Welcome to another edition Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesday, a weekly presentation of baseball occurrences that for some reason caught The Roundtable\u2019s eye.\u00a0 (I\u2019m particularly fond of unexpected performances or statistical coincidences.) These won\u2019t necessarily be momentous occurrences, just events, statistics or coincidences that caught my eye.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start this one with a Trivia(l) question.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cIn 2005, when he pitched 188 1\/3 innings for the Twins, how many right-handed hitters did Carlos Silva walk?\u201d<\/strong> The answer is one \u2013 the Tigers\u2019 Craig Monroe<\/strong> \u2013 and that was Silva\u2019s one intentional walk that season. \u00a0It came in the fourth inning of a game in Detroit.\u00a0 The Twins were trailing 1-0, there were two outs and a runner on second. Monroe, who was hitting in the .290s came up and Silva was ordered to send him to first base, bringing up 2B Omar Infante<\/strong>, who came into the game with a .233 average. Silva fanned infante on five pitches.\u00a0 So, not a single righty was able to \u201cwork\u201d Silva for a walk all season.\u00a0 Monroe, by the way, drew only 40 walks in 623 plate appearance in 2005.<\/p>\n

Silva\u2019s 2005 season saw him produce the lowest single-season walks per nine innings mark by qualifying AL\/NL pitcher since the four-ball walk rule was instituted<\/strong><\/em> (Four balls became a walk in 1888, prior to that walks were \u2013 at varying times \u2013 nine, eight, six and five balls.)\u00a0 Silva walked just nine batters in 188 1\/3 innings \u2013 a stingy 0.43 walks per nine frames.\u00a0 Note: Baseball-Reference.com indicates Negro League rankings from 1920-48 are not yet complete.<\/p>\n

Silva pitched in nine MLB seasons (2002-20 \u2026 Phillies, Twins, Mariners, Cubs), going 70-70, 4.68. While he had a solid 1.7 nine walks per nine innings over his career, 2005 was the only year he led his league in fewest walks per nine. That season, he gave up zero walks in 18 of his 27 starts and one walk in each of the other nine.\u00a0 He finished at 9-8, 3.44.<\/p>\n

As an aside, among the 25 lowest single-season qualifying walk rates, Silva\u2019s is the only one recorded post-1888.\u00a0 At number 26 is Charles \u201cBabe\u201d Adams\u2019<\/strong> 1920 season at 0.62 (18 walks in 263 innings).<\/p>\n

<\/a>A perhaps not so Trivia(l) tidbit.\u00a0 On July 17, 1914 Adams<\/strong> started for the Pirates against future Hall of Famer Rube Marquard<\/strong> (of the Giants).\u00a0 To that point in the season, Adams had gone 7-9, 1.96 \u2013 and had walked only 22 batters in 142 1\/3 innings pitched (1.4 walks per nine innings). He would be a lot stingier with the free passes on that day.\u00a0 Adams, in fact, would set the MLB record for the most innings pitched in a single outing without giving up a walk.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 Adams went the distance in a 21-inning, 3-1 Pirates\u2019 loss (the Giants\u2019 Marquard also pitched the full 21 innings). In the 21 frames, Adams gave up just 12 hits \u2013 and zero walks \u2013 while fanning six. Marquard gave up 15 hits and two walks, while fanning just two. The game was tied at one apiece after 20 innings, but the Giants got to Adams for two in the top of the 21st \u2013 on a single by CF Bob Bescher<\/strong> and an inside-the-park homer by 2B Larry Doyle<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Adams pitched in 19 MLB seasons (1906-07, 1909-16, 1918-26).\u00a0 He pitched for the Pirates in all but the 1906 season (Cardinals). Adams went 194-140, 2.76 over his career\u00a0 and led the NL in fewest walks per nine innings in four straight seasons (1919-22), finishing the league\u2019s top-three in the category in nine times.<\/p>\n

For those who like to know such things, the most consecutive innings pitched without allowing a walk in 84 1\/3 by Athletics\u2019 Bill Fisher –\u00a0<\/strong> between the first batter of a game on August 3, 1962 and the second batter of the fifth inning of a game on September 30, 1962 (covering 13 starts and one relief appearance). Fisher pitched in nine MLB seasons (1956-64 \u2026 White Sox, Tigers, Senators, Athletics, Twins), going 45-58, 4.34 in 281 games (78 starts).<\/p>\n

Primary Resources:<\/em>\u00a0 Baseball-Reference.com; Baseball-Almanac.com<\/p>\n

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P1049<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to another edition Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesday, a weekly presentation of baseball occurrences that for some reason caught The Roundtable\u2019s eye.\u00a0 (I\u2019m particularly fond of unexpected performances or statistical coincidences.) These won\u2019t necessarily be momentous occurrences, just events, statistics or coincidences that caught my eye. Let\u2019s start this one with a Trivia(l) question. \u201cIn 2005, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n