Today I found myself wondering “What’s the high mark for most pitchers used by a team in a 9-inning  (or less) game where the team was not throwing a ton of pitches?”  Basically, I was looking for games where a manager was running pitchers in and out of a contest faster than someone with a severe sharting problem changes their underwear.  So, I used Baseball-Reference.com’s Play Index Team Pitching Game Finder and set the controls for “From 1954 to 2009, (requiring pitchers>=8, IP<=9 and Pitches<=150), sorted by greatest pitchers in a game” - and this is what I found:

  Cnt Date          Tm   Opp GmReslt  IP   H  R ER BB SO HR Pit Str IR IS  BF  AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk **Ptchrs**   ERA
+----+-------------+---+----+-------+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+--+--+--+----------+------+
    1 2006-09-25    HOU  PHI W  5-4   9    8  4  4  4  6  1 148  95  5  0  39  34  0  0   0   0  1  0   0  0  0  0        9     4.00
    2 2008-09-17    MIL  CHC W  6-2   9    6  2  2  3  8  1 140  91  1  0  36  32  0  0   0   0  1  0   0  0  0  0        8     2.00
    3 2008-09-09    FLA  PHI W 10-8   9   12  8  8  2  4  1 149  97  4  2  41  38  2  1   0   0  1  0   0  4  0  0        8     8.00
    4 2007-09-30    CHC  CIN L  4-8   8    9  8  8  1 10  1 138  90  2  0  36  33  2  0   0   2  0  0   0  1  0  1        8     9.00
    5 2006-09-30    ATL  HOU L  4-5   9   12  5  2  3  3  2 136  84  6  0  41  38  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  1  0        8     2.00
    6 2002-09-29    ATL  NYM L  1-6   8   10  6  2  2  9  2 141  91  1  0  34  30  2  0   0   0  2  0   1  1  1  0        8     2.25
    7 2002-07-07    ARI  SFG L  2-5   9   10  5  5  4  3  2 140  87  5  0  41  37  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  1  0  0        8     5.00
    8 1998-09-27    TBD  NYY L  3-8   8   10  8  8  4  5  1 135  83  7  3  36  31  1  0   0   0  0  1   0  1  1  0        8     9.00
    9 1996-09-27    MON  ATL L  4-6   9   13  6  6  2  7  2 134  83  5  2  43  39  1  0   0   0  1  1   0  1  0  0        8     6.00
   10 1995-09-27    DET  BOS W  7-5   9   16  5  5  0  2  1 118  89  8  1  42  42  4  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  0  1        8     5.00
   11 1995-09-18    MON  CIN L  4-7   8   14  7  7  3  4  0 129  80  7  2  40  37  3  2   0   0  0  0   0  2  0  1        8     7.88
   12 1994-07-07    OAK  BAL W  6-4   9    9  4  3  3  3  0 145  89  6  0  37  31  2  0   0   0  2  1   1  0  0  0        8     3.00
   13 1993-09-27    PIT  PHI L  4-6   9    8  6  6  8  3  1 144  76  6  1  41  33  1  1   0   0  0  0   1  0  1  1        8     6.00

Games found: 13.

Lotta September games here - as expected since teams have expanded rosters and more pitchers to use in September.  However, note those two games on July 7th.  Tony LaRussa and Bob Brenly really worked their pens in those games.

Since 1954, there have been 20 pitchers to shut out the Red Sox at Fenway Park where the start was among the first 35 games of the player’s career:

  Cnt CarGm Player            Date          Tm   Opp GmReslt App,Dec    IP   H  R ER BB SO HR Pit Str GmSc IR IS BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP   ERA
+----+-----+-----------------+-------------+---+----+-------+---------+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+--+--+--+--+--+------+
    1    15 Brett Anderson    2009-07-06    OAK @BOS W  6-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  2  9  0 111  72   90       31 29  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  1  0  0  0  0   0.00

    2    24 Jim Abbott        1989-08-30    CAL @BOS W  4-0  SHO9  ,W   9    4  0  0  4  7  0 129  79   82       34 30  2  0   0   0  0  0   2  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

    3    10 Scott Nielsen     1986-10-05    NYY @BOS W  7-0  SHO9  ,W   9    5  0  0  2  3  0           78       31 29  1  0   0   0  0  0   2  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

    4    18 Mark Langston     1984-07-01    SEA @BOS W  1-0  SHO9  ,W   9    3  0  0  6  8  0           83       34 27  1  0   1   0  1  0   0  0  1  1  0  0   0.00

    5    29 Jim Beattie       1979-05-18    NYY @BOS W 10-0  SHO9  ,W   9    4  0  0  2  1  0           78       31 29  1  0   0   0  0  0   2  1  0  0  0  0   0.00

    6    19 Rich Gale         1978-07-28    KCR @BOS W  4-0  SHO9  ,W   9    8  0  0  1  9  0           79       36 35  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  1   0.00

    7     3 Dave Rozema       1977-04-21    DET @BOS W  8-0  SHO9  ,W   9    4  0  0  0  4  0           83       31 31  2  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

    8    12 Ed Figueroa       1974-07-12    CAL @BOS W  7-0  SHO9  ,W   9   10  0  0  2  0  0           65       35 33  2  0   0   0  0  0   3  0  1  0  0  0   0.00

    9    24 Milt Wilcox       1972-04-17    CLE @BOS W  4-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  3  8  0           88       32 29  1  0   0   0  0  0   0  1  0  0  0  0   0.00

   10    27 Stan Bahnsen      1968-08-01    NYY @BOS W  1-0  SHO9  ,W   9    3  0  0  0 12  0           93       30 29  0  0   0   0  1  0   0  2  0  0  0  0   0.00

   11    23 Jim Nash          1967-04-30    KCA @BOS W  1-0  SHO9  ,W   9    5  0  0  3  7  0           81       34 31  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

   12    18 Luis Tiant        1964-09-30(1) CLE @BOS W  5-0  SHO9  ,W   9    4  0  0  1 11  0           89       33 32  1  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
   13     3 Mel Stottlemyre   1964-08-22(2) NYY @BOS W  8-0  SHO9  ,W   9    6  0  0  4  1  0           72       34 30  0  0   0   0  0  0   3  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

   14     7 Bo Belinsky       1962-05-20(2) LAA @BOS W  1-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  6  3  0           80       36 28  1  0   1   2  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

   15    26 Jim Archer        1961-08-06(2) KCA @BOS W  1-0  SHO9  ,W   9    5  0  0  5  4  0           76       36 31  1  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  1  0  0  0   0.00
   16    29 Norm Bass         1961-08-04    KCA @BOS W  5-0  SHO9  ,W   9    4  0  0  1  5  0           83       32 31  1  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

   17    23 Jack Kralick      1960-07-06    WSH @BOS W  4-0  SHO9  ,W   9    4  0  0  2  6  0           83       33 31  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

   18     7 Herb Score        1955-05-18    CLE @BOS W 19-0  SHO9  ,W   9    3  0  0  3  9  0           87       33 30  1  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

   19    28 George Zuverink   1954-06-05(1) DET @BOS W  6-0  SHO9  ,W   9    3  0  0  2  1  0           80       30 27  0  0   0   0  1  0   1  0  1  0  0  0   0.00
   20    26 Bob Keegan        1954-04-30    CHW @BOS W  5-0  SHO9  ,W   9    8  0  0  4  0  0           67       36 32  1  0   0   0  0  0   2  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

I saw this stat on the mobile version of ESPN.com (regarding Anderson’s performance last night.)

Incidentally, 18 guys have done it at Yankee Stadium against the Yankees:

    1    35 Mark Hendrickson  2003-07-21    TOR @NYY W  8-0  SHO7  ,W   7    5  0  0  2  2  0  94  62   67       26 24  1  0   0   0  0  0   1  1  0  0  0  0   0.00

    2    12 Arthur Rhodes     1992-07-29    BAL @NYY W  6-0  SHO9  ,W   9    5  0  0  2  8  0 117  76   83       32 30  0  1   0   0  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

    3    34 Scott Erickson    1991-06-24    MIN @NYY W  5-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  1  6  0 102  68   88       30 29  1  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  1   0.00

    4    10 Ed Correa         1986-05-02    TEX @NYY W  7-0  SHO9  ,W   9    3  0  0  5  9  0           85       36 31  2  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  1  0   0.00

    5    32 Teddy Higuera     1985-10-02    MIL @NYY W  1-0  SHO9  ,W   9    6  0  0  1  8  0           82       35 33  1  0   0   1  0  0   0  1  0  0  0  0   0.00

    6     9 Ron Romanick      1984-05-20    CAL @NYY W  3-0  SHO9  ,W   9    3  0  0  3  4  0           82       31 28  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  1  0  0  0  0   0.00

    7    12 Matt Young        1983-06-03    SEA @NYY W  5-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  2  8  0           89       31 29  1  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

    8     9 Brian Denman      1982-10-02    BOS @NYY W  5-0  SHO9  ,W   9    6  0  0  1  2  0           76       33 32  2  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  1   0.00
    9    15 Frank Viola       1982-08-24    MIN @NYY W  5-0  SHO9  ,W   9    6  0  0  1  8  0           82       33 32  1  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

   10    27 Mark Fidrych      1976-09-12(1) DET @NYY W  6-0  SHO9  ,W   9    9  0  0  1  5  0           73       35 34  1  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  1  0  0  0   0.00

   11    26 Vern Ruhle        1975-07-28    DET @NYY W  3-0  SHO9  ,W   9    6  0  0  0  1  0           76       31 31  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  1  1  0  0  0   0.00

   12    30 Roger Moret       1973-07-04(2) BOS @NYY W  1-0  SHO9  ,W   9    6  0  0  4  6  0           77       36 32  1  0   0   0  0  0   1  2  0  0  0  0   0.00

   13    30 Bill Gogolewski   1971-09-01    WSA @NYY W  2-0  SHO9  ,W   9    4  0  0  0  5  0           84       29 29  1  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

   14    35 Dick Drago        1969-08-30    KCR @NYY W  2-0  SHO9  ,W   9    6  0  0  0  1  0           76       34 34  1  0   0   0  0  0   0  1  0  0  0  0   0.00

   15     1 Billy Rohr        1967-04-14    BOS @NYY W  3-0  SHO9  ,W   9    1  0  0  5  2  0           82       33 28  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

   16     6 Jim Lonborg       1965-05-19    BOS @NYY W  3-0  SHO9  ,W   9    4  0  0  3  0  0           76       32 29  0  0   0   0  0  0   2  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

   17     1 Luis Tiant        1964-07-19(2) CLE @NYY W  3-0  SHO9  ,W   9    4  0  0  4 11  0           86       34 30  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  1   0.00

   18    12 Don Ferrarese     1956-05-12    BAL @NYY W  1-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  1  8  0           90       30 28  0  0   0   1  0  0   0  0  1  0  0  0   0.00

Luis Tiant is on both lists!

Reader Tomepp asked about this, so here is the list.

These are games where the pitcher getting credit for finishing the game (save or not) also faced zero batters.

  Cnt Player            Date          Tm   Opp GmReslt App,Dec    IP   H  R ER BB SO HR Pit Str GmSc IR IS BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP   ERA
+----+-----------------+-------------+---+----+-------+---------+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+--+--+--+--+--+------+
    1 Jesus Colome      2009-06-30    WSN @FLA L  5-7   2-2f      0    0  0  0  0  0  0               0  0  0  0  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  undef
    2 Duaner Sanchez    2009-05-13    SDP @CHC L  4-6   2-2f      0    0  0  0  0  0  0               0  0  0  0  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  undef

    3 Jensen Lewis      2008-09-03    CLE  CHW L  2-4   9-9f      0.1  0  0  0  0  0  0               1  0  0  0  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  1  0  0  0   0.00
    4 Ramon Ramirez     2008-08-01    KCR  CHW L  2-4   9-9f      0.1  0  0  0  0  0  0               2  0  0  0  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  1  0  0  0   0.00

    5 Dennys Reyes      2007-07-07    MIN @CHW L  1-3   8-8f      0.1  0  0  0  0  0  0               1  0  0  0  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  1  1  0  0   0.00
    6 Mike Stanton      2007-05-02    CIN @HOU L  1-3   8-8f      0.1  0  0  0  0  0  0               2  0  0  0  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  1  0  0   0.00

    7 Dave Weathers     2006-08-28    CIN @LAD L  5-6   8-8f      0.1  0  0  0  0  0  0               1  0  0  0  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  1  0  0  0   0.00
    8 Jose Mesa         2006-05-30    COL @SDP L  0-2   8-8f      0.1  0  0  0  0  0  0               1  0  0  0  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  1  0  0  0   0.00

    9 Mike Stanton      2005-07-15    WSN @MIL L  3-4  10-10f     0    0  0  0  0  0  0               2  1  0  0  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  1  0  undef
   10 Scott Munter      2005-05-26    SFG  LAD L  4-6   9-9f      0.1  0  0  0  0  0  0               1  0  0  0  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  1  0  0  0   0.00
   11 Joaquin Benoit    2005-05-04    TEX @OAK W 16-7   2-2f      0    0  0  0  0  0  0               0  0  0  0  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  undef
   12 Mike DeJean       2005-04-30    NYM @WSN L  3-5   2-2f      0    0  0  0  0  0  0               0  0  0  0  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  undef

   13 Jason Davis       2004-09-11    CLE @OAK L  4-5   8-8f      0.1  0  0  0  0  0  0               1  0  0  0  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  1  1  0  0   0.00
   14 Mike Myers        2004-08-06    BOS @DET L  3-4   8-8f      0.1  0  0  0  0  0  0               1  0  0  0  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  1  0  0  0   0.00
   15 Brian Boehringer  2004-05-09    PIT  LAD L  7-9  14-14f     0.1  0  0  0  0  0  0               2  0  0  0  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  1  0  0  0   0.00

These are the 15 most recent cases. The full list is here.

A few notes:

• This list includes all game-finishing performances, even for the top of the last inning. Click, for example, on the box score for #6 above. Stanton came in with 2 outs in the top of the 9th and picked off a runner. Then the Reds did not rally in the bottom of the 9th and lost the game. Stanton finished the Reds’ portion of the pitching for the game but he wasn’t on the mound at the end. One way to cut down on these sorts of entries is to limit the list just to team wins. See here for that list.
• Notice that Mitch Williams did this twice in 1989, both times ending a game by coming in and picking off a runner.
• The entry for #1, Jesus Colome, is a really weird case. The Marlins rallied against the previous pitcher Joe Biemel and Colome was brought in. He threw 7 pitches (5 for strikes) but then the game was suspended due to rain. In the end, since no batter finished an at-bat against Colome, he is shown as having faced 0 batters, but also was the last pitcher of the game for the Nationals.
• #15 above is also pretty weird. Boehringer came in and Paul LoDuca was caught steaing home in the top of the 14th. The Dodgers were ahead by 2 at that point and went on to win anyway.

Tomepp also asked about any game in which a pitcher got credited with at least one out but didn’t officially face any batters. That full list is right here. You can see that virtually all of the games involve stolen bases or pickoffs, and of course every single one of them has inherited baserunners. One exception is #46, a 2001 game between the Rays and Yankees that ended on this play:

So there was a passed ball that must have gotten pretty far away from Todd Greene. One runner scored but the second runner, Felix Martinez, got thrown out at home to end the game. I have to admit that for a moment I was very confused reading that scoring play above. I thought the bit at the end about “Rolls to 2B” was describing something that happened to the ball, which of course makes no sense. Then I realized it meant that runner Damian Rolls reached second base safely on the play. Heh.

Let’s take a look at all-time leaders for what I’m calling “perfect saves”, meaning saves in which the pitcher didn’t allow any baserunners.

Here are the top 10 totals for saves while allowing no baserunners:

                   Games Link to Individual Games
+-----------------+-----+-------------------------+
 Trevor Hoffman      280 Ind. Games      (1)
 Mariano Rivera      224 Ind. Games      (2)
 Dennis Eckersley    199 Ind. Games      (5)
 Billy Wagner        178 Ind. Games      (6)
 Lee Smith           171 Ind. Games      (3)
 Troy Percival       160 Ind. Games      (8)
 John Franco         151 Ind. Games      (4)
 Jeff Reardon        143 Ind. Games      (7)
 Tom Henke           138 Ind. Games      (17)
 Rick Aguilera       137 Ind. Games      (15)

This isn’t such a surprise, except for the last 2 guys. You see, the numbers in parentheses are the career ranks for saves (of any variety) for each guy. Both Henke and Aguilera had an unusually high proportion of perfect saves since they were able to vault into the top 10, passing guys like Randy Myers, Rollie Fingers, and John Wetteland, who had more career saves but fewer perfect ones.

Now here are the leaders for perfect saves (no baserunners) that were more than 1 inning long:

                   Games Link to Individual Games
+-----------------+-----+-------------------------+
 Rich Gossage         44 Ind. Games
 Lee Smith            40 Ind. Games
 Jeff Reardon         39 Ind. Games
 Mariano Rivera       38 Ind. Games
 Rollie Fingers       36 Ind. Games
 Dennis Eckersley     36 Ind. Games
 Bruce Sutter         33 Ind. Games
 Hoyt Wilhelm         30 Ind. Games
 John Wetteland       28 Ind. Games
 Jeff Montgomery      24 Ind. Games

Interestingly there are only 4 of the same names in the top 10. Of course, this goes down mainly to how these guys were used.

If we extend the innings pitched to at least 2, the list shows even more different names:

                   Games Link to Individual Games
+-----------------+-----+-------------------------+
 Rich Gossage         21 Ind. Games
 Hoyt Wilhelm         20 Ind. Games
 Bruce Sutter         19 Ind. Games
 Rollie Fingers       19 Ind. Games
 Gene Garber          17 Ind. Games
 Lee Smith            14 Ind. Games
 Jeff Reardon         14 Ind. Games
 Dan Quisenberry      14 Ind. Games
 Don McMahon          12 Ind. Games
 Dave Righetti        11 Ind. Games
 Ron Reed             11 Ind. Games
 Tug McGraw           11 Ind. Games
 Roger McDowell       11 Ind. Games
 Sparky Lyle          11 Ind. Games

Notice there’s not a single guy who pitched in the last 10 years.

And how about this. Here are saves where the pitcher faced at most 1 batter but recorded at least 2 outs:

                   Games Link to Individual Games
+-----------------+-----+-------------------------+
 Sparky Lyle           6 Ind. Games
 Bill Castro           5 Ind. Games
 Hal Woodeshick        4 Ind. Games
 Bob Stanley           4 Ind. Games
 Elias Sosa            4 Ind. Games
 Ron Perranoski        4 Ind. Games
 Jesse Orosco          4 Ind. Games
 Bob Locker            4 Ind. Games
 Turk Farrell          4 Ind. Games

The vast majority of these are double plays. Here are the most recent such saves:

  Cnt Player            Date          Tm   Opp GmReslt App,Dec    IP   H  R ER BB BR SO HR Pit Str GmSc IR IS BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP   ERA
+----+-----------------+-------------+---+----+-------+---------+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+--+--+--+--+--+------+
    1 Trevor Hoffman    2009-06-29    MIL  NYM W 10-6   9-9f ,S   0.2  0  0  0  0  0  0  0   1   1       2  0  1  1  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
    2 Ramon Troncoso    2009-06-18    LAD  OAK W  3-2   9-9f ,S   0.2  0  0  0  0  0  0  0   2   2       1  0  1  1  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
    3 Brad Lidge        2009-05-17    PHI @WSN W  8-6   9-9f ,S   0.2  0  0  0  0  0  0  0   2   1       1  0  1  1  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
    4 Jason Grilli      2009-04-15    COL @CHC W  5-2   9-9f ,S   1    0  0  0  0  0  0  0   6   3       2  0  1  1  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

Trevor Hoffman did it just the other day, inducing a GIDP. Same for Troncoso and Lidge. But what happened in Grilli’s case? Simple. Right after he came into the game, Mike Fontenot was thrown out on the basepaths and then Giovani Soto grounded into a double play.

Turns out that this save by Grilli is one of just three times that a pitcher has even earned a save while facing no more than 1 batter and recording at least 3 outs:

  Cnt Player            Date          Tm   Opp GmReslt App,Dec    IP   H  R ER BB BR SO HR Pit Str GmSc IR IS BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP   ERA
+----+-----------------+-------------+---+----+-------+---------+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+--+--+--+--+--+------+
    1 Jason Grilli      2009-04-15    COL @CHC W  5-2   9-9f ,S   1    0  0  0  0  0  0  0   6   3       2  0  1  1  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

    2 Barry Jones       1991-09-08    MON  CIN W  4-2   9-9f ,S   1    0  0  0  0  0  0  0   2   1       2  0  1  1  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

    3 Don Nottebart     1967-05-30    CIN  STL W  2-1   9-9f ,S   1    0  0  0  0  0  0  0               2  0  1  1  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

Barry Jones got Chris Sabo to ground into a triple play and Don Nottebart did the same to Phil Gagliano. Wow! What a way to end a game!

Here’s a new way to look at the career (so far) of David Ortiz to see just how high he has flown and how far he has fallen.

This graph shows a rolling total of Ortiz’s home runs over his career. At each point, it’s a total of his previous 162 games. The graph ends through his performance yesterday, which (for example) sums up his 70 games from this year with the last 92 games he played in 2008.

Click on the image for a larger version

To help you orient, I’ve also added the years covered by each career game number. Since Ortiz was a part time player for his first several years with the Twins, those years are compressed at the beginning.

For starters, focus just on the red line. This is his total number of HR in his last 162 games. We see that he reached a peak value of 63 in his 1002nd career game, coming at the end of 2006.  For bits of 2004, most of 2006, and some of 2007, Ortiz was over 50 HR in his last 162 games. However, 2007 saw a significant decline in his power output, as his rolling total started to steadily drop until leveling in the high 30s. Once again, though, at the start of 2009, his total fell off again as he went through his long homerless drought. The low point in 2006 has been 26 homers.

The blue line is a little bit more accurate, in that it normalizes his HR output by plate appearances. He did a fair amount of pinch-hitting early in his career, and thus his opportunities per game to hit HRs were fewer. The blue line ranks his plate appearances per home run over his last 162 games. In other words, it’s an average of how many plate appearances he had betwen home runs, and therefore a small number means hitting more home runs.

We see that in the last few weeks, the lines have turned around and started heading back in the right directions. His 162-game HR total is now 29 which, while up from his recent low of 26, is still way off his typical numbers since he’s been with the Red Sox.

My guess is that Ortiz will never pass 40 homers again over a 162-game span. That doesn’t mean he can’t be productive. I also ran the numbers for Ortiz’s RBI over his career and while this number is also down, it’s not down nearly as much as his HR. He hit a peak of 170 (wow!) RBI, also in his 1002nd career game, and his total is 116 now. The fact of the matter is that if he can put together a few more 30 HR, 110 RBI seasons, he’ll still be a very valuable player. He just won’t be the monster we saw in 2004-2006.

Via Baseball-Reference.com’s Play Index Pitching Game Finder, since 1954, RP with the most career “L” games where they faced just one batter in the game:

                   Games Link to Individual Games
+-----------------+-----+-------------------------+
 Mike Myers            7 Ind. Games
 Steve Kline           6 Ind. Games
 Dave Rucker           5 Ind. Games
 Ray King              4 Ind. Games
 Norm Charlton         4 Ind. Games
 Gary Wayne            3 Ind. Games
 Greg Swindell         3 Ind. Games
 Scott Schoeneweis     3 Ind. Games
 Ricardo Rincon        3 Ind. Games
 Dennis Powell         3 Ind. Games
 Dan Plesac            3 Ind. Games
 Bob McClure           3 Ind. Games
 Sparky Lyle           3 Ind. Games
 Graeme Lloyd          3 Ind. Games
 Dennis Kinney         3 Ind. Games
 Mike Jackson          3 Ind. Games
 Mike Holtz            3 Ind. Games
 Mark Guthrie          3 Ind. Games
 Rich Gossage          3 Ind. Games
 Tony Fossas           3 Ind. Games
 Eddie Fisher          3 Ind. Games
 John Candelaria       3 Ind. Games
 Jim Brewer            3 Ind. Games
 Tom Bolton            3 Ind. Games

Mike Myers has 24 career losses - and in 7 of them he faced only one batter.  Then again, Myers pitched in 314 games in the big leagues where he faced only one batter in the contest.

On Friday night Brett Gardner of the Yankees went 5 for 6 with a triple and a home run. It was the third game this year in which Gardner has both homered and tripled (thanks to Peter Abraham for opening my eyes to this). His third such game occurred in the Yankees’ 73rd game of the season and the 106th game of Gardner’s career.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tim Lincecum struck out only 8 batters last night, but check out where he ranks among 10+ strikeout games among the first 74 career cames for pitchers (since 1954):

                   Games Link to Individual Games
+-----------------+-----+-------------------------+
 Dwight Gooden        27 Ind. Games
 Herb Score           22 Ind. Games
 Kerry Wood           18 Ind. Games
 Mark Prior           16 Ind. Games
 Hideo Nomo           16 Ind. Games
 Tim Lincecum         15 Ind. Games
 Oliver Perez         14 Ind. Games
 Roger Clemens        13 Ind. Games
 Bobby Witt           12 Ind. Games
 Nolan Ryan           11 Ind. Games
 Vida Blue            11 Ind. Games
 Bob Turley           10 Ind. Games
 Tom Phoebus          10 Ind. Games
 Randy Johnson        10 Ind. Games
 Cole Hamels          10 Ind. Games
 Dennis Eckersley     10 Ind. Games
 Al Downing           10 Ind. Games

In case you’re wondering, 74 happens to be the number of games Lincecum has appeared in so far in his major-league career.

If we change it to most games with 8+ strikeouts, look who rises to number 1:

                   Games Link to Individual Games
+-----------------+-----+-------------------------+
 Tim Lincecum         39 Ind. Games
 Dwight Gooden        38 Ind. Games
 Kerry Wood           36 Ind. Games
 Herb Score           36 Ind. Games
 Mark Prior           35 Ind. Games
 Hideo Nomo           33 Ind. Games
 Roger Clemens        28 Ind. Games
 Frank Tanana         26 Ind. Games
 Oliver Perez         24 Ind. Games
 Ron Guidry           24 Ind. Games
 Vida Blue            24 Ind. Games
 Bobby Witt           23 Ind. Games
 Cole Hamels          23 Ind. Games
 Roy Oswalt           22 Ind. Games
 Jose DeLeon          22 Ind. Games
 Bert Blyleven        21 Ind. Games
 Greg Swindell        20 Ind. Games
 Ramon Martinez       20 Ind. Games
 Scott Kazmir         20 Ind. Games
 Al Downing           20 Ind. Games
 Dave Boswell         20 Ind. Games
 Bob Turley           19 Ind. Games
 A.J. Burnett         19 Ind. Games

Bet you didn’t see that coming, eh?

I thought it would be fun to see when each of the top 10 pitchers in career saves got their first RBI as batters. Mariano Rivera got his in the same game as his 500th career save.

Here are the saves leaders through Monday morning:

  Cnt Player             **SV** From  To   Ages   G   GS  CG SHO  GF  W   L   W-L%   IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO    ERA  ERA+  HR   BF  IBB HBP  BK  WP Teams
+----+-----------------+-------+----+----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+------+----+----+----+----+----+------+----+---+-----+---+---+---+---+-----------+
    1 Trevor Hoffman      571   1993 2009 25-41  953   0   0   0 794  57  67  .460 1010.2  779  341  310  279 1074   2.76  146  90  4062  54   8   0  47 TOT-SDP-MIL
    2 Mariano Rivera      500   1995 2009 25-39  881  10   0   0 740  69  51  .575 1054.1  828  292  270  247  973   2.30  197  58  4218  31  37   3  11 NYY
    3 Lee Smith           478   1980 1997 22-39 1022   6   0   0 802  71  92  .436 1289.1 1133  475  434  486 1251   3.03  131  89  5387 100  10   4  47 CHC-BOS-TOT-STL-BAL-CAL-TOT-MON
    4 John Franco         424   1984 2005 23-44 1119   0   0   0 774  90  87  .508 1245.2 1166  466  400  495  975   2.89  137  81  5312  78  22   9  54 CIN-NYM-HOU
    5 Dennis Eckersley    390   1975 1998 20-43 1071 361 100  20 577 197 171  .535 3285.2 3076 1382 1278  738 2401   3.50  116 347 13534  91  75  16  28 CLE-BOS-TOT-CHC-OAK-STL
    6 Billy Wagner        385   1995 2008 23-36  765   0   0   0 637  39  37  .513  818    555  243  218  270 1066   2.40  180  76  3269  23  29   1  40 HOU-PHI-NYM
    7 Jeff Reardon        367   1979 1994 23-38  880   0   0   0 695  73  77  .487 1132.1 1000  426  397  358  877   3.16  121 109  4720  65  27   4  20 NYM-TOT-MON-MIN-BOS-CIN-NYY
    8 Troy Percival       358   1995 2009 25-39  703   1   0   0 546  35  43  .449  708.2  479  271  250  306  781   3.17  146  85  2915  25  27   2  32 CAL-ANA-DET-STL-TBR
    9 Randy Myers         347   1985 1998 22-35  728  12   1   0 548  44  63  .411  884.2  758  338  314  396  884   3.19  122  69  3744  43  12   2  32 NYM-CIN-SDP-CHC-BAL-TOT
   10 Rollie Fingers      341   1968 1985 21-38  944  37   4   2 709 114 118  .491 1701.1 1474  615  549  492 1299   2.90  119 123  6942 109  39   7  40 OAK-SDP-MIL

Trevor Hoffman’s first RBI came in this game in 1995, and is typical of what I’d expect to see for closers. He came in during extra innings and stayed in the game to bat after throwing 19 pitches in the bottom of the 9th. In the top of the 10th, Hoffman his a 2-run double as part of a 9-run rally.  Hoffman pitched the bottom of the 10th, allowing a solor homer to Charlie Hayes but earning the win.

Mariano Rivera got his first RBI on Sunday night, drawing a bases-loaded walk off Francisco Rodriguez. This is particularly surprising given that Mark Teixeira was batting after Rivera. You’d think K-Rod would have gone after Mariano.

Lee Smith’s first RBI came in this 1982 game where he was the starting pitcher. He hit a solo homer off Phil Niekro in the top of the 2nd.

John Franco’s only career RBI came in 1985, in a very similar situation to that of Trevor Hoffman. He pitched the bottom of the 10th, hit a bases-loaded single to score 1 run as part of a 7-run rally in the top of the 11th, then retired the Braves in the bottom of the inning. 1 win and 1 RBI.

Dennis Eckersley’s first RBI came in 1984 when he joined the National League. He hit a run-scoring single as the starting pitcher. Later in 1986, he had 10 RBI in one season!

Billy Wagner’s only career RBI to date came in 2003, again in similar fashion to Hoffman and Franco. He finished off the 8th, was part of a 4-run rally in the 9th (getting his RBI on a bases-loaded walk like Rivera) and finished up the 9th. The only difference here was that the Astros were already leading when Wagner came in so he earned a save, not a win.

Jeff Reardon’s first RBI came in the same circumstance as Wagner’s in this 1982 game. He came in to pitch the 8th inning with the Expos already leading, hit an RBI double during a 2-run 9th inning, then pitched the 9th. As the Expos were already ahead 9-3 when Reardon came in, he didn’t get a save or a win.

Troy Percival has never had an RBI!  He’s had only 5 career plate appearances, 4 of them coming during his lone year in the NL and all of them resulting in strikeouts. He did have a runner on first 3 times.

Randy Myers spelled David Cone with one out in the 8th inning of this 1988 game and then batted in the 9th, doubling in a run. He then retired the side in the 9th for a save.

Rollie Fingers pitched much earlier than rest of these guys and  consequently had a fair number of plate appearances even when pitching as a reliever (since, back in those days, even closers often pitched 2 or 3 innings routinely.) But it was a the starting pitcher in this 1970 game that Fingers got his first RBI, coming on a solo homer in the 9th off John Gelnar that padded the score to 4-1. Fingers notched the complete-game victory.

Well that was a fun little exercise. Totally meaningless, but fun!

Mariano Rivera recorded his 500th career save last night so this week I’m going to look a bit at his achievement in historical perspective. Don’t worry Yankee haters–these posts will not be focused on how wonderful the Yankees (and Rivera) are.

Anyway, last night was also Rivera’s 110th career save of more than 1 inning. Here are the career leaders in such saves:

                   Games Link to Individual Games
+-----------------+-----+-------------------------+
 Rollie Fingers      201 Ind. Games
 Rich Gossage        193 Ind. Games
 Bruce Sutter        188 Ind. Games
 Lee Smith           169 Ind. Games
 Dan Quisenberry     160 Ind. Games
 Jeff Reardon        152 Ind. Games
 Sparky Lyle         134 Ind. Games
 Mike Marshall       127 Ind. Games
 Gene Garber         127 Ind. Games
 Hoyt Wilhelm        125 Ind. Games
 Mariano Rivera      109 Ind. Games
 Dave Righetti       108 Ind. Games
 Ron Perranoski      107 Ind. Games
 Doug Jones          106 Ind. Games
 Dennis Eckersley    106 Ind. Games
 Steve Bedrosian     105 Ind. Games
 Tug McGraw          104 Ind. Games
 Stu Miller          102 Ind. Games
 Kent Tekulve        100 Ind. Games

(The database hasn’t updated yet today which is why it shows Rivera with 109 such saves.)

It’s interesting that Trevor Hoffman, despite having more saves than Rivera, doesn’t make this list. This probably has a lot to do with how each player was managed and used and also perhaps the strength of the bullpens of each team. Turns out that Hoffman, despite having 571 career saves, has only 55 saves of more than 1 inning. The last came in 2004 and he has only 3 such saves since 2001. So I guess he really does not get used in such situations very much.

Notice that neither guy is anywhere close to the record for >1 IP saves, thanks in part to the way the game is played. It used to be quite commonplace for a closer like Gossage to pitch the final 2 or 3 innings of a game.

In fact, here’s a quick look at the fraction of saves that were greater than 1 inning each year. Here are saves of more than 1 inning, summed by year. Here are saves of 1 inning or less. Using that data, here’s a graph showing the fraction of saves each year that are more than 1 IP:

(click on graph for a larger version)

This graph should be called “The LaRussa/Eckersley effect” since that first big drop from about 60% to about 50% occurred in 1988 when LaRussa adopted the model of bringing Eck in for just the 9th inning, and baseball has never looked back. Except for a flew blips about 10 years ago, the percentage of >1 IP saves has been steadily diminishing. Last year was an all-time low of 10.5% and this year has seen just 8.4% of saves going 4 outs or more.

Rivera is certainly a rare bird these days. Since 2005, he leads all of baseball in >1 IP saves and it looks like Papelbon will take over that torch once Rivera retires.