Yesterday (April 17, 2019), the Cubs and Marlins faced off in Miami.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a particularly memorable game \u2013 the Cubs won 6-0.\u00a0 Something did catch BBRT\u2019s attention, however.\u00a0 In the nine-inning contest, only one walk was issued (by Marlins\u2019 starter Sandy Alcantara).\u00a0 That compares to a 2019 MLB average of 5.26 walks (combined) per game through yesterday.\u00a0 That spurred me to take a look at pitchers who \u201ctook control of the situation\u201d \u2013 and prompted today\u2019s Baseball Roundtable Trivia Teaser.<\/p>\n

BASEBALL ROUNDTABLE TRIVIA TEASER<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When you look at the MLB leaders in fewest walks per nine innings in a season, one thing stands out.\u00a0 Only one of the top 25 qualifying seasons occurred since 1900. <\/strong>(Keep in mind, the four-ball walk rule didn\u2019t come into play until 1889.) \u00a0Your question: Who is the only post-1899 MLB player to record one of the 25 lowest-ever\u00a0 walks-per-nine innings rates?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A couple of hints:\u00a0 He came in at a very respectable number seven \u2013 and he exhibited that control not just post-1899, but also post-1999.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a>Answer:\u00a0 Twins\u2019 right-hander Carlos Silva<\/strong><\/span>, who \u2013 in 2005 – walked just nine batters (two of those intentionally) in 188 1\/3 innings (a 0.4301 batters-per nine rate).\u00a0 This gives Silva the best single-season walks-per nine rate since 1900, the seventh-best all time and makes him one of only eleven pitchers in MLB history to record a qualifying season of less than .50 walks-per nine.\u00a0 Silva went 9-8, 3.44 in 27 starts that season.\u00a0 Silva had a nine season MLB career (2002-2010 for the Phillies, Twins, Mariners And Cubs) – going 70-70, 4.68.\u00a0 In 1,241 career innings, he walked 238 and fanned 554.\u00a0 His best season was 2004, when he went 14-8, 4.21 for Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Note: If you are wondering, the best-ever BB\/9 ratio belongs to George Zettlein of the 1876 National League Philadelphia Athletics, who walked just six batters in 234 innings. (0.2308 per nine frames pitched). Keep in mind that, in 1876, it took eight balls outside the zone to work a walk.\u00a0 Zettlein, by the way, went 4-20, 3.88 that season<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

A TALE OF TWO BUBBA\u2019S<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The MLB record for the most consecutive innings pitched without issuing a free pass belongs to the Kansas City Athletics\u2019 Bill Fischer \u2013 at 84 1\/3.\u00a0 Fischer walked the first batter he faced (the Indians\u2019 Bubba Phillips) in a start on August 3, 1962 and didn\u2019t walk another batter that game.\u00a0<\/strong> (He went the distance in a 1-0 loss.)\u00a0 In fact, he didn\u2019t walk another batter until the final day of the season (September 30), when he issued a free pass to the Tigers\u2019 Bubba Morton in the bottom of the fifth inning. In between, he tossed his 84 1\/3 walk-less frames and put up 12 straight walk-less appearances (11 starts).<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As you might guess, the best career walks-per nine inning rates are dominated by pitchers whose careers ended before 1900.\u00a0 The best of all?\u00a0 That was Hall of Famer Candy Cummings, whose career spanned six seasons (1872-77). Cummings walked 113 batters in 2,149 2\/3 innings \u2013 for a ratio of 0.4731. His final stat line was 145-94, 2.42, with 233 complete games in 241 starts.<\/p>\n

The first primarily post-1899 hurler to appear on the career list is Deacon Phillipe, whose career spanned 13 seasons (1899-1911).\u00a0 The Pirates’ righty walked 363 batter in 2,607 innings pitched (1.2532 per nine innings) for 16th place.\u00a0 The only other post-1900 players in the top twenty are Babe Adams (19 seasons between 1906 and 1926 and a 1.2910\/9 ratio) in the 18th spot and Dan Quisenberry (1979-90, with a 1.3974\/9 ratio) at number twenty..<\/p>\n

OKAY, SO WE DIDN\u2019T ALWAYS TRACK EVERYTHING<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Photo by apardavila<\/a> <\/a><\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

MLB didn\u2019t really get into pitch-by-pitch record keeping until 1988.\u00a0 However, since that time, the then Oakland A’s Bartolo Colon holds the record for consecutive strikes thrown in a game\u00a0<\/strong>(strikes, foul balls, balls put in play) at 38. His string started with the second pitch of the fifth inning (against the Angels in Anaheim)<\/em>\u00a0and went through the seventh pitch of the eighth frame.\u00a0 In between, he put together a string of 11 batters without tossing a \u201cball.\u201d Colon, by the way, threw eight innings of four-hit shutout ball in the 6-0 Athletics’ victory.\u00a0 He threw 82 strikes and 26 balls.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Primary Resource: Baseball-Reference.com<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/a>Baseball Roundtable is on the Feedspot list of the Top 100 Baseball Blogs.\u00a0 To see the full list, click\u00a0here.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I tweet baseball @DavidBBRT<\/h3>\n

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Member: Society for American Baseball Research (SABR); The Baseball Reliquary; The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday (April 17, 2019), the Cubs and Marlins faced off in Miami.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a particularly memorable game \u2013 the Cubs won 6-0.\u00a0 Something did catch BBRT\u2019s attention, however.\u00a0 In the nine-inning contest, only one walk was issued (by Marlins\u2019 starter Sandy Alcantara).\u00a0 That compares to a 2019 MLB average of 5.26 walks (combined) per […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n