outfield assist – a perfect throw from a right fielder to nail a runner at third earns an assist and the third baseman a putout.

Ultimately, baseball is a game of individual accomplishments that must be connected by the thread of “team” to produce a positive outcome.

 

  1. Baseball’s assault on the senses. (Indoor ballparks fall a bit short here).

The sight of a blue sky and bright sun above the ballpark or a full moon over a black sky above a well-lit stadium.  The feel of the warm sun or a crisp evening breeze.  The scent of freshly mowed grass or steaming hot dogs.  The taste of cold beer and peanuts.  The sound of the crack of the bat, the cheers (or moans) of the crowd, the musical pitch of the vendors.  Baseball assaults all the senses ― in a good way.

 

Now, I could go on and on, there are lots more reasons to love this game:

  • Its combination of conformity (all infields are laid out the same) and individualism (outfield configurations not so much);
  • Its contributions to culture (literature and movies);
  • Its strategy (hit-and-run, run-and-hit, sacrifice bunts, infield / outfield positioning, pitching changes, etc.);
  • Triples;
  • The 6-4-3 double play;
  • Knuckleballs; and
  • More.

But to protect myself – and you readers – I’ve limited myself to ten.   I probably could have saved a lot of time and words had I just started with this so-perfect comment from sportscaster Bryant Gumbel, “The other sports are just sports.  Baseball is love.”  That says it all.

 

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10K Games and Shutouts … Youth Will Be Served and Old Guys Rule – or a Tale of Two Nolans https://baseballroundtable.com/10k-games-and-shutouts-youth-will-be-served-and-old-guys-rule-or-a-tale-of-two-nolans/ Tue, 20 Feb 2024 14:31:36 +0000 https://baseballroundtable.com/?p=16717 From Bob Feller to Nolan Ryan and Joey Jay to Jamie Moyer, Baseball Roundtable looks t some mound accomplishments for the “ages,” as I wait for the first Spring Training box scores. YOUTH WILL BE SERVED Youth was never served (on the diamond) quite like it was for hard-throwing teenager Bob Feller.  As the chart […]

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From Bob Feller to Nolan Ryan and Joey Jay to Jamie Moyer, Baseball Roundtable looks t some mound accomplishments for the “ages,” as I wait for the first Spring Training box scores.

YOUTH WILL BE SERVED

Youth was never served (on the diamond) quite like it was for hard-throwing teenager Bob Feller.  As the chart below shows, if you make a list of the youngest pitchers to fan ten or more batters in an MLB game, Bob Feller holds the first nine positions.

How remarkable was “Feller’s Feat” at the time?  Consider that, in Feller’s rookie season, MLB pitchers averaged 3.5 strikeouts per nine innings and there were only 24 double-digit strikeout games notched by MLB pitchers. Feller, who had yet to graduate from high school, had four of them.  By comparison, in 2023 there were an average of 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings and there were 225 games in which a pitcher recorded ten or more whiffs.

Note:  For this post, Baseball Roundtable is using Modern Era (post-1900) National League and American League statistics.  An explanation of the reasoning behind that decision can be found at the end of this post.

Photo: 2003 Topps All Time Favorites

 

Feller’s four double-digit-strikeout games in 1936 were second only to the six by Van Lingle Mungo (gotta love that name) of the Dodgers. Mungo, however, had 37 starts that season, while Feller (who made his first start on August 23) had just eight. (In his first start, Feller threw a complete game, in a 4-1 win over the Browns.  He gave up just six hits and one-run, while walking four and fanning 15. He faced 11 batters (including pitchers and pinch hitters) in the game and fanned nine of them at least once.  Before that first start, Feller had pitched in six games, going a total of eight innings, giving up 11 hits and seven runs, walking eight and fanning seven. Starting seemed to agree with him more.

Four weeks and four starts later, Feller fanned 17 Athletics in a Cleveland 5-2 win over Philadelphia – setting (at the time) the American League record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game and tying the MLB mark., (Both since broken.)  Side note:  Intimidation may have played a role in that win.   “Rapid Robert” walked nine and hit a batter in that game, whole giving up just two hits.  For more about Feller, as well as a look at a lineup of batters who fared well against “The Heater from Van Meter,” check out the Bob Feller edition of the Roundtable’s “Who’s You Daddy?” series.  Just click here.

Bob Feller had 51 double-digit strikeout games in his career, 16 before his 20th birthday.

Now, if you go 20 games deep in your look at the youngest pitchers to record ten strikeouts in a game, you’ll find:

  • Bob Feller – ten times;
  • Gary Nolan – five times;
  • Bert Blyleven – twice;
  • Felix Hernandez;
  • Dwight Gooden; and
  • Harry Harper.

Bob Feller threw three no hitters in his MLB career.

Hall of Famer Feller pitched in 18 MLB seasons (1936-41, 1945-56), all for the Indians.  He went 266-162, 3.25 and lead the AL in victories six times and strikeouts seven times. If he hadn’t lost three prime years to military service (WWII), he very likely would be among MLB’s 300-gamer winners.

I’d be remiss here if I didn’t give a shout out to Gary Nolan – the only pitcher other than Feller to crack the top ten list (above). Nolan was a teenage phenom and first-round draft choice (Reds), lucky 13th overall, in 1966. He had won more than 30 games as a high schooler, leading his high school team to three straight league titles. He also led his American Legion team to three state titles and had had games of 23 and 25 strikeouts for the squad.

Photo: Hostess via tradingcarddb.com, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Nolan started his professional career in 1966, going a combined 14-8, 2.58 with 229 strikeouts in 176 innings at Rookie- and A-Ball. In 1967,  about six weeks before his 19th birthday, he made his MLB debut in a start for the Reds (versus the Astros) in Cincinnati.  His first MLB inning went: SS Sonny Jackson (strikeout); RF Jim Landis (strikeout): 2B Joe Morgan (walk); CF Jimmy Wynn (strikeout). Nolan got the win, going 7 1/3 innings, (six hits, three runs, two walks, eight whiffs), as the Reds prevailed 7-3.  In his very next outing, he made the double-digit strikeout list.  Facing the Dodgers in Los Angeles, Nolan got a no-decision, going nine innings, giving up eight hits and one run, while walking two and fanning 12.  Over the course of his rookie season, he would record one fifteen-strikeout game, three twelve-whiff games and one ten-strikeout contest.

Say Hey, Willie

On June 7 of his rookie season, Gary Nolan notched 15 whiffs in 7 2/3 innings of a 4-3 Reds’  loss to the Giants. Nolan left with the game tied at 3-3.  At that point, he had faced Giants’ star Willie Mays four times in the game and fanned him four times. (One of just four, four-whiff games in Mays’ career.)

Nolan finished his rookie season at 14-8, 2,58, with 206 strikeouts in 226 2/3 innings.  Since 1901, only Dwight Gooden (276) and Bob Feller (240) have fanned more batters in a “teenage” season.  For those who like to know such things,  Amos Rusie holds the All-time record for strikeouts in a teenage season at 341 (in 548 2.3 innings) for the 1890 Giants.

 Nolan, who faced arm and shoulder issues during his career, pitched in ten MLB seasons (1967-73, 1975-77), almost all with the Reds  (245 appearances with the Reds, five with the Angels).  He went 110-70, 3.08, with 1,039 strikeouts in 1,674 2/3 innings.  He was an All star in 1972, when he went 15-5, 1.99 in 25 starts. Ironically, his highest strikeout ratio (8.2 per nine innings) came in his rookie season. (Nolan did suffer a shoulder injury the following spring.)  Over his career, he had four seasons of 15 or more wins.

OLD GUYS RULE

When you look at the oldest hurlers with ten-strikeout games, as you might expect Nolan Ryan (here’s that second Nolan, mentioned in the header) and Randy Johnson dominate the chart. Ryan has seven of the top ten spots, and is the only MLB pitcher with a ten-whiff game after his 45th birthday.  Johnson’s last double-digit strikeout game came 18 days before his 45th birthday. For the Nolan Ryan edition of “Who’s Your Daddy?,” click here.  For Randy Johnson, click here.

You have to go down to number 13 before you find anyone not named Ryan or Johnson on this “Old Guys Rule” list – and that would be Gaylord Perry, with an 11-tsrikeout game at age 43 years-243 days.

Looking at the top twenty, you would see:

  • Nolan Ryan – 14 times,
  • Randy Johnson – four times; and
  • Gaylord Perry – twice.

I went all the way down to number 50 and found:

  • Nolan Ryan – 34 times
  • Randy Johnson – seven times;
  • Roger Clemens – four times;
  • Gaylord Perry – twice;
  • Rich Hill;
  • Steve Carlton; and
  • Johnny Niggerling.

Johnny Niggeling, the least familiar name on this list, tossed a 13-inning, 12-strikeout game for the Washington Senators on June 15, 1945 – at the age of 41 years-340 days (which puts him at 48 in the top 50). He gave up nine hits, two walks and four runs in a 4-4 tie with the Red Sox.   Knuckleballer Niggeling made his MLB debut at age 34, in his ninth professional season. He went on to pitch in nine MLB seasons (1938-46 … Senators, Browns, Reds, Braves) and went 64-69, 3.22. He had just five double-digit strikeout games – four of them after his 40th birthday.

Nolan Ryan had 215 double-digit strikeout games (the MLB record), with 53 after turning forty.  Randy  Johnson had 212 double-digit whiff contests, with 23 after turning 40.

 Of course, with Baseball Roundtable #OneTningAlwaysLeadsToAnother.

Delving into the youngest and oldest pitchers to record double-digit strikeout games, led me to consider the youngest and oldest pitcher to record a shutout.

Youngest Pitchers to Throw an MLB Shutout

 

Photo: 1958 Topps

The Youngest pitcher to throw a (Modern Era) shutout is the Reds’ Joe (we called him J0ey) Jay at 18 years-36 days of age.  Jay was signed right out of high school by the Braves in 1953 and (under the bonus rule of the time) because of the amount of his bonus had to be kept on the Brave’s major-league roster for at least two seasons or be exposed to the waiver wire. The youngster (players in his situations were often referred to as “bonus babies”) rode the bench most of the season.  As of mid-September, he had made just one MLB appearance – two-innings of scoreless relief in a 10-0 Braves loss to the Phillies on July 21.  On September 20, with the pennant race pretty much resolved, the Braves gave the teenager his second MLB appearance and his first start. He responded with a seven-inning (rain-shortened, but official) shutout – becoming the youngest MLB pitcher in the Modern Era to complete a whitewashing.  As you might expect the “bonus baby” rule somewhat dampened Jay’s development.  In 1953-54, he appeared in just 18 games (two starts) and went 2-0, 4.18. In 1955-57, Jay spent most of his time in the minor leagues and a 17-10, 3.31 record at Triple-A Wichita in 1957 set him up for a full-time return to the majors in 1958. Jay went on to complete a 13-season MLB career (1953-55, 1957-66 … Braves, Reds), going 99-91, 3.77. For the Reds, he went 21-10, 3.53 in 1961 (his lone All-Star campaign) and 21-14, 3.76 in 1962.

 

Joey Jay was he first former Little Leaguer to make the major leagues.

The youngest player to throw nine-inning shutouts was Lew Krausse, Jr. of the 1961 Kansas City Athletics.

Lew Krausse, Jr.’s father, Lew Krausse, Sr.,  pitched for the Athletics in 1931 and 1932, going 5-1, 4.50. It was Krausse Senior who signed Krausse Junior to his MLB contract.

Krausse Jr.  went straight from high school to the majors.  In his first professional mound appearance (ten days after his high school graduation) on June 16, 1961, Krausse pitched three-hit shutout over the Angels.  He finished that season at 2-5, 4.85 in 12 appearances (eight starts).

Graduating With Honors

Research by Society for American Baseball Research member Larry DeFillipo shows that in his last two high school seasons, Lew Krause, Jr. went 13-1, 0.09, fanning just over 20 hitters per nine innings. (And yes, that ERA is 0.09.)

Control issues and elbow surgery delayed Krause’s MLB progress and it wasn’t until 1966 that he found a full-time spot on the A’s staff, going 14-9, 2.99. He ultimately pitched in 12 MLB seasons (Athletics, Brewers, Red Sox, Cardinals, Braves), going 68-91. 4.00

There have been (since 1901) 57 shutouts thrown by teenagers, just nine of those by 18-year-olds. Of those nine, only Von McDaniel and Gary Nolan have two shutouts as 18-year-olds.

The leaders in shutouts before a twentieth birthday:

Smokey Joe Wood – five;

Gary Nolan – five;

Pete Schneider – three;

Dwight Gooden – three;

Oldest MLB Pitcher (Modern Era) to Throw a Shutout

Photo: Chamber of Fear on Flickr (Original version)  UCinternational (Crop), CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Jamie Moyer threw his first MLB shutout for the Cubs (a a 24-yer-old) on August 16, 1986. Twenty-four seasons later, on May 7, 2010, while with Phillies, he shutout the Braves in a 7-0 win in Philadelphia.  At 47 years-170 days of age, it made him the oldest pitcher to record an MLB shutout (Modern Era).  Moyer, by the way, threw only ten shutouts in his 25-season ML:B career (1986-91, 1993-2010, 2013 … Cubs, Rangers, Cardinals, Orioles, Red Sox, Mariners, Phillies, Rockies). Moyer retired with a 269-209, 4.25 record over 696 games (638 starts). He won ten or more games in 15 seasons and was twice a 20-game winner (21-7, 3.27 in 2003 and 20-6, 3.43 in 2001 – both for the Mariners).

There have been 169 shutouts thrown by pitchers forty years old or older.  Here are the leaders:

Cy Young – 15;

Jack Quinn – 12;

Warren Spahn – 12;

Phil Niekro – 11;

Early Wynn – seven;

Nolan Ryan – seven;

Johnny Niggeling – seven; and

Dennis Martinez – seven.

 

Note: This post looks at leaders from the NL and AL in the Modern Era (post-1900) due partially to the availability and reliability of pre-1900 box scores/game logs and player birth dates.  Further, pre-1900 rules changes make 1901 a logical break when looking at pitchers’ performance.  For example, prior to 1888, a walk required, at varying times, nine, eight, six or five errant pitches. Prior to 1893, the pitching distance was notably less than today’s 60’6” (45-feet, 50-feet and 55-feet, six-inches at times). Foul balls began being counted as strikes in the NL in 1901 and the AL in 1903.  

A second note on the charts.  They may change as Negro League game statistics from 1920-48 are further documented and incorporator into the LB record books.

Primary resources: Baseball-Reference.com; Baseball-Almanac.com; The aaseballCube.com

Baseball Roundtable – Blogging Baseball Since 2012.

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The Day Bryce Harper Could Have Left His Hot-Pink Bat in the Dugout … and other On-base Oddities https://baseballroundtable.com/the-day-bryce-harper-could-have-left-his-hot-pink-bat-in-the-dugout-and-other-on-base-oddities/ Sat, 10 Feb 2024 16:37:55 +0000 https://baseballroundtable.com/?p=16705 Well, here are some more Baseball Roundtable musings, as we wait for Spring Training to open. This time it’s rare occurrences and oddities (unicorns, if you will) in some way relate to getting on base or on-base percentage.  I hope you find them interesting and entertaining. Bryce Harper and an Unblemished Hot-Pink Bat It was […]

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Well, here are some more Baseball Roundtable musings, as we wait for Spring Training to open. This time it’s rare occurrences and oddities (unicorns, if you will) in some way relate to getting on base or on-base percentage.  I hope you find them interesting and entertaining.

Bryce Harper and an Unblemished Hot-Pink Bat

Photo: Keith Allison, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

It was Mother’s Day (May 8) 2016 and the Nationals were facing the steaking Cubs at Wrigley Field. (The Cubs were 23-6 and were on a six-game wining streak.)  Bryce Harper was batting in the three-hole and playing right field.

Like most players that day, he was using a special hot-pink Mother’s Day bat.  Little did he know that he would never even swing that stick over the thirteen innings of play that afternoon – or that he was about to become the first (still only) player with seven plate appearances in a game and not a single at bat.  And, to make this more of an MLB unicorn, Harper would reach base in every plate appearance for a 1.000 on-base percentage making him the first (still only) MLB player with seven plate appearances in a game, a 1.000 OBP for the game and not a single at bat.  (Yes, in baseball, we count everything.)

It went like this:

  • First Inning – One on, one out … Four-pitch walk off Cubs’ starter Jake Arrieta;
  • Third Inning – One out, no one on … Five-pitch walk (one called strike) off Arrieta;
  • Fourth Inning –Two runners on, two outs, score knotted 1-1 … Intentional Walk from Arrieta (the only IBB Arrieta would issue all season);
  • Sixth Inning – One on, one out, Nationals up 3-1 … Hit by the first pitch from Trevor Cahill;
  • Eighth Inning – No one on, score tied three apiece … Five-pitch walk from Cahill (one called strike);
  • Tenth Inning – Two on, two out, score still 3-3 … Intentional Walk from Adam Warren;
  • Twelfth Inning – Two on, two out, 3-3 score – Intentional walk from Justin Grimm.

(The Cubbies, by the way, won the game in the bottom of the 13th on a solo, walk-off home run by Javier Baez.

So, Harper came to the plate seven times, got on base seven times, saw 27 pitches (just two strikes) and never swung the bat. In that May 8, 2016 game, Harper also tied the MLB record for the most walks in a game (six).

An In-Post Diversion (more #OneThingLeadsToAnother)

Of the players with six walks in a game only Jimmie Foxx accumulated six walks in just six plate appearances and only Foxx did it in a nine-inning contest.  It happened in a 12-8 Red Sox win over the Saint Louis Browns on June 16, 1938. The Hall of Famer came into the game hitting .350-19-71 over 49 games. (Some places report it at .349.) He finished the season at .349-50-175, leading the league in average and RBI. Over his career, Foxx was a nine-time All Star, Triple Crown winner and three-time MVP.  

In the four-game Nationals/Cubs Series (May 5-8, 2016), Chicago clearly wanted little to do with Harper – no matter what color his bat. In 19 plate appearances, they walked Harper 13 times and hit him once. He ended up with one hit in four at bats for the series (he had a sacrifice fly) – which the Cubs swept.

In his first 12 MLB seasons, Harper, still active, has hit .281-306-889. He was the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year (his age-19 season), going .270-22-59, with 18 steals.  He has been an All Star in seven seasons and he NL Most Valuable Player twice (2015 Nationals & 2021 Phillies).

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As always, at the Baseball roundtable, “one thing seems to lead lead to another.”

The Most Time on Base in A Game (9) – With Ties to a 1.000 On-Base Percentage

Max Carey Photo: Bain News Service, publisher, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Max Carey

On July 7, 1922 – Pirates’ CF Max Carey came to the plate nine times in a Pittsburgh 9-8, 18-inning loss to the Giants (in Pittsburgh). Carey collected six hits (five singles and a double) and drew three walks.  In the process, he set a (still standing) record for times on base in a single game and also set the record for most plate appearances for a batter with a 1.000 on-bae percentage for the game. Carey, a Hall of Famer, played 20 MLB seasons (1910-29 … Pirates, Dodgers) and hit .285-70-802, with 1,545 runs scored and 738 steals.  He led the league in stolen bases ten times.

Stan Hack

On August 9, 1942, in the first game of a Sunday Twin Bill (Remember those?), Cubs’ 3B Stan Hack tied Max Carey’s record for most times on base in a single game (nine) and set the record for the most plate appearances in an MLB game in which the batter had a 1.000 on-base percentage.

Hack came to the plate ten times in a 10-8 Cubs’ 18-inning win over the Reds. He collected five hits (four singles and a double) and drew four walks.  Although he had a 1.000 OBP for the game, unlike Max Carey (above), Hack did not reach base in every plate appearance. He also had a run-scoring sacrifice fly. Hack played 16 MLB seasons (1932-47), all for the Cubs.  He hit .301-57-642, with 1,239 runs scored and 165 steals for his career, hitting .300 or higher in seven seasons. He led the NL in hits in 1940 and 1941.

Johnny Burnett

On July 10, 1932, Indians’ SS Johnny Burnett tied the record for times on base in a single game and did it without the benefit of a single free pass – setting the (still standing) MLB record for base bits in an MLB game at nine. In 11 plate appearances, Burnett collected nine hits (seven singles and two doubles), as the Indians lost to the Athletics 18-17 in 18 innings.

Burnett played nine MLB season seasons (1927-35 … Indians, Browns), hitting .284-9-213. 1932 was one of just two seasons in which he played at least 100 games (129). He went .297-4-53. Over his career, Burnett played 263 games at SS, 132 at 3B, 105 at 2B, one in LF and one in RF. Burnett’s nine-hit game came during a 12-game hitting streak (July 4-14), during which he hit .417 (25-for-60), with 21 singles and four doubles (just two walks).

 

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This Little Piggy Went to First Base – Eight Times

Thanks to some in depth research by Trent McCotter, we know that on June 18, 1893, as the Reds topped the Louisville Colonels 30-12 in Cincinnati, Fred “Piggy” Ward set a record for a nine-inning game by getting on base eight times – and he did it in eight plate appearances.  As McCotter reports. “Although newspaper accounts of the specifics of the game are scant due to Cincinnati scoring 30 runs, all sources agree Ward was two-for-two with five walks and a hit-by-pitch.”  Ward played in six National League seasons (1883, 1889, 1891-94 … Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Washington). He went .286-1-90, with 172 runs scored in 221 games.

 

Most Hits In A Nine Inning Game – Seven

Wilbert Robinson, Baltimore Orioles, June 10, 1892

Photo: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/wilbert-robinson/, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Baltimore Orioles’ catcher Wilbert Robinson seems an unlikely candidate to collect seven hits in a nine-inning game. Robinson was a .273 hitter over 17 MLB seasons (1886-1902).  Coming in to the 1892 season, his career average was .226 and in 1892, he hit .267 for the campaign.

On the day of his seven-hit performance, Robinson was catching and batting eighth in the Orioles’ lineup. The Orioles apparently had on their hitting shoes that day, as they led the St, Lous Browns 25-2 by the end of the sixth inning – eventually winning 25-7.

Robinson’s day:

First Inning – Single; Second Inning – Single; Third Inning – Single; Fourth Inning – Double; Fifth Inning – Single; Seventh Inning – Single; Ninth Inning – Single.

While Robinson scored just one run in the contest, he drove in a (then-record) 11 runs in his seven-hit game.  In his 89 other 1892 appearances, he drove in 35 runs.

Robinson was inducted into to the Baseball Hall of Fame – as a manager – in 1945. In 19 managerial seasons, his teams went 1,399-1,398. He won a pair of pennants (1916 and 1920) with the Brooklyn Robins. As a player, Robinson hit .273-18-722, with 637 runs scored and 196 stolen bases over 17 seasons (1,371 games).

Picking Up The Pace

In the first six years of his MLB career (1886-91, with the Philadelphia Athletics and Baltimore Orioles of the American Association), Robinson hit .226-9-205, with 107 steals (in 479 games).  From 1892 through 1902 (Baltimore and St. Louis in the NL and Baltimore in the AL), he hit an even.300, with nine homers and 517 RBI in 892 games. He topped .300 in five of those 11 campaigns.

 

Rennie Stennett, Pittsburgh Pirates – September 16, 1975

Photo: Hostess via tradingcarddb.com, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Wilbert Robinson seven-hit record would stand alone for more than 80 years.  Then on September 16, 1975 – as the Pirates topped the Cubs 22-0 in Chicago – Pittsburgh leadoff hitter and 2B Rennie Stennett would go seven-for-seven. That day, Stennett tied an MLB record by collecting two hits in one inning twice in the same game.

Stennett’s day went:

First Inning – Lead-off double off Rich Reuschel and an RBI single off Tom Dettore. Stennett scored on a single by 3B Richie Hebner and later in the inning on a single by 1B Willie Stargell.

Third Inning – One out Single off Dettore. Stennett scored on a Hebner home run.

Fifth Inning – Leadoff double off Dettore and an RBI-single off Oscar Zamora. Stennett scored a run on a single by CF Al Oliver.

Seventh Inning – Leadoff single off Buddy Schultz, later scoring on a single by RF Dave Parker.

Eighth Inning – Two-out triple off Paul Reuschel.

In the game, Stennett scored five times and drove in two.

Brotherly Love

In Rennie Stennett’s seven-for-seven, nine-inning game, he collected his first hit of the game off Ric Reuschel and his final (and seventh) hit off the game off Paul Reuschel.

Stennett came into the game hitting .279 on the season (138 games).  He raised his average to .287 that day – and would finish the season sat .286-7-62, with 89 runs scored.

Stennett played in 11 MLB seasons (1971-81 … Pirates, Giants), hitting .274-41-432 in 1,237 games. He was signed as an amateur free-agent (out of Panama) in 1969 and called up to the Pirates in 1971, after hitting .344 at Triple- A. He made his MLB debut July 10 and hit .353-over 50 games for the Pirates that season.

Also, a Lucky Seven-for-Seven

The Tigers Cesar Gutierrez also had a seven-for-seven day – on June 21, 1970 against the Indians.  His Lucky Seven came in a 12-ining 9-8 Tigers’ victory.

 

Two Hits In A Single Inning – A Rare Occurrence

In the paragraphs on Rennie Stennett’s seven-hit, nine-inning game, it was  noted that Stennett tied an MLB record with two hits in an inning twice in one game. Statistics from before 1900 can be a bit sketchy, but since 1900, three additional players have officially recorded two hits in an inning twice in a game.  Here they are:

Max Carey, June 22, 1925

On June 22, 1925 – as his Pirates topped the Cardinals 24-6 in St. Louis – CF and leadoff hitter Max Carey went four-for-five with four singles, a walk, a hit by pitch, four runs scored and one RBI.  Carey got his day off to a good start, opening the game with a single off Flint Rhem. Later in the initial inning, with the Pirates already up 6-0, Carey collected a second single off Rhem (knocking him from the game).  In his next at bat, in the third inning, Carey was hit-by-a pitch (Johnny Stuart). Carey then grounded out off Stuart in the fifth and walked off Stuart in the seventh before collecting a pair of singles off Stuart in a ten-run Pirates’ eighth.  Carey’s career numbers have already been discussed earlier in this post.

Johnny Hodapp, July 29, 1928

On July 29, 1928, as the Indians rapped the Yankees 24-6 in Cleveland, Cleveland 3B and cleanup hitter Johnny Hodapp went five-for-seven, with a double, four runs scored and four RBI. In the game, Hodapp collected two hits in the second and sixth innings.

Hodapp led off the second inning with a single off Wilcy Moore and, later in the inning, delivered an RBI single off Hank Johnson (making the score 15-1). The inning ended with Cleveland holding a 17-1 lead.

It quieted down over the next three frames, but – as Cleveland added six runs in the sixth – Hodapp singled off Johnson to open the inning and had a two-out RBI single (off Archie Campbell) to cap the scoring.

Hodapp played nine MLB seasons (1925-27 … Indians, White Sox, Red Sox), going .311-28-429 in 791 games (He played in 100 or more games in just four campaigns, suffering a broken ankle in 1926, knee injury in 1929 and more knee issues in 1931.)  In his final MLB season – for the 1933 Red Sox – at ag 27, Hodapp hit .312-3-54 in 115 games.

A Season In The Sun

In 1930, Johnny Hodapp played in 154 games (19.4 percent his MLB career total) and led the AL in base hits with 225 and doubles with 51, while hitting .354, with nine home runs, 121 RBI and 111 runs scored.   That stellar season represented 25.6 percent of his career MLB hits, 29.4 percent of his runs scored; 28.2 percent of his RBI; 30.2 percent of his doubles; and 32.1 percent of his home runs.

Sherm Lollar   April 23, 1955

Photo: Jay Publishing via tradingcarddb.com, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

On April 23, 1955, as his White Sox drubbed the Athletics 29-6 in Kansas City, Chicago catcher Sherm Lollar, batting eighth, went five-for-six, with two-home runs, a walk, four runs scored and five RBI.  It was a career day for the career .264 hitter.  Lollar also tied an MLB record by collecting two hits in one inning twice in the game. He led off the second inning with a home run off Bobby Shantz and, later that frame, added a two-run single off Lee Wheat (making the score 9-3). He led off the sixth inning (the White Sox were up 16-6 by this time) with a single off Moe Burtschy and, later that inning, added an RBI single off Bob Spicer.  Lollar played 18 MLB seasons (1946-63 … Indians, Yankees, Browns and White Sox). He was an All Star in seven seasons and a three-time Gold Glover.  His final stat line was .264-155-808.

 

Primary Resources for this post:  Baseball-Reference.com; Baseball-Almanac.com; “Consecutive times Reaching Base: Ted Williams Dethroned by an Unlikely Record Holder,” by Trent McCotter, 2006 Baseball Research Journal (Society for American Baseball Research); “June 10, 1892: Seven hits in seven tries for Wilbert Robinson,” by Jimmy Keenan (Society for American Baseball Research).

 

A BASEBALL ROUNDTABLE REQUEST … I COULD USE YOUR INPUT

As some of you may be aware, Facebook recently has removed considerable number of my posts (as far back as 2018) from my own FB Page and from FB pages of baseball-focused groups I belong to. Those posts typically included a synopsis of or highlights from a Baseball Roundtable blog article and a link to the article.  (It is an important method I use to notify fellow baseball fans of new posts.) The links seem to be the issue for Facebook, as Facebook now seems to reject new posts that include a link to the blog site or to a specific article on the blog.  Note: the blog site at baseballroundtable.com is not affected, nor are new post notifications on X (formerly twitter) – just the notification Facebook posts.

I am confident the removals are in error and have appealed the removals multiple times in multiple appeal avenues provide by FB, but have received no reply.  The process is daunting.

To aid in my response, I have developed a brief survey that addresses the FB Guidelines that FB says it “looks like” the removed content violated. Reader responses will help me better understand/appeal/respond to this situation.  The more responses, the better prepared I will be to continue my appeal FB’s actions or correct any issues that surface.

I sincerely appreciate your taking the time to respond. This is the only time I will post the survey link here.  (I will call for responses once more from members of the baseball -focused Facebook groups I post with.)

Note:  The survey is anonymous. I will receive no information regarding any respondents.  Click here to access the survey.

 

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2024 Baseball Roundtable John Paciorek Award … Irv Waldon https://baseballroundtable.com/2024-baseball-roundtable-john-paciorek-award-irv-waldon/ Sat, 03 Feb 2024 16:56:46 +0000 https://baseballroundtable.com/?p=16674 Each year, since 2014, Baseball Roundtable has announced a John Paciorek Award (JPA) honoree. The JPA recognizes players who have had short, sometimes very short, major-league careers, but whose accomplishments, nonetheless, deserve recognition.  Past winners have included:  a player who collected at least one base hit in every MLB game he played; a player whose […]

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Each year, since 2014, Baseball Roundtable has announced a John Paciorek Award (JPA) honoree. The JPA recognizes players who have had short, sometimes very short, major-league careers, but whose accomplishments, nonetheless, deserve recognition.  Past winners have included:  a player who collected at least one base hit in every MLB game he played; a player whose every MLB hit (three in nine career at bats) was a home run;  a player who had only one MLB at bat, but earned  a World Series ring and a Purple Heart;  a war hero who pitched in the majors on one leg; and much more.  There are links to the bios of past honorees later in this post.

(Note: Information on John Paciorek’s career – the inspiration for the JPA – can be found at the end of this post. Paciorek’s day in the sun constitutes arguably the best one-game MLB career ever.)

This year’s John Paciorek Award honoree is 5′-5″, 155-lb. outfielder Irv Waldron, whose MLB career lasted just one season (1901) and who still holds the record for base hits (186), runs scored (102) and total bases (226) by a player who played just one MLB campaign.   In fact in his “first-and-only” major-league season, the “bats-left/throws-right” outfielder led the American League in games, at bats, plate appearances – and finished sixth in times on base and  seventh in total bases

A Leap, But Not Too Far

In 1901, Irv Waldron made his “jump” from the minor leagues to the majors without changing cities, teams or even leagues.

Waldron got a late start on his MLB career making the big leagues with the American League Milwaukee Brewers after after six minor-league campaigns (Pawtucket Phenoms, St. Joseph Saints, Milwaukee Brewers/Creams).  He was pretty comfortable with the AL Brewers.  He had played with the Brewers/Creams in the Western League from 1898-1899) and also as part of the the renamed American League (still a minor league) in 1900.  The AL was designated a major league in 1901, making Waldron’s record-setting “one-and-only” season possible.  In 1900, when the American League was still considered a minor-league, Waldron hit .294 for the Brewers. In 1901, Waldron (in the now major-league American League) was hitting .297 when he was released by the Brewers in early July (July 7) and immediately (July 8) signed by the Senators. As of July 7 , Milwaukee was in last place (22-41) and the Senators were in fifth place (26-26).

Let’s Multi-Task

During the 1901 AL season, Waldron had 56 multi-hit games, including six games of at least four bits. On April 28, in just his fourth MLB game (a Brewers 12-11 loss in Detroit), he collected three singles, two doubles, scored once and drove in three in six at bats. During his lone MLB season, Waldron had three hitting streaks of at least ten games. 

In 1902, Waldron found himself back in A-Ball (Kansas City Blue Stockings of the Western League),  where he hit .322 in 132 games). He played in the minors  for nine seasons after his one MLB year (1902-1906, 1908-11), suiting up for the KC Blue Stockings, San Francisco Seals, Denver Grizzlies, Lincoln Railsplitters, Utica Utes, Scranton Miners and Meridian White Ribbons. Not a lot has been written or documented about Waldron’s quick departure from the majors.  A 2014 article (Why Irv Waldron may have left the majors) by Graham Womack (baseballpastandpresent.com) offers some interesting and plausible insights.  He notes that Waldron did have some defensive issues (third in errors by an outfielder in that 1901 season) and that,  in those early years of baseball, players (even with a “flaw or two”) could often make better money in the minors than in the majors.  There was also that attraction of playing in the sunny West, even if it meant the minor leagues.  Consider 2021 JPA honoree pitcher Henry Schmidt, who, in his lone MLB season (1903), went 22-13 for the NL Brooklyn Superbas (Dodges).  Schmidt then turned down Brooklyn’s contract offer and signed with the Oakland Oaks of the then Class-A Pacific Coast League (becoming the only MLB pitcher whose only major-league season was a 20-win campaign).

More #InBaseballWeCountEverything … Or Sometimes Short Can Be Sweet

Some fun research by Christopher Pellerito shows that with his one-season of 186 hits, Irv Waldron has the third-highest average number of hits per season among MLB players who have finished their careers – trailing  just Kirby Puckett (192.0 hits per season over 12 seasons) and George Sisler (187.5 hits per season over 15 campaigns). Waldron’s 186 outdistances such luminaries as Pete Rose (177.3); Ty Cobb (174,5); and Ichiro Suzuki (171.6).  

Finally, some Baseball Roundtable “one things leads to another.” 

In putting together his post, I came across this tidbit. In Irv Waldron’s first MLB game – on April 25, 1901 – he led off and played RF for the Milwaukee Brewers versus the Tigers in Detroit.  In that game, he was on the field for the greatest ninth-inning comeback in MLB history. Trailing 13-4 in the bottom of the ninth,  the Tigers scored ten runs in the bottom of the inning on ten hits (five doubles), one walk,  one wild pitch and one Milwaukee error.

Primary Resources: baseball-reference.com.

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Here’s a look at – and links to – past JPA Award honorees:

2014 – Brian Scott Dallimore

In his first start (not his first game) for the 2004 Giants, Dallimore had two singles, a Grand Slam (his first MLB hit and only MLB home run), a walk and a hit by pitch.  For the full JPA take on Dallimore’s 27- game MLB career, click here.

2015 – Roy Gleason

Gleason played in just eight MLB games, had a double in his only MLB at bat – but also earned a World Series ring (1963) and a Purple Heart. Ultimately, he was the only ballplayer with MLB experience to serve on the front lines in Vietnam. For the full JPA take on Gleason, click here. Note: Gleason’s life is detailed in the book “Lost in the Sun – Roy Gleason’s Odyssey from the Outfield to the Battlefield.”

2016 – John Allen Miller

Miller played just 32 MLB games (during the 1966 and 1969 seasons), taking the field (at 1B/LF/3B/2B) for the Yankees and Dodgers. Miller collected ten hits in 61 MLB at bats (.164 average) and hit just two home runs – but he made those long balls count – becoming one of just two players in MLB history to homer in their first and final official appearances in a major-league batter’s box. For more on Miller, click here.

2017 – Chris Saenz

RHP Chris Saenz’ big day came on April 24, 2004 – when he was called up from Double-A Huntsville (where he was 1-1, 3.86) to make a spot start against the Saint Louis Cardinals, whose powerful lineup included the likes of Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds and Reggie Sanders.   The rookie went six innings, giving up just two hits, three walks and no runs, while fanning seven. Two days after this debut, he was on his way back to Huntsville, where he suffered an elbow injury and never returned to the majors. Statistics before 1900 can be sketchy, but baseball-reference.com shows that Saenz is the only pitcher to complete a one-game MLB career of at least five innings pitched, without giving up a single run (earned or unearned). For more details on this JPA honoree, click here.

2018 – Keith McDonald

McDonald’s MLB career (Cardinals 2000-2001) covered just eight games and 11 plate appearances (nine at bats) and three hits – but he made them count.  All of McDonald’s safeties were home runs – making him the only MLB player with more than one career hit who can look back on major league career in which his every hit was a home run. .For the full story, click here.

2019 – Harley Hisner

Hisner’s MLB tenure encompassed the day of September 30, 1951. That’s when the 24-year-old righty faced the New York Yankees – and a lineup that included five future Hall of Famers: Mickey Mantle in RF; Joe DiMaggio in CF; Phil Rizzuto at SS; Johnny Mize at 1B; and Yogi Berra behind the plate. In his very first MLB inning, Hisner faced five batters, four of them future Hall of Famers, and gave up two singles and no runs.  His place in history? One of those singles was Joe DiMaggio’s last MLB safety. For more on Hisner and his ongoing involvement in and love of the game (he went on to earn the Northeast Indiana Baseball Association Colin Lister Award for “dedication to the game of baseball and its historic legacy,” click here.

2020 – Bert Shepard

Shepard set aside his baseball mound dreams in 1943 – after four minor-league seasons – to enlist in the U.S. Army, where he became a P-38 Lightning fighter pilot. Shepard was shot down on his 34th combat mission and, while a prisoner of war, his wounds resulted in the amputation of his right leg below the knee.  Upon his release (a prisoner exchange), Shepard did not surrender his dreams and fought his way to the major leagues. He made one major-league appearance (for the Washington Senators), pitching 5 1/3 innings of three-hit, one-run ball.  While Shepard’s MLB career consisted of that sole appearance, he did continue to pitch, coach and manage in minor leagues – and his story proved an inspiration for disabled veterans.  For more of Bert Shepard story, click here.

2021 – Henry Schmidt

Henry Martin Schmidt didn’t make it to the big leagues until eight seasons after his professional (minor-league) debut.  In fact, he was just two months shy of his 30th birthday when he first took the major-league mound.   Why did it take so long?  Simple answer – location.  He had considerable difficulty “locating” his pitches.  While it took a long time for Schmidt to make it to the major leagues, it didn’t take him long to leave MLB. He lasted just one season – and is the only pitcher in MLB history who was a 20-game winner in his only major league season. Why was his MLB career so short? Simple answer – location.  He did not care for the geographic “location” of major-league baseball. For more on Henry Schmidt’s unusual career, click here.

2022 – Karl Spooner

Southpaw Spooner holds a share of the record for strikeouts in an MLB debut (15) and also threw complete-game shutouts in each of his first two starts.  After earning a late September (1954) call-up (to the Dodgers), the 23-year-old rookie was thrown right into the fire – starting on September 26 against the league-leading and Dodgers’ chief rival Giants.  His  27 strikeouts in his first two appearances also remain an MLB record.   A shoulder injury suffered in 1955 Spring Training cut Spooner’s career short. He  didn’t get his first start of the 1955 season until May 15 and finished the season, his last in the major leagues, 8-6, 3.65 in 29 games (14 starts).   Spooner pitched for three more seasons in the minors, but never recaptured 1954 glory.  For the full Karl Spooner story, click here.

2023 – Glenn Williams

Williams had a 13-game major-league career – all in June of 2005 and all with the Minnesota Twins.  Over his 13-games in “The Show,” Williams hit a robust .425 and collected at least one hit in every game he played.  Williams holds the MLB record for the longest MLB career for a player who was never held hitless in any MLB game he appeared in.  For the full Glenn William story, click here.

—–INSPIRATION FOR THE JPA—–

John Paciorek – signed out of Saint Ladislaus High School in Hamtramck, Michigan (where he had starred in football, basketball and baseball) – appeared in his first major-league game on the final day of the 1963 season (September 29) at the age of 18.  The 6’ 1”, 200-pound outfielder had spent the 1963 season with Class-A Modesto Colts. The Colts’ parent club, the Houston Colt .45s (that was the current Astros’ franchise name back then), was suffering through a difficult season. The team was 65-96 going into that final game.  Looking to the future, Houston had, in fact, fielded an all-rookie lineup (average age 19) on September 27. Youth was still being served two days later when John Paciorek started his first MLB game. The results were surprising – and worthy of recognition.

Playing right field and batting seventh in a 13-4 win over the NY Mets, Paciorek ended up with three hits and two walks in five plate appearances, with four runs scored and three runs batted in.  Perhaps equally surprising is that it was not only Paciorek’s first major-league appearance, it was to be his only MLB appearance.  Back pain the following spring, followed by surgery (he played 49 minor league games in 1964 and missed all of the 1965 season), put an end to his MLB playing days. (Paciorek did play in four more minor-league seasons.)  Still, you will find John Paciorek in the Baseball Encyclopedia and his is arguably the greatest one-game MLB career ever.  Among one-gamers, he holds the record for times on base and runs scored, and shares the record for batting average, on base percentage and RBIs.

Paciorek, by the way, went on to become a high school teacher and multi-sport coach and is the author of the books (Plato and Socrates – Baseball’s Wisest Fans;  The Principles of Baseball: And All There Is To Know About Hitting; and If I Knew Then What I Know Now. You also can enjoy Paciorek’s prose (and expertise) at his blog “Paciorek’s Principles of Perfect Practice” by clicking here. You can find out even more about Paciorek in Steven Wagner’s 2015 book Perfect: The Rise and Fall of John Paciorek, Baseball’s Greatest One-Game Wonder.

A final note. John Paciorek’s insight into the national pastime should come as no surprise. Paciorek comes from a true “baseball family.”  He was the first born of eight siblings and was followed to the big leagues by younger brothers Jim and Tom Paciorek.  (Like John, Jim’s MLB career was short – 48 games for the Brewers in 1987. Brother Tom, however, achieved a .282 average over an 18-season MLB career.

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Roundtable Readers versus Baseball Writers – The 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame Results https://baseballroundtable.com/roundtable-readers-versus-baseball-writers-the-2024-baseball-hall-of-fame-results/ Wed, 24 Jan 2024 18:20:53 +0000 https://baseballroundtable.com/?p=16541 The 2024 Baseball Writers of America Baseball Hall of Fame ballots have been announced – and congratulations to Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer – worthy candidates all.  In this post, I’ll be taking a look at the differences (and similarities) between the official BBWAA results and Baseball Roundtable’s unofficial reader/fan balloting.  YOu’ll find […]

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The 2024 Baseball Writers of America Baseball Hall of Fame ballots have been announced – and congratulations to Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer – worthy candidates all.  In this post, I’ll be taking a look at the differences (and similarities) between the official BBWAA results and Baseball Roundtable’s unofficial reader/fan balloting.  YOu’ll find some (handy?) charts at the end of the post.

Spreading Out the Love

The 83 reader respondents and the 385 official BBWAA voters voted for about an equal number of players per ballot.  The writers averaged 7.0 players per ballot, the readers 6.9 (a year ago, those figures were 5.9 and 6.2, respectively). The readers, however, spread out their support a bit more. Among readers 14 of the 26 players on the ballot (53.8%) got at least 20 percent of the vote, as compared to ten (38.5%) for the writers.

Getting that Magic 75 Percent

Among readers, only two players received the 75-percent support required in the BBWAA voting – First-time candidate Adrian Beltre (90.4%) and Todd Helton (79.7% in his sixth year on the ballot). Coming very close were first-timer Joe Mauer (73.5%) and nine-timer Billy Wagner (74.7%.) The most significant difference, of course, was that Mauer got the necessary 75-percent support among the writers, but fell short among Roundtable readers.  In reality, it was not much of a difference.  Mauer got 76.1 percent of the writer vote and 73.5 percent among Roundtable reader respondents. (Two more reader votes would have put him at 75.9%.)

The top four players on both tabulations were: Beltre, Helton, Joe Mauer and Wagner (although Wagner and Mauer finished 3-4 with the writers and flipped to 4-3 for the readers.)

The biggest variable came at number five, where Gary ‘Sheffield got a boost from the writers in his final year on the ballot, going from 55,0% to 63.9, but still falling short. Sheffield finished ninth on the reader voting at 32.5%.

Other notable variations:

  • First-timer Bartolo Colon long a fan favorite, got 21.7 percent of the reader vote to just 1.3 percent from the writers;
  • Chase Utley got 28.8 percent support from the writers, but just 12.5 percent from readers.
  • Matt Holliday fell of the ballot with only 1.0 percent the writers, but got 20.5 percent of the reader vote.

Gainers and Losers

The biggest gainers on the fan ballot were Billy Wagner (up 17.1 percentage points) and Andy Pettitte (up 12.9).  The largest declines were Francisco Rodriguez  (down 30.1 percentage points) and Alex Rodriguez (down 19.8).  Note: Francisco Rodriguez was a bit outlier in 2023, with 42.4 percent in the reader balloting and just 10.8 percent from writers. Things were more aligned in 2023, 7.8 percent  from the writers and 11.3% from the readers.   

In the official BBWAA voting the movement was not as notable.  biggest gainers were Carlos Beltran (up 10.6 percentage points) and Gary Sheffield (up 8.9) while the largest decline was attributed to Andy Pettitte (down 3.5 percentage points).

Off The Ballot

Things were pretty even here.  Eight players receive less than the five percent needed to stay on the official ballot, while seven fell below that mark on the reader ballot. A couple of differences:

  • David Wright made the cut on the writers’ ballot (6.2%), but fell just short on the readers’ poll (4,9);
  • Bartolo Colon, as noted earlier, did well with readers, but  got only 1.3 percent from writers. The same was true of Matt Holliday, with 20.5 percent from readers, just one percent from writers.

Who Missing?

When asked which players no longer on the ballot, they would like to see in the Hall of Fame, readers named 33 different players. Here’s a list of the players mentioned on more than one reader ballot (number of mentions in parentheses).

Barry Bonds (9)

Roger Clemens (9)

Jeff Kent (9)

Lou Whitaker (6)

Pete Rose (5)

Don Mattingly (3)

Mark McGwire (3)

Dick Allen (2)

Dwight Evans (2)

Bobby Grich (2)

Ron Guidry (2)

Keith Hernandez (2)

Thurman Munson (2)

Luis Tiant (2)

Players with one mention: Ken Boyer, Jim Creighton, Bill Dahlen, Rap Dixon, Curt Flood, Steve Garvey, Joe Jackson, Tommy John, Kenny Lofton, Roger Maris, Dale Murphy, Joe Nathan, Al Oliver, Rafael Palmeiro, Dave Parker, Johan Santana, Curt Schilling, Urban Shocker, Sammy Sosa.

Side Note: Still waiting for confirmation, but the winner of the prize drawing was a Pennsylvania reader.  The prize includes a 1990 Topps Set; A 1986 Topps Traded Set; a Bill Murray minor-league (in uniform) bobblehead; a “The Wizard” replica Cardinals’ Nickname Day jersey; and 1960’s Coke and Fresca bottlecaps with Willie Mays and Bill Mazeroski on the inside.

Primary resources:  baseball-reference.com

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An Exercise in Futility – Bad Days in the Batter’s Box https://baseballroundtable.com/an-exercise-in-futility-bad-days-in-the-batters-box/ Sun, 21 Jan 2024 21:59:32 +0000 https://baseballroundtable.com/?p=16522 Most baseball fans are aware of the fact that on May 1, 1920, the Brooklyn Robins and Boston Braves played in MLB’s longest-ever (by innings) MLB game – a 26-inning 1-1 tie in Boston. It’s also well-known that both starting pitchers Joe Oeschger and Leon Cadore “went the distance.”  Those are a couple of records […]

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Most baseball fans are aware of the fact that on May 1, 1920, the Brooklyn Robins and Boston Braves played in MLB’s longest-ever (by innings) MLB game – a 26-inning 1-1 tie in Boston. It’s also well-known that both starting pitchers Joe Oeschger and Leon Cadore “went the distance.”  Those are a couple of records (length of game and length of a pitching appearance), that are pretty much unbreakable.

Photo: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A Good Pick for A tough Day as a “Hitter

As always with Baseball Roundtable “one thing leads to another” and perusing the box score of that Oeschger/Cadore game led to another record that has stood the test of time.  Braves’ 2B Charlie Pick – batting second, did not reach base a single time in eleven plate appearances. That zero-for-eleven represents the MLB record for plate appearances in a game without reaching base, as well as the record for the most times a specific batter was retired by the same in pitcher in the same game (in baseball, we do track everything).   This, of course, was another thing that led to another – and this post will look at some of the most futile days spent in the batter’s box in MLB history.

But first, let’s finish with Charlie Pick.  Pick was no pushover. He came into the game hitting a robust .324 over the Braves’ first nine games of the season. (He would finish the season at .274.) Here’s how his day went:

  • First inning – Pop out to second;
  • Third inning – Foul pop to catcher;
  • Fifth inning – Fly out to RF;
  • Seventh inning – Ground out to pitcher;
  • Ninth inning – Grounded into a second-to-first double play;
  • Twelfth inning – Fly out to CF;
  • Fourteenth inning – Strikeout (looking);
  • Sixteenth inning – Ground out second-to-first;
  • Nineteenth inning – Fly out to RF;
  • Twenty-second inning – Fly out to CF;
  • Twenty-fifth inning – Pop out to shortstop.

Over the course of the game, Pick’s average dropped from .324 to .250.

Pick played in six MLB seasons (1914-16, 1918-20 … Nationals, Athletics, Cubs, Braves), hitting .261-3-86 in 367 games.

Side note: The only other player in the Braves’ lineup that went hitless that day was catcher Mickey O’Neil – and he was pulled for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the ninth after going zero-for-two with a sacrifice bunt.

A Hard Day’s Night

The only other player to record a .000 on-base percentage in eleven plate appearances in a single game is Twins’ shortstop Danny Thompson – and he falls slightly behind Pick here, since Thompson actually got on base once (via a fielder’s choice) and scored a run. On May 12, 1972, Thompson went zero-for-ten, with two strikeouts and one sacrifice in 11 plate appearances, as the Twins fell to the Brewers 4-3 in 22-innings (in Milwaukee).   Side note: Scoring rules on  a fielder’s choice are that the players is not credited with a hit or time on base, but does record  an at bat and plate appearance. )

Thompson’s feat was a bit unique in that it took place over two days. The first 21-innings took the teams into the morning of May 13 and – due to the rule that no inning could start after one a.m., the game was suspended with the score knotted at three apiece.  After a break of just over 12 hours, the game was resumed and the Brewers won it in the very first resumed inning. Unlike the 26-inning Robins/Braves game (above), the two teams used 13 pitchers and Thompson faced five different Brewers’ hurlers (the Brewers used six pitchers).  Fittingly, Thompson made the final out of the game (in the bottom of the twenty-second inning, facing Jim Lonborg.)

Thompson entered the game hitting .333 over 18 games. At the end of the 22 innings, his average was .294.  For the season, Thompson hit .276-4-48 over 144 games.  In a seven-season MLB career (1970-76 … Twins, Rangers), Thompson hit .248-15-194 in 694 games.  Thompson passed away on December 10, 1976, at the age of 29, from complications related to leukemia.

For those who like to know such things – the losing pitcher in the May 12 game was the Twins’ Bert Blyleven, who came in (after the suspension) to pitch the top of the twenty-second inning. After that one inning of work, Blyleven started the regularly scheduled May 13 game and pitched nine innings (three runs) in a 5-4, 15-inning Twins loss.  The winner in the May 12 game was the Brewers’ Jim Colborn, who pitched the fifteenth through the twenty-first innings (six hits, no runs). Lonborg got the save in the May 12 game – coming in on May 13 to pitch the final inning of the suspended contest. Lonborg then started the regularly slated May 13 contest and went four innings (six hits, five walks, three runs).  

 

April 15 … A Taxing Day for This Met

On April 15, 1968.  Mets’ RF and clean-up hitter Ron Swoboda fanned five times and went zero-for-ten, as the Mets lost to the Astros 1-0 in 25 innings (in Houston).  It’s the most strikeouts by any player in a game in which he had double-digits in plate appearances and a.000 on-base percentage. Surprisingly, the clean-up hitter ending up leading off an inning in six of his ten plate appearances. Swoboda’s game:

Second inning – Lead off fly out to RF of Don Wilson;

Fourth inning – Lead off pop out to first base off Wilson;

Sixth inning – One out (no one on base) strikeout off Wilson;

Eighth inning – Two out (no one on) strikeout off Wilson;

Eleventh inning – Lead off strikeout off John Buzhardt;

Thirteenth inning – Lead off fly out to CF off Danny Coombs;

Sixteenth inning – Lead off flyout to CF off Jim Ray;

Eighteenth inning – Two out (no one on) strikeout off Ray;

Twenty-first inning – Lead off strikeout off Wade Blasingame;

Twenty-third inning – Two out (no one on) flyball to RF off Blasingame.

Sidenote:  The second most strikeouts by a player with a zero on-base percentage in a game with at least ten plate appearances is four – by Swoboda’s teammate CF Tommy Agee in the same game.

Swoboda came into the game hitting .385 on the seasons (just four games) and left the field hitting .217.  He hit .242-11-69 on the season and .242-73-344 over his nine-season MLB career (1965-73 … Mets, Expos, Yankees).

Mirror Images?  More Roundtable “#one thing leads to another.”

The April 15, 1968 Mets Astros game went longer without a run scoring than any other game in MLB history. For the game:

  • Each time had one hit in 79 at bats – so each had a .139 average for the game;
  • Each team had ten singles and one double – each team had a .152 slugging percentage;
  • Each team left 16 men on base.
  • Each team made one error.
  • Each am turned one double play.
  • Each tram used four pinch hitters.

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Before we move on to some strikeout marks, the chart below shows all the MLB players with a .000 on-base percentage in a game of ten or more plate appearances. A few notes:

  • As you might expect, all the games were at least 22 innings;
  • The May 1, 1920, 26-inning Braves/Robins game accounts for three of the eight qualifiers;
  • Robins’ SS Chuck Ward is the only person to not strike out a single time while qualifying for this list;
  • Five games are included on the list and two of the five ended in 1-1 ties.

——–SOME STRIKING PERFORMANCES——–

Just eight players have fanned six times in an MLB game – and each of those instances came in an extra-inning contest. Lets’ take a look at some of those performances.

A Perfect Six-for-Six … Cark Weilman and Alex Gonzalez

The 1913 St. Louis Browns’ Carl Weilman was the first player to strikeout six times in a game in which he had just six plate appearances. We can probably forgive him, though.  He was after all, a pitcher (and he wasn’t even slated to pitch that day.

On July 25, 1913, Weilman was called on in relief with one out in the first innings of the Browns-Nationals tilt (In Washington). Browns’ starter George Baumgardner had given up hits three hits (two home runs) while retiring just one batter. Weilman came in and finished the contest, which ended in an 8-8, 15-inning tie.

Unfortunately for Weilman, the Senators’ first two pitchers did not fare well and future Hall of Famer (and ultimately 12-time AL strikeout leader) Walter Johnson pitched 11 1/3 innings  in relief for the Senators. Four of Weilman’s six whiffs were against Johnson. Of course, Weilman wasn’t the only one to have trouble with Johnson’s offerings.  The Big Train fanned 15 batters in his 11 1/3-inning relief stint.

Carl Weilman, who fanned a record six times in six plate appearances on July 25, 2012 also recorded six strikeouts as a pitcher that day. 

Weilman pitched in eight MLB seasons (1912-17, 1919-20), all for the Browns.  He went 84-93, 2.67.  At the plate, he hit .170-0-25 in 560 plate appearances.  Waler Johnson?  Well, you know all about him.

Another “Six-for-Six” Strike outing.”

Among positions players, Blue Jays’ SS Alex Gonzalez matched Weilman’s six-whiffs in six plate appearances on September 9, 1998 – as the Blue Jays lost to the Indians (in Toronto) 6-3. Gonzalez, batting ninth, enjoyed this day:

Second inning – Two out (two on bae) swinging strikeout versus Dwight Gooden;

Fourth inning – Two out (one on) swinging strikeout versus Gooden;

Seventh inning – One out (none on) swinging strikeout versus Gooden;

Ninth inning – Two out (none on) swinging strikeout versus Paul Shuey;

Eleventh inning- Two out (two on) strikeout looking versus Doug Jones;

Thirteenth inning – One out (one on) swinging strikeout versus Michael Jackson.

Equal Opportunity (or more #InBaseballWeCountyEverything)

Don Hoak shares the record for strikeout in a game and holds the record for being struck out by the most different pitchers in a game.  On May 2, 1956, Hoak – playing third base and leading off for the Cubs – came to the plate nine times in a Cubs 6-5, 17-inning loss to the Giants. He collected a single, a walk, a sacrifice and six whiffs (tying the MLB record for strikeouts in a single game).

The Giants used eight pitchers in the game, and Hoak was fanned by six of them: Al Worthington; Don Liddle; Hoyt Wilhelm; Steve Ridzik; Wendy McCall; and Ruben Gomez.

Hoak, by the way, almost didn’t get that sixth whiff.  In the bottom of the final (seventeenth) inning and the Cubs down 6-5, the first two Cubs hitters were retired by Joe Margoneri. Cubs’ Pitcher Jim Brosnan was up next and the Cubs sent Clyde McCullough up to pinch hitMcCullough doubled, bringing up Hoak. Ruben Gomez was brought in to pitch and Hoak fanned to end the game.

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Now, Let’s move on to five-strikeout games. There have been 199 of them – nothing very rare air there. Of those 199, 89 have been nine-inning contests.  Still not very rare. There have, however, also just 20 players with multiple five strikeout games.  So, let’s go there

We’ll start with players with multiple,  five-strikeout game – all of nine innings.

Photo: Arturo Pardavila III from Hoboken, NJ, USA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Javier Baez leads the way there, with three such games. One each in 2017, 2019 and 2021.  The opposing starting pitchers in those contests were: Carlos Rodon in 2017; Gerrit Cole in 2019; and Braxton Garrett in 2021.

Baez, still active, has 10 MLB seasons on his resume (2014-23 … Cubs, Mets, Tigers), His stat line is .256-175-591. Over his 1,142 MLB games, he has fanned 1,225 times – leading the league once (184 in 2021) and topping 150 whiffs in three seasons. His best season was 2018, when he hit .290, with 34 homers and a league-leading 11l RBI for the Cubs.

As the chart below show, multiple nine-inning strikeout game are a bit of a rarity.

 

Now, how about five strikeout games -including extra-inning tilts.

Number One in Platinum Sombreros

Photo: Jeffrey Hayes, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Sammy Sosa leads the way here with four five-whiff games – one each in 1990, 1996, 2000 and 2003.  The starting pitchers in those games were Tom Gordon; Dave Burba; Kip Wells; and Roy Oswalt. Sosa, is not a total surprise on this list. In 18 MLB seasons (1989-2005, 2007 … Rangers, White Sox, Cubs, Orioles, he  fanned 3,306 times in 2,354 games. He led the league in whiffs three times and fanned 150 or more times in six seasons.  He put up a pretty good offensive stat line despite the whiffs – .273-609-1,667 for his career. Sosa was a seven-time All Star, and the 1998 National League MVP – when he went ,308-66-158 for the Cubs. Sosa the league in runs scored three times, home runs twice and RBI three times.

Three is Company … or not

Ray Lankford has no company among players with three five-strikeout games in a single season. (See the  chart  immediately above or the chart at the end of at end of post. Yes, Lankford made it to two charts.)  The Cardinals’ outfielder “accomplished” the feat in 1998 – racking up five-strikeout games on May 24, June 6 and August 8.    Still. Lankford had a solid 1998 season, hitting .298-31-105, with 26 steals (151 strikeouts, his career high).  Lankford played in 14 MLB seasons (1990-2002, 2004 … Cardinals, Padres).

Let’s Get This Over with Fast

Ray Lanford may have racked up three five-whiff games in a single season, but Giancarlo Stanton had two five-strikeout games in less than a week.   On April 3, 2018 – as the Yankees lost to the Rays 11-4 in New York, Stanton went zero-for-five with five strikeouts. Playing LF and batting third in the lineup, his day went like this:

First inning – Two-out (no one on base) swinging strikeouts versus Chris Archer.

Third inning -No out, (two on) strikeout looking versus Archer.

Fifth Inning – One out (one one) swinging strikeout versus Archer.

Seventh Inning – One out (two on) swinging strikeout versus Austin Pruitt;

Eighth inning – One out (bases loaded) swinging strikeout versus Sergio Romo.

Then, just five days later (April 8), in a 12-inning  8-7 loss to the Orioles (in Yankee Stadium), Stanton (batting third and playing RF) had another five-whiff game – wit one strikeout against five different pitchers.

First inning – No outs (two on base) strikeout looking versus Mike Wright, Jr.

Second inning – One out (none on) strikeout swinging versus Pedro Araujo;

Fourth inning – Two out (one on) strikeout looking versus Miguel Castro.

Sixth inning – Could things get worse? One on, one out, Stanton swing at the first pitch from Tanner Scott and lined into a double play.

Eighth inning – One out (one on) strikeout swinging versus Darren O’Day;

Tenth inning – Two out (two on) First-pitch swinging, Stanton grounded into a force out at second.

Twelfth inning – With one on and two out, Stanton struck out on four pitches versus Brad Bach to end the game.

The two five-whiff games were the bookends of a six-game stretch during which Stanton came to the plate 30 times (28 at bats) and fanned 16.  For the 2018 season, Stanton hit .266-38-100 and fanned 211 times in 705 plate appearances.  To date, Stanton has fanned 1,820 times in 1,535 MLB games (2010-2023 … Marlins, Yankees).  His stat line is .259-402-1,031. He has fanned more than 150 times in five seasons. Stanton is a five-time Al Star and was the AL MVP in 2017, when he hit .281, with a league-leading 59 home runs and a league-best 132 RBI in 159 games for the Marlins. He has topped 30 home runs in seven seasons.

 

Primary resource:  Baseball-References.com

 

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Off-Season Musings … More Rarities and Oddities … 20-Loss Seasons https://baseballroundtable.com/off-season-musings-more-rarities-and-oddities-20-loss-seasons/ Tue, 16 Jan 2024 13:47:04 +0000 https://baseballroundtable.com/?p=16503 The Reverse Unicorn Since 1980, only two pitchers have “achieved” twenty or more losses in a single season. In that same span, there have been 131 pitcher seasons of twenty or more wins. Regular readers of Baseball Roundtable know how my mind tends to wander during the off-season – leading to the exploration of a […]

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The Reverse Unicorn

Since 1980, only two pitchers have “achieved” twenty or more losses in a single season. In that same span, there have been 131 pitcher seasons of twenty or more wins.

Regular readers of Baseball Roundtable know how my mind tends to wander during the off-season – leading to the exploration of a wide range of baseball topics (particularly rarities and oddities). Admittedly as “One thing seems to lead to another,” these posts can at times seem like watching a series of unrelated slides (I hope most of you remember slides).  Each post, however, can be traced to an overarching theme. Most recently, there were posts on 20-game winners (click here for that one), 100-RBI seasons (click here) and zero-home run seasons (click here).

This foundation of this post will a what I consider a reverse unicorn, the increasingly rare pitcher-seasons of 20 or more losses.

How rare have 20-loss seasons become?  As noted earlier, they have been only two 20-loss seasons since 1980.  The last 20-loss campaign belongs to the Tigers’ Mike Maroth, who went 9-21, 5.73 in 2003. (More on that later). As the chart below shows 295 of the 499 20-loss seasons (59.1%) occurred before 1900 … and the appearance of these reverse unicorns” has dwindled steadily since.

The 1884 season saw the most 20-loss campaigns, as 25 pitchers reached or exceeded twenty defeats. (The 1884 season featured 33 majo- league teams … National League, Union Association and American Association.) Notably, 12 of those pitchers also won 20 or more games and eight finished above .500.

There are some pretty obvious reasons for this, centered around pitcher usage.  Over the years, such factors expanding rotations (from two-to-five or more pitcher rotations), larger pitching staffs and relief specialists (middle men, set-up men, closers), pitch counts (and fewer complete games) all have helped make it harder for a pitcher to reach 20 losses (or twenty wins, for that matter). Consider, in 1890, 37 pitchers started 35 or more games (eight of those had 50-plus starts). In 2023, only one pitcher – Mike Mikolas of the Cardinals – accrued 35 starts. We’ll get to why I picked 35 starts as a focus point in a bit.

That chart below illustrates some the change MLB has seen – as complete games have plummeted and the number of pitchers used by teams each season had risen. In sheer raw numbers, 2003 saw 35 complete games in 4,869 starts; 1960 saw 665 complete games in 2,472 starts; and 1890 saw 2,879 complete games in 3,218 starts.

Now, as to my observation of the “sweet spot” for 20 losses (or twenty wins) – historically two of every three seasons of twenty or more losses (or twenty or more wins) belong to a pitcher with 35 or more starts.

Now, this post is about 20-game losers, so I thought I better start to steer this ship back in that direction. I went back to 1974, the last season MLB saw at least five 20-game losers: Steve Rogers (Expos, 15-22, 4.47), Bill Bonham (Cubs, 11-22, 3.86), Randy Jones (Padres, 8-22, 4.45), Mickey Lolich (Tigers, 16-21, 4.15) and Clyde Wright (Brewers, 9-20, 4.42).  A few comparisons:

  • These five (the five losingest pitchers in MLB in 1974) had a cumulative 181 starts, with 67 complete games and 28 complete-game losses. MLB’s five winningest pitchers in 20023 (Spencer Strider, Zac Gallen, Chris Bassitt, Zach Elfin and Justin Steele) had 160 starts, two complete games and zero complete-game losses.
  • 1974’s five 20-game losers had 67 complete games and 28 complete-game losses, while all of MLB saw just 35 complete games and seven complete-game losses in 2023.

A Unicorn

The Kansas City Royals’ Jordan Lyles tied for the major-league lead in complete games in 2023 (with three).  All three of his complete games were losses – and I can find no other instance of the MLB leader in complete games recording not a single complete-game victory. Lyles’ final line on the season, 6-17, 6.28.

Now, let’s look at some rarities and oddities among 20-game losers.

Pud Galvin – King of the 20-Game Losers

Photo: Goodwin & Company, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

If the corps of 20-game loser had a king, his name would be James Francis “Pud” Galvin – who holds the MLB record for 20-loss seasons at ten, and who rang them up consecutively 1879-1888. Galvin, however, was clearly no loser – pitching his way into the Baseball Hall of Fame with a 365-310, 2.85 record over 15 MLB seasons (1875, 1879-1892 … St. Louis Brown Stockings, Buffalo Bisons, Allegheny City, Pittsburgh Burgers, St. Louis Browns.)

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Pud Galvin recorded MLB seasons of twenty or more losses in the National League, American Association and Players League.

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In his ten-year streak of season with 20 or more losses, Galvin seven times won more games than he lost. Galvin was known for pinpoint control of his fastball, fine fielding and an exceptional pickoff move that spurred many protests from opposing players, coaches and managers.

Galvin’s best seasons were 1883 and 1884, with the National League Buffalo Bisons.  In 1883, Galvin went 46-29, with a 2.72 earned run average and led the league in games (76), starts (75), complete games (72), shutouts (five) and innings pitched 656 1/3.  He followed that up with an 1884 campaign that again included 46 wins (22 losses), 71 complete games in 72 starts, 636 1/3 innings pitched and a league-leading 12 shutouts.  It truly was a different game back then. Consider Buffalo had a 116-92-5 record over those two seasons and Galvin started 148 (80%) and completed 147 of those 183 games.

Those Were The Days, My Friends

During his streak of ten consecutive 20+loss season, Galvin went 301-253, 2.71 and threw 535 complete games in 573 starts.

During his career, Galvin had ten seasons of 20 or more wins and ten seasons of 20 or more losses.  He reached both figures in nine seasons. Surprisingly, he never led his league in wins or losses.

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The Most Recent 20-Game Loser – Mike Maroth

Photo: Wknight94, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons

Southpaw Mike Maroth is the most recent 20-game loser.  Maroth went 9-21, 5.73 for the 2003 Tigers, a team that went 43-119 and finished in last place (47 games off the pace) in the AL Central Division. Maroth may have been the “ace” of the Tiger staff (he was the Opening Day starter). Maroth led the Tigers in wins, and starts – no other Tiger hurler won more than six games that season.

Consistency

After ten starts, Maroth was 0-9, 5.73 (right where his season-ending ERA stood).

Maroth had a six-season MLB career (2002-07 … Tigers, Cardinals), going 50-67, 5.05.

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Searching for a Won-Lost Rarity

Looking through records, I found that 126 of the 499 seasons (25.3%) of 20 or more losses saw the pitcher lead the league in losses. No rare air there.  Twenty of those 499 seasons (four percent) saw a pitcher with 20 or more losses lead the league in wins. Rarer, but hardly unicorn status.  Ah, but wait, how about 20-game losers who led their league in both wins and losses?  Bingo, just two!

Jim Whitney, 1881 Boston (National League)

Jim Whitney, as a hard-throwing 23-year-old rookie, went 31-33 for the 1881 Boston NL squad, leading the National League in both wins and losses. He put up a 2.48 earned run average (the league average was 3.13) and led the NL in games (66), starts (63) and complete games (57). Whitney went on to a 10-season MLB career (1881-1890 … Boston, Kansas City Cowboys, Washington Nationals, and Indianapolis Hoosiers and the American Association Philadelphia Athletics).  He had five seasons of 20 or more wins and seven seasons of 20+ losses – producing a career stat line of 191-204, 2.97.

Phil Niekro, 1979 Atlanta Braves

Photo: Texas Rangers via tradingcarddb.com, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1979, knuckleballer – and future Hall of famer – Phil Niekro became just the second pitcher to lose 20 or more games and lead his league in wins and losses in the same season. Pitching for a Braves’ squad that went 66-94, Niekro went 21-20, 3.39, leading the NL in starts (44), complete games (23), innings pitched (342) – as well as in home runs allowed (41), walks (113) and hit batsmen (11).  Adding to the oddity, Niekro tied for the NL lead in wins … with his brother Joe, who went 21-11 for the Astros. Phil Niekro hovered around .500 all season He was 3-4 as of May 1; 5-8 as of June 1; 10-10 as of July 1; 14-13 on August 1. He went into the season’s final month at 17-17 and went 4-3, 2.65 in September to close out a 21-20.

A Recent Rarity

Phil Niekro is the last MLB pitcher to lose 20 games in a season and still have a .500+ winning percentage.  Before Niekro, that distinction belonged to Walter Johnson, who went 25-20 for the 1916 Washington Nationals.   

Niekro pitched in 24 MLB seasons (1964-87 … Braves, Yankees, Indians, Blue Jays).  He went 318-274, 3.35 and recorded 245 complete games in 716 starts. He was a five-time All Star and three-time 20-game winner (leading the NL in wins twice).  He also led the NL in winning percentage once, starts four times, complete games four times, innings pitched four times and strikeouts once. On the flip side, he led the league in losses four times (twice losing 20 games in a season), home runs allowed four times, walks three times, hit batsmen three times and wild pitches three times.

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Fewest Starts in a 20-loss Season …. 20 – Les German

In 1896, Les German split his season between the NL New York Giants and Washington Senators – going 2-20, 6.43.  He started 20 games and relieved in eight. German pitched six MLB seasons (1890, 1893-97), going 34-63, 5.45.

Fewest Wins in a 20-loss Season1 – John Cassidy & Jack Nabors

John Cassidy went 1-21. 3.03 in 1875, for the National Association Brooklyn Atlantics. It was the 20-year-old’s rookie season. He forged an 11-season MLB career (1875-1885 … Brooklyn Atlantics, New Haven Elm Citys, Hartford Dark Blues, Chicago White Stockings, Troy Trojans, Providence Grays, Brooklyn), but only pitched in two seasons 1875 and 1877 (two games). As an outfielder/first baseman, he hit .246-5-191 over his career.,

John Cassidy’s .045 winning percentage in 1875 is the lowest ever for a pitcher who lost 20 or more games in a season.

Jack Nabors went 1-20, 3.47 for the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics. It was the righthander’s only full MLB season, (He pitched in ten games for the Athletics as a 27-year-old rookie in 1915 and in two games in 1917.)  In that 1916 season, he pitched in 40 games (30 starts) and had 11 complete games.

A Good Start – The Finish, Not So Much

Jack Nabors’ only win in 1816 came in his first start of the season (April 22), when he beat the Red Sox 6-2.  He threw a nine-inning complete game: eight hits, two runs (unearned), two walks and four whiffs. Little did he know it would be the only “W” he would see by his name in his MLB career.  Nabors’ career record was 1-25, 3.87 (52 games, 37 starts, 13 complete games). 

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Most Wins By A Pitcher ins a Season of Twenty or More Losses – 52, Guy Hecker, 1885 Louisville Colonels, American Association

Photo: Goodwin & Co., sponsor, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

First, a look into the search for a rarity that led to this portion of the post. (This is also a “one thing leads to another” example of Baseball Roundtable and the statistical rabbit hole.)   As I scoured through stats, I saw that, in 107 (21.4%) of MLB’s 499 20-loss seasons, the pitcher put up a winning percentage of .500 or better. I also noted that the 1884 season saw the most 20-loss campaigns, as 25 pitchers reached or exceeded twenty defeats and that nine of those pitchers (36 %) finished at .500 or better.   (The 1884 season featured 33 major-league teams … National League, Union Association and American Association.) No rarities here.  But 1884, did turn up some 20-game loser rarities.

The most wins by a pitcher in a season with 20 or more losses is 52 by the 1884 Louisville Colonels’ (American Association) Guy Hecker (52-20, with a 1.80 earned run average).  That season, Hecker led the AA in wins, earned run average, games (75), starts (73), complete games (72), innings pitched (670 2/3), hits allowed (526) and strikeouts (385). As you would expect, his  .722 winning percentage is the best ever in a season of 20 or more losses.

Hecker finished his nine-season MLB career at 175-46, 2.93, with a .282 batting average (he pitched in 336 games, played first base in 322 and outfield in 75).

A Bit of an Oddity

Guy Hecker won the American Association ERA title in 1884 (1.80) and the league’s batting title in 1886 (.341).

The most wins in a 20-loss season since 1900 belong to Joe McGinnity, who went 31-20, 2.43 for the 1903 Giants. He led the league in wins games (55), starts (48), complete games (44) and innings pitched (434).  His .608 winning percentage is also the best in a 20 or more-loss season since 1900. In 19 MLB seasons (1899-1908 … Orioles, Superbas, Giants), McGinnity went 246-142, 2.66. He won 20 or more games in eight seasons (leading the league five times) and lost 20 or more in two seasons.

An Oddity of the One Thing Leads to Another Variety

This one is from one of Hall of Famer Iron Joe McGinnity’s 20-loss seasons. In August of 1903, the Giants’ McGinnity started both games of a doubleheader three times (August 1, 8 and 31) and won all six games. That same month, he pitched just one game on six occasions – and went 1-5. On the season, he went 31-20, 2.43.

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Here’s the Ball, Go Get’ Em Rook

A total of 77 rookies have lost 20 or more games – 56 pre-1900, 21 since 1900 and just two since 1960.

The last rookie to rack up a 20-loss season was the Padres’ Clay Kirby – in 1969, when he went 7-20, 3.80.  He went on to an eight-season MLB career (1969-76 … Padres, Reds. Expos), going 75-104, 3.84.  His best season was 1971, when he went 15-13, 2.93, with 13 complete games in 36 starts for the Padres.

One and Out

Twenty-six pitchers have lost 20 or more games in their final MLB season. For ten of those players, it was their ONLY MLB season. Nine of those ten played before 1900.  The unicorn, in this case, was Henry Keupper, who went 8-20, 4.27 for the 1914 Federal League St. Louis TerriersThe most losses for any of these one season-and-out pitchers goes to George Cobb of the 1892 National League Baltimore Orioles, who went 10-37, 4.86 in his lone MLB season. 

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The Win-Loss Yo-Yo

Photo: Chicago White Sox, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Since 1900, only one pitcher has TWICE put up a season of twenty losses immediately after a season of twenty wins.  That unicorn would be the White Sox’ Wilbur Wood, who accomplished the feat between 1972 and 1975.

Wood was an All Star in 1972, going 24-17 for the White Sox (leading the league in wins). In 1973, he lost 20 games (but again led the AL with 24 wins). Then, in 1974, he went 20-198, 3.60, before losing 20 games (16 wins) in 1975.

Woos

Wood – a southpaw knuckleball pitcher – started his MLB career primarily as a reliever, just 21 starts in 365 appearances between 1961 and 1970. He was converted to a starter by the White Sox in 1971 and won 20 or more games in each of the next four seasons.  He played in 17 MLB seasons, going 164-156, 3.13, with 57 saves. He made a total of 651 appearances (297 starts).  Wood was a three-time All Star and led his league in wins twice (losses once), games pitched three times, games started four times, and innings pitched twice.

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Here’s a look at pitchers, since 1900, who have either followed up a 20-win season with 20 losses in the next campaign, or followed a 20-loss season immediately with a 20-win season.

20 loss after 20 win

20-20

We’re closing in on the end. (Still with me?)

My Three favorite 20-game Losers — Two Youngs and a Larsen

  1.  Don Larsen … In 1954, just two years before he would pitch a World Series Perfect Game for the Yankees, Larsen went 3021, 4.37 for the Orioles (The Orioles were 54-100 that season.) Larsen went 81-91, 3.78 in 14 MLB seasons.
  2. Cy Young …  MLB’s winningest pitcher (511 victories) also lost the most career games (315). His record included three seasons of 20 or more losses (in two of those he had more wins than losses). In 1909, his age-39 seasons, Young went 13-21, 3.19 for the Boston Americans of the  AL. In is 22-season  MLB career, 16 seasons of 20 or more wins (five of those of 30 or more).
  3. Irv Young … There have been only two MLB teams to “boast” four twenty-game loser in the same season and Irv Young was one of the 20-game losers on both of them.  The 1905 Boston Beaneaters featured a rotation that included Vic Willis (12-29), Chick Fraser (14-21), Irvin Wilhelm (3-23) and the “ace” of the staff, Irv Young (20-21). Boston finished 51-103-2. The very next season, Boston Young again led the Boston staff with a 16-25 record, followed up by Vive Lindaman (12-23), Jeff Pfeffer (13-22) and Gus Dorner (8-25).  That season, Boston finished 49-102-1.

Special thanks to Bill Nowlin and Emmet R. Nowlin, editors of “20-Game Losers” (Society for American Baseball Research Inc., 2017) for including a chapter on “A Staff With Four Twenty Game Losers” in that publication.

Baseball Balance: As noted above only two MLB teams have completed a season with four twenty-game losses.  On the other end of the scales, only two teams have finished a season with four twenty-game winners: the 1920 White sox, with Red Faber (23-13), Lefty Williams (22-14), Dickey Kerr (21-9) and Eddie Cicotte (21-10) & the 1971 Orioles, with Dave McNally (21-5), Pat Dobson (20-8), Jim Palmer (20-9) and Mike Cueller (20-9).

Deep breath, here’s the finish line.

The name game.  Some pitchers (whose names stuck out for me) with 20-loss seasons under their belts: Steve Carlton; Walter Johnson; Jerry Koosman; Mickey Lolich; Rube Marquard; Denny McLain; Old Hoss Radbourn; Eppa Rixey; Robin Roberts; Red Ruffing; Amos Rusie; Mel Stottlemyre; Luis Tiant.

Nicknames. Ah, those were the days.  Here are some 20-game losers with nicknames that grabbed me: Ice Box Chamberlain; Egyptian Healy; Phenomenal Smith; Tricky Nichols; The Only Nolan; Brickyard Kennedy; Bullet Joe Bush; Boom-Boom Beck; Pretzels Getzien; Cherokee Fisher; Pink Hawley; Sad Sam Jones; Bobo Newsom.

Primary Resource: Baseball Reference.com.

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“Who’s Your Daddy?” … Episode 19 … Tom Glavine https://baseballroundtable.com/whos-your-daddy-episode-19-tom-glavine/ Sat, 06 Jan 2024 17:39:17 +0000 https://baseballroundtable.com/?p=16447 Welcome to the 19th post in the Baseball Roundtable’s “Who’s Your Daddy?” series, where we take a look at Roundtable-selected lineups that performed exceptionally well against some of MLB’s greatest pitchers. As always, I would stress that the pitchers included in the Who’s Your Daddy? series are among the “best in the business.”  They are […]

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Welcome to the 19th post in the Baseball Roundtable’s “Who’s Your Daddy?” series, where we take a look at Roundtable-selected lineups that performed exceptionally well against some of MLB’s greatest pitchers.

As always, I would stress that the pitchers included in the Who’s Your Daddy? series are among the “best in the business.”  They are selected not because of the players who performed well against them, but rather because success among hitters when they were on the mound was the exception rather than the rule.  We’ve looked at pitchers from a wide range of eras – from Carl Hubbell to Bob Feller to Nolan Ryan to Justin Verlander. Note:  For those unfamiliar with the series, its origins are explained at the end of this post.

This chapter of Who’s You Daddy? Focuses on Tom Glavine – one of just six left-handed pitchers to attain 300 or more major-league victories. In case it should come up in a trivia quiz, here they are (in order of total wins): Warren Spahn (363): Steve Carlton (329); Eddie Plank (326); Tom Glavine (305); Randy Johnson (303); and  Lefty Grove (300).  

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Before we get started on this edition, here are links to the previous editions of this series.

Please note: For still active pitchers, the stats are as they stood on the date of the post.

  • Nolan Ryan, click here.
  • Sandy Koufax, click here.
  • Pedro Martinez, click here.
  • Bob Gibson, click here.
  • Randy Johnson, click here.
  • Greg Maddux, click here.
  • Justin Verlander, click here.
  • Bob Feller, click here.
  • Roger Clemens, click here.
  • Max Scherzer, click here.
  • Tom Seaver, click here.
  • Mariano Rivera, click here.
  • Warren Spahn, click here.
  • Lefty Grove, click here.
  • Steve Carlton, click here.
  • Robin Roberts, click here.
  • Carl Hubbell, click here. 
  • For Hoyt Wilhelm, click here.

If you go back through past editions of “Who’s Your Daddy?”, you may find a few surprises – like how Will Clark owned Nolan Ryan; Jerry Lynch‘s .714 average versus Sandy Koufax; pitcher Hal Jeffcoat’s .545 average versus Hoyt Wilhelm; the fact that Brian Harper faced Roger Clemens 23 times and never struck out; or how Ival Goodman (who averaged one home run each 47 at bats over his 10-season MLB career) poked six home runs in just 64 at bats against Carl Hubbell.

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Photo: jimmyack205, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Before we get into the lineup of players who fared especially well against Tom Glavine, let’s take a look at the southpaw’s Hall of Fame career.  Glavine pitched in 22 MLB seasons (1987-2008, his age-21 through age-42 seasons). He spent 17 seasons with the Braves and five with the Mets.  Glavine’s 305 wins (versus 203 losses) are 21st all-time and fourth among lefthanders. His .600 wining percentage is 14th among the 24 MLB 300-game winners.

One-Two Punch … Left Jab-Right Hook

The leaders in pitching victories for the decade of the 1990s spent seven of the ten years of the decade together  in the Braves’ rotation. Righty Greg Maddux, whose decade saw him spend 1990-92 with the Cubs and 1993-99 with the Braves, led all MLB pitchers with 176 wins in the decade.  Southpaw Tom Glavine, who spend the entire decade with the Braves, was second with 164.  Maddux and Glavine both won 300+ games in their MLB careers and were both 2014 first-ballot electees to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Glavine – a ten-time All Star and two-time Cy Young Award winner – was primarily a fastball-changeup pitcher for most of his career (although he could mix in an effective curve, slider and cutter). He was known for pinpoint control, avoiding the middle of the plate and expanding the strike zone, particularly low-and-away. He won 20 or more games in five seasons (four in the 1990s) – leading the NL in wins each time. He led the National League in starts six times, complete games once and shutouts once.  A workhorse, Glavine started 32 or more games in 17 seasons, including every season from 1996 through 2007.

Baseball Roundtable Likes a Good Coincidence

In his first MLB season (at age 21), Tom Glavine went 2-4, with a 5.54 earned run average for the Braves.  In his final MLB season (age 42), Glavine went 2-4, with a 5.54 earned run average for the Braves.  Maybe a good trivia question:  What 300-game winner went 2-4, 5.54 in both his first and last seasons in the major leagues?

In his prime 12-season stretch from 1991 through 2002, Glavine averaged 17 wins, eight losses, a 3.15 ERA, 225 innings pitched, 77 walks and 144 strikeouts per campaign.

A Brief Break From Our Regularly Scheduled Topic

Mike Glavine (Tom Glavine’s younger brother) had a brief MLB career:   six games (PH/1B), seven plate appearances with the Mets in September of 2003. So, why is he here?  Mike made his MLB debut on September 14, 2003 in a pinch-hitting role.  Who did he hit for?  His big brother Tom. (He grounded out second-to-first).  Another fact that caught my eye.  Mike got his only MLB hit in his final MLB plate appearances (September 28, 2003 versus the Marlin’ Braden Looper.) 

 

Now, let’s look at a lineup of players, who performed pretty well against Glavine.

Keep in mind, while these selections are statistically based, there is plenty of room for debate. (Isn’t that part of what is great about the national pastime?) For example, they are weighted in favor of larger sample sizes. I also considered whether the numbers were generated in Glavine’s prime years and balanced the stats against the player’s career statistics (for example, if I was looking at two players who each hit .305 versus Glavine, I would be more impressed by the player with a .266 overall career average than one with a .308 career average).   I’ll provide some examples of how these criteria were applied as you go through the lineup

Catcher – Mike Redmond … .438 average, unexpected power

Mike Redmond, a career .287 hitter over 13 seasons (1998-2010 … Marlins, Twins, Indians) hit Tom Glavine for a .438 average over 20  games. Glavine was also one of only two pitchers that Redmond (who hit a total of 13 career homers) reached for two career home runs.  As an unexpected side note: Redmond hit .500 (21-for-42 versus Glavine from 1998-2002), then went zero-for-nine in the final two seasons in which he faced him (2003-04).

In 1999, when Glavine went 14-8, 3.68, Redmond faced him seven times and collected five hits and a walk (.833 average).

A Nice Little Run

From July 12, 1998 through his second at bat against Glavine on July 6. 1999, Mike Redmond faced Glavine nine times and collected seven singles, one double and a walk. Over those two seasons, Glavine went 34-17, 3.30.

Honorable Mention at Catcher: I fully expected this spot to go to someone like Hall of Famer Mike Piazza, who went .343-6-13 in 27 games against Glavine. Piazza’s six home runs tie for the most against Glavine and his 13 RBI tie for fifth.  Piazza did have 84 plate appearances versus Glavine, compared to Redmond’s 51 – but I could not resist Redmond’s .400+ average. Either would be a fine choice at catcher in this lineup.

Worth the Wait

Mike Piazza, who played his way into the Baseball Hall of Fame (with a  career .308-427, 1,335 stat line and ten All Star selections) was the 1,390th pick in the 1988 MLB draft.   

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First Base – Jeff Bagwell … .339, with three home runs

Photo: Michael Glasgow, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell hit .339, with three homers and ten RBI in 23 games against Glavine. His 21 career hits against the lefty tie for the 18th.  Bagwell also drew 18 walks versus Glavine (11 strikeouts) and put up a .488 on-base percentage. Those 18 walks were the most Glavine issued to any player. Four of those were intentional, tying for the most IBB Glavine issued to any player.  (Others to receive four career IBB from Glavine were Gary Sheffield and Barry Bonds.) Bagwell was a career .297 hitter over 15 seasons (1991-2005, all Astros). He was a four-time All Star, 1991 NL Rookie of the year and 1994 NL MVP (.368-39-116, with 104 runs scored and 15 steals. ).  His career stat line was .297-449-1,529, with 1.517 run scored and 202 stolen bases.

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An Even Dozen

In his first dozen games facing Tom Glavine, Jeff Bagwell got on base versus Glavine via hit or walk in all twelve, hitting safety in 11.

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Deserves a Shoutout at 1B: First baseman Mo Vaughn doesn’t make this lineup due to a small sample size (just 10 at bats in four games versus Glavine), but he deserves a shoutout. In those three games, he delivered five hits (two doubles and three home runs) for a 1.600 slugging percentage.

Now, it’s always nice when selecting these lineups to come across a player you are not familiar with. Expos’  1B Fernando Seguignol faced Tom Glavine in five games (1999-2001) and went seven-for-fourteen (.500), with two doubles, two home runs and five RBI. It was Seguignol’s most at bats, most hits, most doubles (tie), most home runs and most RBI against any pitcher. In five MLB seasons (1998-2001, 2003 … Expos, Yankees), Seguignol hit .249-17-40 (178 games).

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Second Base – Tie:  Robby Thompson and Bill Doran

I could find good arguments for both Robby Thompson and Bill Doran in this spot.

If I had to pick one, I’d lean toward Thompson for his larger sample size.  However, since this is my post, I can declare a tie.

Robby Thompson – .393 and four long balls

Robby Thompson hit .393 (22-for-56) in 20 games against Tom Glavine. Perhaps as important is the fact that 13 of his 22 hits went for extra bases (eight doubles, one triple and four home runs). This gives him a .786 slugging percentage versus Glavine – second highest among players with at least 25 at bat versus Glavine. Thompson hit .500 or better versus Glavine in five of the nine seasons in which he faced him.

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Catching Him in His Prime

In 1992 & 1993, when Tom Glavine went a combined 42-15 (and led the NL in wins both times), Robby Thompson 11-for-18 (.611) against him, with two homers and three RBI in six games.

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Thompson played 11 MLB seasons (1986-96), all for the Giants.  He was a two-time All Star and one-time Gold Glover, who put up a .257-119-458 stat line. His four home runs off Glavine` tied for the most he hit against any MLB pitcher (he also had four versus Jose Rijo) and his 22 hits versus Glavine were the second most he had against any MLB pitcher (he hit .424 with 23 hits versus Fernando Valenzuela).  By contrast, Thompson hit .118, with nine hits in 48 at bats versus Greg Maddux, with three walks and 15 whiffs.

Bill Doran – .480 average, .606 on-base percentage.

Photo: Indiana Blue Sox, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Bill Doran was a .266 career MLB hitter (1982-93 … Astros, Reds, Brewers). He did, however, tag Tom Glavine for a .480 average (12-for-25) and drew eight walks versus Glavine, fanning just once (.606 on-base percentage – highest among batters with at least 25 at bats versus Glavine).  Side note: If you use 25 plate appearances instead of at bats, Doran’s OBP versus Glavine is second to Carlos Delgado’s  .640.

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Bookends

In his first seven career plate appearances versus Tom Glavine (August 17 & September 30, 1987), Bill Doran was on base six times (three singles and three walks). In his final eight plate appearance versus Glavine (October 2, 1991 and August 4 & September 9, 1992), Doran collected four walks and a pair of singles.

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Doran’s career stat line was .266-84-497, with 727 runs scored and 209 steals in 1,453 games. His best season was 1987, when he hit .283-16-79, with 82 runs scored and 31 steals for the Astros (and played in all 162 games).

Possible Trivia Question: Which member of the Astros’ Hall of Fame matriculated in Oxford? (No, not that Oxford.)  Bill Doran studied and played base ball for Miami University in Oxford, Ohio – where he hit .407-4-27 (45 games) in his final college season (1979). He was selected in sixth round of the 1979 MLB Draft.

Honorable Mention: Luis Castillo hit .382-2-5 in 24 games versus Glavine (1996, 1999-2005, 2008). His 29 hits tied for the most career safeties against Glavine and he recorded them in the fewest at bats among the five players with 29 hits against Glavine. There was just a lot of competition at second base – and a three-way tie was too much to ask.

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Third Base: Tim Wallach … .367, five homers, 12 RBI

Tim Wallach hit .367, with five home runs and 12 RBI against Glavine – and he gets extra credit because those numbers came between 1988-94 and included three of the five seasons in which Glavine led the league in wins. (1991-93). Over those three seasons, Wallach went 12-for-29 (.414) against Glavine, with three doubles, a triple, one home run and five RBI.

Going Deep Can Be Habit-Forming

Between May 30, 1990 and June 9, 1991, Tim Wallach faced Tom Glavine in four games and homered in each of them:

May 30, 1990 … one-for-two, solo homer;

June 29, 1990 … one-for-three, solo home run, walk;

July 12, 1990 … one-for-three, three-run homer;

June 9, 1991 … two-for-two, single, three-run homer, single, walk.

As an aside, those three 1990 homers were the only hits Wallach had in 11 at bats versus Glavine that season.

Wallach played in 17 MLB seasons (1980-96 … Expos, Dodgers, Angels), going .257-260-1,125, with 908 runs scored. He was a five-time All Star and three-time Gold Glover. His best season was 1987, when he hit .298-26-123 – reaching career highs in all three categories, as well as in doubles (a league-leading 42), runs scored (89), stolen bases (9) and total bases (305).

 

Honorable Mentions. Aramis Ramirez.  It’s hard to limit Ramirez to an honorable mention here.  After all, he hit .500 (13-for-26), with four home runs and ten RBI in just 12 games versus Glavine.  However, five of his hits, two of his homers and eight of his RBI came in Glavine’s final three (age 40-42) seasons. Digging deeper, Ramirez had a .421 on-base percentage versus Glavine from 2001-2005 and a .721 OBP in 2006-08. Still, there are some nice numbers here.  Ramirez drew eight walks and fanned just once (in 35 plate appearances) versus Glavine (six of the walks in those final three seasons). He also hit .400 or better in six of the seven seasons he faced Glavine.  Ramirez played 18 MLB seasons (1998-2015 … Pirates, Cubs, Brewers), going .283-386-1,417, with 1,098 runs scored.  He was a three-time All Star, hit 25 or more home runs in ten seasons, drove in 100+ runs in seven and hit .300 or better in seven.

During his 16-season MLB career, Todd Zeile started more than 100 games each at 3B (1,468), 1B (417) and catcher (121).  As a hitter, over 2,158 games, he went .265-253-1,110.  Zeile faced Glavine in 34 games and collected 29 hits (.326 average), with four  home runs, 12 RBI (13 walks  and 13 strikeouts). Competition was tough at the hot corner.

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Shortstop:  Tie- Jimmy Rollins & Barry Larkin

I know, another cop out (tie), but Barry Larkin and Jimmy Rollins each offer a notable body of work against Glavine – and were both were among the players tied for the most hits against Glavine at 29. Rollins showed a bit more power, Larkin a bit more patience.  And, more of Larkin’s numbers were delivered when Glavine was in his prime.

Jimmy Rollins – .372 average, 29 hits, ten doubles, 14 RBI.

Photo: Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Jimmy Rollins holds or is tied for the career lead in hits (29), home runs (6), doubles (10) and RBI (14) against Glavine. Overall, 17 of Rollins 29 hits went for extra bases.  Admittedly, a significant portion this damage was done toward the end of Glavine’s career, but those leadership positions are impossible to ignore.  (As a bit of explanation, eight of Rollins’ hits, two of his homers and three of his RBI against Glavine came in 2007 (Glavine’s age-41 season).

Rollins was a three-time All Star, four-time Gold Glover and the 2007 NL Most Valuable player. He played 17 seasons (2000-2016 … Phillies. Dodgers White Sox) and hit .264-231-936, with 1,421 runs scored and 470 stolen bases. He led the NL in triples four times, runs scored once  (topping 100 runs scored in six seasons) and stolen bases once (topping 40 steals in four seasons).

Barry Larkin … .309, 29 hits, three homers, 12 RBI, 14 walks

Photo: Rdikeman at the English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons

Hall of famer Barry Larkin faced Glavine in 34 games (1987-96, 1998-99, 2002,2004). He hit .309 (29 hits), with eight doubles, one triple, three homers and 12 RBI. He also walked 14 times versus Glavine versus just three whiffs.

Larkin’s numbers against Glavine were closer to his career norm than Rollins’ were to his. Larkin played 19 MLB seasons (1986-2004), all for the Reds.  He hit .295-198-960, with 1,329 runs scored and 379 steals. He was a 12-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glover and the 1995 NL Most Valuable Player. Larkin hit over .350 against Glavine in seven of the 14 seasons in which he faced the southpaw Hall of Famer.

 

Small Sample Shoutout at Short:  Luis Rivera faced Tom Glavine in just three games (1988 & 1994) and went six-for-eight, with a double, two home runs and four RBI.

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Left Field – Kevin Mitchell … .356, with five home runs and 12 RBI

Kevin Mitchell faced Glavine in 16 games (1987-91, 1993-94, 1996), putting up a .356-5-12 line.  Half of Mitchell’s hits against Glavine went for extra bases (three doubles and five home runs) – giving him a .756 career slugging percentage the lefty.

Closing Strong

In his first three games against Glavine, Mitchel went two-for-seven (.286), with zero extra-base hits, just one walk and four strikeouts.  Over his final 13 games against Glavine, he went 14-for-68 (.368), with eight extra-base hits, nine walks and three strikeouts.

In the same vein, in his first career plate appearance against Glavine (September 25. 1987), Mitchell struck out.  In his last plate appearance against Glavine September 4, 1996, he homered.

 

Kevin Mitchell played in 13 MLB seasons (1984, 1986-94, 1996-98 … Mets, Padres, Giants, Reds, Red Sox, Indians, Athletics), going .284-234-760 in 1,223 games. He was a two-time All Star and the NL MVP in 1989, when he hit .291-47-125 for the Giants – leading the league in HRs, RBI, slugging percentage and total bases.

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Center Field – Andruw Jones … .372 average, four home runs

Photo: User Chrisjnelson on en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Needed a leather and lumber guy in CF and Andruw Jones fit the bill.  In 18 games versus Glavine (2003-07), Jones hit .372, with four home runs and 11 RBI, Eight of his 16 hits versus Glavine went for extra bases (four doubles, four home runs) and he drew 11 walks to just four strikeouts, putting up a nice even .500 on-base percentage.

First Time’s the Charm

Andruw Jones homered on the second pitch he ever saw from Tom Glavine (May 24, 2003). The Braves defeated Glavine’s Mets 10-3 in that game.

Andruw Jones played in 17 MLB seasons (1996-2012 … Braves, Dodgers, Rangers, White Sox, Yankees), going .254-434-1,289, with 1,204 runs scored and 152 stolen bases.  He hit 30 or more home runs in seven seasons (a league-leading and career-high 51 in 2005). He was a five time All Star and ten-time Gold Glover in center field.

Andruw Jones and Tom Glavine were teammates on the Braves from 1996 through 2002.

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Right Field, Gary Sheffield – .293, five home runs, 13 RBI, 17 walks versus three whiffs, .461 OBP

Oh, I’d like to have seen those Gary Sheffield versus Tom Glavine at bats. Glavine working to expand the strike zone, Sheffield refusing to bite on the low-and -away pitch (17 walks versus three whiffs). Sheffield faced Glavine in 1992, 1994-2001, 2003, 2005 & 2007). He tied for the most career home runs off Glavine with six and had the fifth most RBI (13 – one off the lead). But what really put him in the LF spot (against some tough competition), was those 17 walks versus only three strikeouts.

In 1996, Gary Sheffield faced Tom Glavine 12 times in four games and got on base nine – seven walks and two home runs.  He did not strikeout against Glavine that season. Over his career, Sheffield never fanned more than once versus Glavine in any season and had just three whiffs in 76 plate appearances.

Some Bookends

On April 18, 1996, the Marlins’ Gary Sheffield rapped a home run off Tom Glavine in the first inning of a 5-3 Florida win over Atlanta. In his next seven plate appearances versus Glavine, Sheffield walked seven times (three intentional). He ended the streak of walks with another home run off Glavine on July 12 of that season.

Outfield Honorable Mentions: Barry Bonds went .329-4-14 in 33 games versus Glavine. Moises Alou also did well against Glavine at .351-3-14 in 25 games.

Apologies

Tony Gwynn tied for the most career hits versus Glavine, but did not make this lineup. One main reason, his .312 average versus Glavine was 26 points below his career average.

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Pitcher – Livan Hernandez … .412 average

Livan Hernandez faced Tom Glavine 20 times in eight games (1999, 2002-06) and delivered seven hits in 17 at bats (.412 average). Those hits included two triples (tied for the most against Glavine by any batter), one home run and three RBI.

On The Money

 In his very first game against Glavine (April 23, 1999), the Marlin’s Livan Hernandez got his money’s worth on the mound and at the plate. On the mound, he got the win (over the Braves) with a nine-hit, one-run, two-walk, nine-strikeout complete game.  At the plate, he flied out to deep right on the first pitch he saw from Tom Glavine (second inning); had an RBI sacrifice fly on an 0-2 pitch from Glavine in the fourth; hit a two-run homer on the first pitch he saw from Glavine in the sixth; and had an RBI single off reliever John Hudek in the seventh.

In their eight head-to-head pitching matchups, Glavine went 5-3, 2.56, while Hernandez went 3-5, 2.88. Hernandez was a solid hitter as a pitcher – .221-10-85 over 973 at bats over 17 seasons.

Honorable Mention: Gil Heredia faced Tom Glavine just three times (1994-95), but he delivered three hits. (all singles).  Heredia, by the way, was a good hitting pitcher. Over 10 MLB seasons, he put up a .213 average (19-0for-104), struck out just 11 times in 131 plate appearances.  The right hander went 57-51, 4.46 on the mound (1991-96, 1998-2001 … Athletics, Expos, Giants, Rangers.)

 

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Who’s Your Daddy?  The Inspiration.

On September 24, 2004, in the middle of a tight pennant race, the Yankees handed future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez and the Boston Red Sox a tough 6-4 loss.  Martinez went 7 1/3 innings giving up nine hits and five earned runs.  The game came just five days after (in his previous start) Martinez had lasted just five frames against the Bronx Bombers (eight hits, eight earned runs) in a 16-7 loss.

After that second loss, Martinez candidly commented, “What can I say? I just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy.”  Little did he know that his comment – and a Yankee fans’ chant of “Who’s your daddy?” would follow him into future starts in New York (all the way to his final MLB start – against the Yankees for the Phillies – in Game Six of the 2009 World Series).

The concept of “Who’s your daddy?” became the inspiration for Baseball Roundtable to take a look at the players who “had the number” of some of MLB’s premier pitchers.  Again, you can find links to the previous “editions” of “Who’s Your Daddy?” near the top of this post. 

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Primary Resource: Baseball-References.com.

 

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