Loyal reader and all-around genius Brian asked me to post about GIDPs over the last 10 years.

Let’s start with the top 20 (actually 21) totals for grounded-into-double-plays over the last 10 seasons:

  Cnt Player            **GDP** From  To   Ages   G    PA    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  BB  IBB  SO  HBP  SH  SF  SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions Teams
+----+-----------------+-------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+---+----+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+
    1 Miguel Tejada       208   2000 2009 26-35 1505  6511  5964  923 1772 348  15 244 1006  409  59  728  83   4  51   60  21  .297  .348  .483  .831 *6/D      OAK-BAL-HOU
    2 Paul Konerko        189   2000 2009 24-33 1406  5790  5107  753 1430 262   2 283  905  564  50  833  65   0  54    6   1  .280  .356  .498  .854 *3/D5     CHW
    3 Vladimir Guerrero   185   2000 2009 25-34 1378  5872  5208  892 1689 316  30 304 1008  557 212  639  63   0  44  147  67  .324  .393  .572  .965 *9D       MON-ANA-LAA
    4 Magglio Ordonez     168   2000 2009 26-35 1288  5466  4895  781 1537 320  13 224  930  488  29  627  34   0  49   68  33  .314  .377  .522  .899 *9/D8     CHW-DET
    5 Albert Pujols       168   2001 2009 21-29 1324  5746  4865 1014 1626 362  13 350 1059  765 185  541  63   1  52   55  29  .334  .427  .630 1.057 *37/59D64 STL
    6 Edgar Renteria      161   2000 2009 24-33 1385  5870  5265  794 1533 312  16 106  677  478  34  712  18  55  54  159  59  .291  .349  .417  .766 *6/D3     STL-BOS-ATL-DET-SFG
    7 Ivan Rodriguez      153   2000 2009 28-37 1166  4747  4434  628 1330 273  30 158  626  242  31  767  24  12  35   64  33  .300  .337  .482  .819 *2/D34    TEX-FLA-DET-TOT-HOU
    8 Derek Jeter         151   2000 2009 26-35 1425  6574  5812 1036 1830 305  26 153  696  579  24  944 105  55  23  206  45  .315  .386  .455  .841 *6/D      NYY
    9 Torii Hunter        146   2000 2009 24-33 1315  5385  4927  761 1356 297  27 221  817  374  40  951  52   1  31  148  61  .275  .331  .481  .812 *8/D7     MIN-LAA
   10 Bengie Molina       146   2000 2009 25-34 1156  4417  4130  397 1143 191   5 128  633  168  20  398  41  22  56    3   6  .277  .308  .418  .726 *2/D      ANA-LAA-TOR-SFG
   11 Mike Lowell         144   2000 2009 26-35 1372  5693  5093  691 1431 355   7 199  845  480  42  685  47   1  72   28  14  .281  .344  .471  .815 *5/4D     FLA-BOS
   12 Manny Ramirez       143   2000 2009 28-37 1286  5580  4687  895 1496 313   9 337 1068  784 161 1023  63   0  46   10   8  .319  .420  .606 1.026 *7D9      CLE-BOS-TOT-LAD
   13 Michael Young       143   2000 2009 23-32 1296  5756  5288  790 1591 302  42 125  686  385   8  854  16  25  42   73  22  .301  .348  .445  .793 *64/5D    TEX
   14 Alex Rodriguez      142   2000 2009 24-33 1454  6468  5471 1141 1658 274  15 419 1188  816  80 1178 122   0  59  167  35  .303  .401  .588  .989 *56/D     SEA-TEX-NYY
   15 Jeff Kent           142   2000 2008 32-40 1266  5377  4756  754 1429 327  29 216  850  504  39  752  63   0  54   45  29  .300  .371  .518  .889 *4/3D     SFG-HOU-LAD
   16 Carlos Lee          141   2000 2009 24-33 1436  6029  5451  842 1584 322  11 277  965  471  44  720  34   2  71  108  38  .291  .347  .506  .853 *7/D      CHW-MIL-TOT-HOU
   17 Orlando Cabrera     139   2000 2009 25-34 1456  6186  5638  735 1543 350  19  98  649  416  21  526  23  39  70  179  43  .274  .322  .395  .717 *6/D4     MON-TOT-LAA-CHW-OAK
   18 Adrian Beltre       138   2000 2009 21-30 1414  5885  5400  708 1468 304  21 225  804  395  43  916  40   8  42   86  30  .272  .324  .461  .785 *5/D64    LAD-SEA
   19 Derrek Lee          138   2000 2009 24-33 1378  5741  4994  801 1449 316  24 251  783  650  64 1112  51   2  44   93  41  .290  .375  .514  .889 *3/D      FLA-CHC
   20 Aramis Ramirez      138   2000 2009 22-31 1259  5228  4728  669 1364 295  14 247  866  377  39  684  65   1  57   13  12  .288  .346  .514  .860 *5/D      PIT-TOT-CHC
   21 Shawn Green         138   2000 2007 27-34 1235  5196  4569  727 1285 281  20 209  694  538  64  805  52   1  36   86  27  .281  .361  .489  .850 *93/8D    LAD-ARI-TOT-NYM

To get a lot of GIDPs, I think there are several key factors:

• You have to play a lot. These guys are pretty much all superstars who rarely sit and therefore played  a lot of games. More games means more opportunities to hit into double plays.
• You probably aren’t very fast. The majority of the players on this list–Tejada, Konerko, Molina, Lowell, Kent, and Green come right to mind–are slow players. A few (Jeter and Hunter stick out) are fast, but we’ll come back to them in a minute.
• You almost certainly don’t bat leadoff, since leadoff hitters always get at least one plate appearance per game where they cannot possibly GIDP (the first one.) Nobody on the list above has spent significant time hitting leadoff except for Jeter, and most of the time since 2000 he’s hit second.
• You probably play for a team that scores a lot of runs. More runs means more plate appearance, which means more opportunities to ground into double plays. Notice that most of these guys come from teams that made multiple playoff appearances over the last 10 years. If a team makes the playoffs, it probably scores more runs and therefore also grounds into more double plays.

You probably are starting to see the trouble with a list like this. There are lots of external factors that come into play when grounding into a double play and it would be a lot better if we could normalize the total by total possible “chances” for a double play, i.e. batting with a runner on first and less than 2 outs. Of course this normalization can be done, but not easily with the PI.

Even if we just normalized by plate appearances, you can see that catchers I-Rod and Molina would rank much higher. They’ve racked up their GIDPs in many fewer plate appearances.

So here is the list of fewest GIDPs over the last 10 years, minimum 4000 plate appearances:

  Cnt Player            **GDP**   PA  From  To   Ages   G    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  BB  IBB  SO  HBP  SH  SF  SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions Teams
+----+-----------------+-------+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+---+----+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+
    1 Ichiro Suzuki        43    6286 2001 2009 27-35 1356  5797  927 1925 213  67  79  491  396 138  555  42  23  28  332  75  .332  .377  .433  .810 *98/D     SEA
    2 Barry Bonds          49    4072 2000 2007 35-42  986  2871  772  925 178  12 317  697 1128 390  427  53   0  20   54   9  .322  .517  .724 1.241 *7/D      SFG
    3 Carl Crawford        51    4427 2002 2009 20-27 1009  4127  616 1218 173  87  78  472  223  16  620  25  26  26  345  71  .295  .333  .436  .769 *7/8D     TBD-TBR
    4 Johnny Damon         53    6488 2000 2009 26-35 1423  5760 1069 1675 320  58 150  699  624  20  717  27  28  49  260  63  .291  .360  .445  .805 *87D/39   KCR-OAK-BOS-NYY
    5 Craig Counsell       55    4054 2000 2009 29-38 1103  3511  496  904 162  28  32  269  444  24  494  40  32  27   95  43  .257  .345  .347  .692 645/3     ARI-MIL
    6 Kenny Lofton         55    4237 2000 2007 33-40 1007  3741  676 1072 171  56  67  369  408  12  426  16  41  31  189  53  .287  .357  .416  .773 *8/79D    CLE-TOT-NYY-PHI-LAD
    7 Cliff Floyd          57    4232 2000 2009 27-36 1082  3682  598 1040 232  10 182  630  439  74  726  75   0  36   90  17  .282  .367  .499  .866 *79D      FLA-TOT-NYM-CHC-TBR-SDP
    8 Brian Roberts        59    4751 2001 2009 23-31 1059  4190  681 1186 290  33  69  404  474  21  620   8  42  37  243  62  .283  .354  .417  .771 *4/6D     BAL
    9 J.D. Drew            60    4612 2000 2009 24-33 1164  3841  735 1095 210  37 186  622  681  43  848  42  15  33   65  28  .285  .395  .504  .899 *98/7D    STL-ATL-LAD-BOS
   10 Adam Dunn            61    5105 2001 2009 21-29 1214  4160  738 1030 214   8 300  731  863  90 1351  58   2  22   59  20  .248  .382  .519  .901 *739/D    CIN-TOT-WSN
   11 Darin Erstad         61    4498 2000 2009 26-35 1146  4106  609 1158 211  20  71  461  311  28  632  26  27  28  120  34  .282  .334  .395  .729 837/D9    ANA-LAA-CHW-HOU
   12 Rafael Furcal        61    5526 2000 2009 22-31 1226  4935  829 1404 241  54  86  437  501  17  706  15  45  30  264  79  .284  .350  .407  .757 *6/4      ATL-LAD
   13 Alfonso Soriano      61    5686 2000 2009 24-33 1272  5252  842 1465 327  23 283  736  324  51 1146  65   8  37  255  70  .279  .327  .512  .839 *47/856D  NYY-TEX-WSN-CHC
   14 Steve Finley         61    4059 2000 2007 35-42 1045  3609  538  962 174  39 151  518  375  34  533  24  18  33   78  36  .267  .337  .462  .799 *8/D91    ARI-TOT-LAA-SFG-COL
   15 Jose Cruz            63    4179 2000 2008 26-34 1073  3628  536  896 200  29 153  469  496  28  840   5  21  29   81  29  .247  .336  .445  .781 987/D     TOR-SFG-TBD-TOT-LAD-SDP-HOU
   16 Jeromy Burnitz       63    4011 2000 2006 31-37 1016  3527  536  867 171  12 192  575  409  47  825  47   2  26   32  30  .246  .330  .464  .794 *98/7D    MIL-NYM-TOT-COL-CHC-PIT
   17 Gary Matthews        68    4310 2000 2009 25-34 1167  3841  576  991 210  28 106  448  412  25  779  16  12  29   89  35  .258  .330  .410  .740 *897/D    CHC-TOT-TEX-LAA
   18 Juan Pierre          68    5924 2000 2009 22-31 1364  5409  785 1630 198  75  13  381  331   7  329  65 106  13  452 151  .301  .348  .373  .721 *87/D     COL-FLA-CHC-LAD
   19 Cristian Guzman      70    4686 2000 2009 22-31 1104  4363  599 1208 205  79  56  384  214  15  597  22  60  27  109  57  .277  .312  .399  .711 *6/D      MIN-WSN
   20 Jim Edmonds          71    4757 2000 2008 30-38 1216  3968  743 1113 253  13 261  768  700  69 1111  33   7  49   39  26  .280  .389  .548  .937 *8/3D7    STL-TOT

The list is pretty what we might have expected. Note that Ichiro has the lowest total but also has by far the most plate appearances of these guys.

Note the following trensd among these players:

• You’re probably fast, which helps avoid grounding into double plays. (All the fastest guys are here…Ichiro, Damon, Crawford, Lofton, Furcal, Pierre, Guzman…)
• You probably bat leadoff, which really helps a lot inkeeping the GIDP total down.
• If you’re not fast, you’re probably a power hitter who hits lots of fly balls and strikes out a lot (Drew, Dunn, Edmonds, Burnitz).
• Your team is probably not one of the best. Fewer wins means fewer runs means fewer plate appearances means fewer GIDP opportunities.

And finally, if you’re on the fewest GIDP list, there’s a decent chance you’re also on the most-SB list:

  Cnt Player             **SB**    PA  From  To   Ages   G    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  BB  IBB  SO  HBP  SH  SF GDP  CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions Teams
+----+-----------------+--------+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+---+----+---+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+
    1 Juan Pierre          452    5924 2000 2009 22-31 1364  5409  785 1630 198  75  13  381  331   7  329  65 106  13  68 151  .301  .348  .373  .721 *87/D     COL-FLA-CHC-LAD
    2 Carl Crawford        345    4427 2002 2009 20-27 1009  4127  616 1218 173  87  78  472  223  16  620  25  26  26  51  71  .295  .333  .436  .769 *7/8D     TBD-TBR
    3 Ichiro Suzuki        332    6286 2001 2009 27-35 1356  5797  927 1925 213  67  79  491  396 138  555  42  23  28  43  75  .332  .377  .433  .810 *98/D     SEA
    4 Jimmy Rollins        307    6150 2000 2009 21-30 1328  5604  893 1536 326  91 132  577  449  35  734  32  32  33  80  66  .274  .330  .435  .765 *6/4      PHI
    5 Bobby Abreu          283    6600 2000 2009 26-35 1499  5520 1010 1642 395  36 207  942  994  80 1161  25   2  59 105  85  .297  .403  .495  .898 *9/8D7    PHI-TOT-NYY-LAA
    6 Luis Castillo        266    5668 2000 2009 24-33 1276  4949  786 1466 150  49  25  349  601  12  568  10  89  19  98 105  .296  .372  .361  .733 *4        FLA-MIN-TOT-NYM
    7 Rafael Furcal        264    5526 2000 2009 22-31 1226  4935  829 1404 241  54  86  437  501  17  706  15  45  30  61  79  .284  .350  .407  .757 *6/4      ATL-LAD
    8 Johnny Damon         260    6488 2000 2009 26-35 1423  5760 1069 1675 320  58 150  699  624  20  717  27  28  49  53  63  .291  .360  .445  .805 *87D/39   KCR-OAK-BOS-NYY
    9 Carlos Beltran       256    6014 2000 2009 23-32 1373  5239  951 1476 306  54 249  912  671  61  942  28  16  60  89  30  .282  .363  .503  .866 *8/D97    KCR-TOT-NYM
   10 Alfonso Soriano      255    5686 2000 2009 24-33 1272  5252  842 1465 327  23 283  736  324  51 1146  65   8  37  61  70  .279  .327  .512  .839 *47/856D  NYY-TEX-WSN-CHC
   11 Brian Roberts        243    4751 2001 2009 23-31 1059  4190  681 1186 290  33  69  404  474  21  620   8  42  37  59  62  .283  .354  .417  .771 *4/6D     BAL
   12 Derek Jeter          206    6574 2000 2009 26-35 1425  5812 1036 1830 305  26 153  696  579  24  944 105  55  23 151  45  .315  .386  .455  .841 *6/D      NYY
   13 Mike Cameron         205    5552 2000 2009 27-36 1316  4805  759 1215 276  40 211  729  622  14 1351  64  18  43  80  54  .253  .344  .459  .803 *8/9D     SEA-NYM-SDP-MIL
   14 Kenny Lofton         189    4237 2000 2007 33-40 1007  3741  676 1072 171  56  67  369  408  12  426  16  41  31  55  53  .287  .357  .416  .773 *8/79D    CLE-TOT-NYY-PHI-LAD
   15 Julio Lugo           187    4856 2000 2009 24-33 1186  4325  635 1172 225  28  78  439  403   4  788  34  56  38  73  62  .271  .335  .390  .725 *6/457D98 HOU-TOT-TBD-BOS
   16 Orlando Cabrera      179    6186 2000 2009 25-34 1456  5638  735 1543 350  19  98  649  416  21  526  23  39  70 139  43  .274  .322  .395  .717 *6/D4     MON-TOT-LAA-CHW-OAK
   17 Alex Rodriguez       167    6468 2000 2009 24-33 1454  5471 1141 1658 274  15 419 1188  816  80 1178 122   0  59 142  35  .303  .401  .588  .989 *56/D     SEA-TEX-NYY
   18 Randy Winn           166    5681 2000 2009 26-35 1344  5108  723 1478 324  43 103  579  435  20  803  50  42  46  87  62  .289  .348  .430  .778 897/D5    TBD-SEA-TOT-SFG
   19 Edgar Renteria       159    5870 2000 2009 24-33 1385  5265  794 1533 312  16 106  677  478  34  712  18  55  54 161  59  .291  .349  .417  .766 *6/D3     STL-BOS-ATL-DET-SFG
   20 Omar Vizquel         151    5281 2000 2009 33-42 1246  4627  638 1251 208  40  43  450  476  21  483  28 111  39  98  65  .270  .339  .360  .699 *6/54     CLE-SFG-TEX

Note this list is also minimum 4000 (to limit to the same group of players). A few guys (Jose Reyes, Chone Figgins, Scott Podsednik, Dave Roberts, and Willy Taveras) would make the top 20 for SB if not for this requirement.

There are 8 names in common from the SB and fewest GIDP lists, while there are 4 names in common from the SB and most GIDP lists. So being fast doesn’t ensure that you won’t ground into a lot of DPs but I guess it helps some.

The Rangers Chris Davis is heading into the week before the All-Star break with 15 homers and an OBA of .256 (in 277 PA). 

So, in the history of baseball, has anyone ever had a 30+ homerun season with an OBA less than .260?  Thanks to Baseball-Reference.com’s Play Index Batting Season Finder, we know the answer:

  Cnt                       HR  OBP  Year Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  R   H  2B 3B RBI  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+---+--+-----+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Dave Kingman          35  .255 1986  37 OAK AL 144 604 561  70 118 19  0  94  33   3 126   3   0   7  16   3  3  .210  .431  .686 *D/3
    2 Tony Armas            36  .254 1983  29 BOS AL 145 613 574  77 125 23  2 107  29   0 131   2   0   8  31   0  1  .218  .453  .707 *8D

Seasons/Careers found: 2.

If Davis does it make - and this assumes he doesn’t lose his job, get injuried, or improve his production - then he will be the first left-handed batter in baseball history to turn this trick.  Ouch.

On Saturday, Micah Owings set off some fireworks, hitting his 3rd homer of the season. That gave him 2 seasons with at least 3 homers (inlcuing 2007 in which he hit 4.)

After the jump, see the full list of all pitchers with at least 2 different 3-HR seasons.

Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s check out inherited runner data for closers.

If you go to Mariano Rivera’s detailed pitching page and head down about halfway, you can see his Inherited Runners (IR) and Inherited Runners Scoring (IS) stats under the “Reliever Pitching” heading.

In his career, Rivera has inherited 308 runners and allowed 90 (29%) to score. That’s 308 runners in 881 games as a reliever (0.349 per game).

At first, I expected Trevor Hoffman to have many fewer inherited runners since he’s been used exclusively in the 9th more than Rivera. But he’s actually inherited about the same number–337 runners in 953 reliever games, or 0.353 per game. Hoffman allowed 68 (20%) to score.

Closers these days, though, inherit many fewer runners than they used to. Managers used to be much more willing to bring closers in during the 7th or 8th inning when the game was at a critical point. Among pitcher to register 30+ saves in a season, here are the highest totals for inherited runners:

  Cnt Player             **IR** SV Year Age Tm  Lg  G   GS CG SHO GF  W  L  W-L%   IP   H   R   ER  BB  SO   ERA  ERA+ HR  BF   AB  2B 3B IBB HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS Pk BK WP   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  OPS+  Pit  Str
+----+-----------------+-------+--+----+---+---+--+---+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----+
    1 Dan Quisenberry      89   33 1980  27 KCR AL  75   0  0   0 68 12  7  .632 128.1 129  47  44  27  37   3.09  131  5  528  487 21  3  15   1   8   5  18   6  3  0  0  1  .265  .302  .351  .653   78
    2 Mike Marshall        89   31 1973  30 MON NL  92   0  0   0 73 14 11  .560 179   163  62  53  75 124   2.66  143 10  746  648 18  4  12   4  15   5  15   8  2  2  0  8  .252  .331  .338  .669   87
    3 Ron Perranoski       88   31 1969  33 MIN AL  75   0  0   0 52  9 10  .474 119.2  85  32  28  52  62   2.11  176  4  484  415  6  3  16   1  11   5  16   5  2  1  0  0  .205  .292  .263  .555   57
    4 John Hiller          84   38 1973  30 DET AL  65   0  0   0 60 10  5  .667 125.1  89  21  20  39 124   1.44  285  7  498  449 13  1   7   0   6   4   5   3  2  0  0  1  .198  .260  .278  .538   48
    5 Kent Tekulve         76   31 1979  32 PIT NL  94   0  0   0 67 10  8  .556 134.1 109  46  41  49  75   2.75  143  5  550  490 18  2  20   2   7   2  18  14  2  1  0  4  .222  .295  .298  .593   64
    6 Mark Davis           75   44 1989  28 SDP NL  70   0  0   0 65  4  3  .571  92.2  66  21  19  31  92   1.85  192  6  370  330  9  2   1   2   3   4  12   1  1  0  0  8  .200  .270  .294  .564   65
    7 Ron Davis            73   30 1983  27 MIN AL  66   0  0   0 61  5  8  .385  89    89  34  33  33  84   3.34  128  6  382  334 19  1   3   3   6   6   6  16  5  0  1  4  .266  .332  .383  .715   92
    8 Dan Quisenberry      71   37 1985  32 KCR AL  84   0  0   0 76  8  9  .471 129   142  41  34  16  54   2.37  175  8  532  508 19  3   5   1   4   3  15   8  2  0  0  0  .280  .301  .376  .677   84
    9 Bill Campbell        71   31 1977  28 BOS AL  69   0  0   0 60 13  9  .591 140   112  48  46  60 114   2.96  154 13  583  501 17  4  10   5  13   4  12   4  6  0  1  3  .224  .311  .351  .662   70
   10 Ken Sanders          71   31 1971  29 MIL AL  83   0  0   0 77  7 12  .368 136.1 111  35  29  34  80   1.91  181  9  539  489 19  1  10   4  10   1  14   6  7  2  0  0  .227  .282  .325  .607   78
   11 Bill Caudill         70   36 1984  27 OAK AL  68   0  0   0 62  9  7  .563  96.1  77  30  29  31  89   2.71  137  9  394  353 14  3   4   0   5   5   2   8  5  0  0  1  .218  .278  .351  .629   78
   12 Kent Tekulve         69   31 1978  31 PIT NL  91   0  0   0 65  8  7  .533 135   115  44  35  55  77   2.33  160  5  573  505 17  2  18   2   7   4  14  12  3  0  0  5  .228  .304  .299  .603   71
   13 Todd Worrell         66   33 1987  27 STL NL  75   0  0   0 54  8  6  .571  94.2  86  29  28  34  92   2.66  157  8  395  355 14  3  11   0   4   2   7  11  1  0  0  1  .242  .307  .366  .673   82
   14 Jeff Russell         65   38 1989  27 TEX AL  71   0  0   0 66  6  4  .600  72.2  45  21  16  24  77   1.98  200  4  278  247 10  1   5   3   1   3  13   3  2  0  0  6  .182  .260  .279  .539   51
   15 Todd Worrell         65   36 1986  26 STL NL  74   0  0   0 60  9 10  .474 103.2  86  29  24  41  73   2.08  177  9  430  375 17  1  16   1   7   6   6   9  5  0  0  1  .229  .303  .352  .655   85
   16 Jack Aker            65   32 1966  25 KCA AL  66   0  0   0 57  8  4  .667 113    81  27  25  28  68   1.99  171  7  442  405 12  3  10   3   5   3  11   3  3  0  0  0  .200  .255  .296  .551   63
   17 Mitch Williams       64   36 1989  24 CHC NL  76   0  0   0 61  4  4  .500  81.2  71  27  25  52  67   2.76  137  6  365  298 11  1   4   8   2   5   3   4  2  7  4  6  .238  .361  .342  .703  102
   18 Ed Farmer            63   30 1980  30 CHW AL  64   0  0   0 55  7  9  .438  99.2  92  37  37  56  54   3.34  121  6  438  377 14  2  11   1   3   1  15  10  0  0  0  7  .244  .343  .340  .683   88
   19 Bob Stanley          62   33 1983  28 BOS AL  64   0  0   0 53  8 10  .444 145.1 145  56  46  38  65   2.85  153  7  602  545 23  0  12   3  11   4  21   7  1  1  0  4  .266  .315  .347  .662   76
   20 Mike Marshall        61   32 1979  36 MIN AL  90   1  0   0 84 10 15  .400 142.2 132  47  42  48  81   2.65  166  8  586  520 21  6   2   4  10   4  21   7  6  4  1  8  .254  .319  .363  .682   80
   21 Ted Abernathy        59   31 1965  32 CHC NL  84   0  0   0 62  4  6  .400 136.1 113  49  39  56 104   2.57  143  7  572  498 14  0  13   5   8   5  14   9  6  0  0  6  .227  .309  .297  .606   73
   22 Tom Henke            58   34 1987  29 TOR AL  72   0  0   0 62  0  6  .000  94    62  27  26  25 128   2.49  181 10  363  330 13  2   3   0   3   5   2   9  2  1  0  5  .188  .242  .330  .572   48
   23 Dave Giusti          56   30 1971  31 PIT NL  58   0  0   0 49  5  6  .455  86    79  31  28  31  55   2.93  118  5  365  328  9  1   8   1   1   4   7   1  2  0  0  3  .241  .305  .320  .625   82
   24 Bruce Sutter         55   37 1979  26 CHC NL  62   0  0   0 56  6  6  .500 101.1  67  29  25  32 110   2.22  187  3  403  361  8  2   5   0   6   4   5   8  2  0  0  9  .186  .249  .244  .493   34
   25 Bob James            54   32 1985  26 CHW AL  69   0  0   0 60  8  7  .533 110    90  31  26  23  88   2.13  203  5  436  399 16  0   4   2   7   5   9   9  2  1  2  3  .226  .268  .303  .571   53         

Note there isn’t a single season here from the modern offensive explosion (1993-present) although a few guys sneak on there from 1989 (Mark Davis, Jeff Russell, and Mitch Williams.) If you check out the full list you’ll see that the first post-1993 season is from Danny Graves in 2000.

Doing the same search but limiting it to 1993-2009, here are the leaders:

  Cnt Player             **IR** SV Year Age Tm  Lg  G   GS CG SHO GF  W  L  W-L%   IP   H   R   ER  BB  SO   ERA  ERA+ HR  BF   AB  2B 3B IBB HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS Pk BK WP   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  OPS+  Pit  Str
+----+-----------------+-------+--+----+---+---+--+---+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----+
    1 Danny Graves         47   30 2000  26 CIN NL  66   0  0   0 57 10  5  .667  91.1  81  31  26  42  53   2.56  185  8  388  333 15  0   7   3   6   4  10   5  1  0  1  3  .243  .330  .360  .690   77 1418  830
    2 Roberto Hernandez    46   31 1997  32 TOT ML  74   0  0   0 50 10  3  .769  80.2  67  24  22  38  82   2.45  174  7  340  298  4  1   5   1   2   1   7  10  3  1  0  3  .225  .314  .315  .629   70
    3 Trevor Hoffman       44   37 1997  29 SDP NL  70   0  0   0 59  6  4  .600  81.1  59  25  24  24 111   2.66  147  9  322  295  9  3   4   0   2   1   2   4  5  1  0  7  .200  .259  .342  .601   66
    4 J.J. Putz            40   36 2006  29 SEA AL  72   0  0   0 57  4  1  .800  78.1  59  20  20  13 104   2.30  193  4  303  285  8  1   1   2   1   2   5   7  0  0  0  1  .207  .245  .284  .529   39 1215  825
    5 Danny Graves         40   32 2002  28 CIN NL  68   4  0   0 54  7  3  .700  98.2  99  37  35  25  58   3.19  135  7  412  375 13  2   9   3   3   6   8   1  3  1  0  5  .264  .311  .365  .676   79 1378  910
    6 Billy Taylor         39   33 1998  36 OAK AL  70   0  0   0 58  4  9  .308  73    71  37  29  22  58   3.58  126  7  311  278 12  2   4   3   3   5   7   7  0  0  1  0  .255  .312  .388  .700   84
    7 Roberto Hernandez    39   38 1993  28 CHW AL  70   0  0   0 67  3  4  .429  78.2  66  21  20  20  71   2.29  184  6  314  290  6  2   1   0   2   2   3   2  4  0  0  2  .228  .276  .324  .600   62
    8 Tom Gordon           38   46 1998  30 BOS AL  73   0  0   0 69  7  4  .636  79.1  55  24  24  25  78   2.72  173  2  317  288  8  1   1   0   2   2   4   7  0  0  0  9  .191  .254  .247  .501   30
    9 Danny Graves         37   32 2001  27 CIN NL  66   0  0   0 54  6  5  .545  80.1  83  41  37  18  49   4.15  110  7  337  310 19  2   6   4   3   2  10   4  1  0  1  2  .268  .314  .410  .724   87 1163  779
   10 Ugueth Urbina        37   41 1999  25 MON NL  71   0  0   0 62  6  6  .500  75.2  59  35  31  36 100   3.69  121  6  323  284  9  0   6   0   1   2   3  20  1  0  0  6  .208  .295  .303  .598   58
   11 Randy Myers          37   38 1995  32 CHC NL  57   0  0   0 47  1  2  .333  55.2  49  25  24  28  59   3.88  106  7  240  207 10  1   1   0   2   3   2   1  2  1  0  0  .237  .324  .396  .720   96
   12 Mark Wohlers         36   39 1996  26 ATL NL  77   0  0   0 64  2  4  .333  77.1  71  30  26  21 100   3.03  145  8  323  296  8  2   3   2   2   2   4  12  1  0  0 10  .240  .293  .361  .654   72
   13 Tom Henke            36   40 1993  35 TEX AL  66   0  0   0 60  5  5  .500  74.1  55  25  24  27  79   2.91  143  7  302  268  6  0   3   1   3   3   5   3  2  0  0  3  .205  .278  .306  .584   59
   14 Mariano Rivera       35   40 2003  33 NYY AL  64   0  0   0 57  5  2  .714  70.2  61  15  13  10  63   1.66  265  3  277  260  6  1   1   4   1   2   8   3  2  1  0  0  .235  .272  .300  .572   53  998  689
   15 Todd Jones           35   31 1997  29 DET AL  68   0  0   0 51  5  4  .556  70    60  29  24  35  70   3.09  148  3  301  260  8  0   2   1   1   4   5   6  1  0  0  7  .231  .320  .296  .616   64
   16 Trevor Hoffman       35   42 1996  28 SDP NL  70   0  0   0 62  9  5  .643  88    50  23  22  31 111   2.25  178  6  348  311 10  1   5   2   2   2   2   4  2  1  0  2  .161  .240  .257  .497   38
   17 Rod Beck             35   48 1993  24 SFG NL  76   0  0   0 71  3  1  .750  79.1  57  20  19  13  86   2.16  180 11  309  284  5  0   4   3   6   3   3   1  0  0  0  4  .201  .241  .335  .576   58
   18 Byung-Hyun Kim       34   36 2002  23 ARI NL  72   0  0   0 66  8  3  .727  84    64  20  19  26  92   2.04  224  5  343  308  6  0   2   6   1   2   7   5  1  0  0  2  .208  .281  .276  .557   45 1348  884
   19 Trevor Hoffman       34   43 2001  33 SDP NL  62   0  0   0 55  3  4  .429  60.1  48  25  23  21  63   3.43  117 10  248  222  6  0   2   1   2   2   5   2  0  0  0  3  .216  .285  .378  .663   81  917  604
   20 Jeff Shaw            34   48 1998  31 TOT NL  73   0  0   0 69  3  8  .273  85    75  22  20  19  55   2.12  198  8  339  312  8  0   5   1   5   2  10   7  0  1  0  0  .240  .284  .343  .627   69
   21 Rod Beck             34   33 1995  26 SFG NL  60   0  0   0 52  5  6  .455  58.2  60  31  29  21  42   4.45   91  7  255  225  5  1   3   2   4   3   2   3  1  0  0  2  .267  .331  .391  .722   98
   22 Rod Beck             33   35 1996  27 SFG NL  63   0  0   0 58  0  9  .000  62    56  23  23  10  48   3.34  121  9  248  235 12  1   2   1   0   2   5   5  1  0  0  1  .238  .270  .413  .683   87
   23 Roberto Hernandez    33   32 1995  30 CHW AL  60   0  0   0 57  3  7  .300  59.2  63  30  26  28  84   3.92  114  9  272  237  9  1   4   3   4   0   3   4  2  0  0  1  .266  .351  .426  .777  104
   24 John Wetteland       33   43 1993  26 MON NL  70   0  0   0 58  9  3  .750  85.1  58  17  13  28 113   1.37  307  3  344  308 10  4   3   2   5   1   0  13  2  0  0  7  .188  .260  .276  .536   44
   25 J.J. Putz            32   40 2007  30 SEA AL  68   0  0   0 65  6  1  .857  71.2  37  11  11  13  82   1.38  314  6  260  242  6  0   0   2   2   1   7   3  0  0  0  3  .153  .202  .252  .454   21 1033  674

Trevor Hoffman makes a few appearances, but all from the first half of his career (1996, 1997, 2001) after which he has rarely been used earlier than the 9th inning.

Here are the active leaders in inherited runners.

  Cnt Player             **IR**   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         BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  OPS+  SH  SF  2B  3B GDP  SB   CS  Pk
+----+-----------------+--------+---+----+----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+------+----+----+----+----+----+------+----+---+-----+---+---+---+---+-----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+----+---+---+
    1 Alan Embree          582    25 1995 2009 25-39  873   0   0   0 217  38  43  .469  752.2  724  415  381  284  678   4.56   95  92  3227  35  19   3  23 CLE-ATL-TOT-SFG-BOS-TOT-SDP-OAK-COL  .254  .321  .412  .733  100  31  39 141  18  56   89  23  10
    2 Julian Tavarez       465    23 1993 2009 20-36  822 108   2   0 183  88  80  .524 1400.2 1529  799  690  558  839   4.43  101 113  6195  72  96  11  43 CLE-SFG-COL-CHC-FLA-PIT-STL-BOS-TOT-WSN  .282  .356  .415  .771  106  67  48 334  26 192   71  31   4
    3 Eddie Guardado       459   187 1993 2009 22-38  888  25   0   0 397  46  60  .434  928    881  468  446  341  789   4.33  107 134  3943  38  15   2  24 MIN-SEA-TOT-CIN-TEX  .251  .317  .432  .749   98  44  38 198  17  48   49  20   8
    4 Jamie Walker         439    12 1997 2009 25-37  545   2   0   0 127  19  21  .475  442    463  226  203  110  318   4.13  108  73  1903  21  18   2  15 KCR-DET-BAL  .265  .313  .446  .759  105  13  17  78   9  21   29   9   4
    5 Ron Villone          433     7 1995 2009 25-39  683  93   2   0 162  59  64  .480 1142   1082  649  598  622  904   4.71   96 131  5069  37  66   2  47 TOT-MIL-CLE-CIN-TOT-PIT-HOU-SEA-TOT-NYY-STL-WSN  .252  .353  .405  .758  101  52  42 215  23  99   38  32  29
    6 Arthur Rhodes        425    32 1993 2009 23-39  724  38   3   2 139  72  53  .576  942.2  805  445  427  414  954   4.08  111 103  3973  42  13   2  36 BAL-SEA-OAK-CLE-PHI-TOT-CIN  .231  .312  .370  .682   84  29  26 147  16  71   58  23  10
    7 Scott Eyre           424     4 1997 2009 25-37  600  32   0   0 105  27  30  .474  633.1  642  336  304  325  525   4.32  104  82  2815  27  15   0  39 CHW-TOR-TOT-SFG-CHC-TOT-PHI  .265  .351  .427  .778  108  18  30 119  15  53   45  29  10
    8 Ricardo Rincon       422    21 1997 2008 27-38  565   0   0   0 128  21  24  .467  443.2  384  200  177  201  400   3.59  125  41  1895  32  11   4  14 PIT-CLE-TOT-OAK-STL-NYM  .233  .318  .362  .680   79  23  15  81   4  35   17  13   3
    9 Chad Bradford        413    11 1998 2009 23-34  543   0   0   0 114  35  28  .556  506.2  508  210  183  135  308   3.25  138  27  2133  38  29   3   4 CHW-OAK-BOS-NYM-BAL-TOT-TBR  .263  .318  .344  .662   76  21  13  69   4  64   28  13   2
   10 Trever Miller        412    10 1996 2009 23-36  551   5   0   0 119  16  14  .533  442.2  451  234  214  205  376   4.35  102  48  1982  26  37   0  16 DET-HOU-TOT-TOR-TBD-TBR-STL  .264  .353  .413  .766  111  18  14  91  10  30   17  15   4
   11 Dave Weathers        407    75 1993 2009 23-39  909  69   0   0 293  68  83  .450 1322   1377  677  619  568  939   4.21  103 122  5816  73  53   6  41 FLA-TOT-MIL-NYM-CIN  .272  .349  .407  .756  104  90  38 239  40 137   93  38   4
   12 Ray King             407     2 1999 2008 25-34  593   0   0   0  97  20  23  .465  411    376  178  158  181  278   3.46  125  34  1747  17  17   1  16 CHC-MIL-ATL-STL-COL-TOT-WSN  .248  .332  .377  .709   88  17  14  70  12  56   23   4   2
   13 Brian Shouse         383     6 1993 2009 24-40  441   0   0   0  97  13  10  .565  337    333  154  137  114  225   3.66  128  28  1448  30  19   1   7 PIT-BOS-KCR-TEX-TOT-MIL-TBR  .259  .326  .390  .716   93  18  11  77   4  35   14   8   3
   14 Dennys Reyes         374     3 1997 2009 20-32  573  40   0   0 103  32  33  .492  666.2  671  359  317  365  602   4.28  104  59  2982  25  18   8  63 LAD-TOT-CIN-KCR-SDP-MIN-STL  .265  .358  .398  .756  105  40  24 131  15  63   69  27  24
   15 Russ Springer        351     8 1993 2009 24-40  683  27   1   0 154  35  42  .455  809.1  774  436  408  333  737   4.54   97 117  3510  32  33   0  39 CAL-TOT-PHI-HOU-ATL-ARI-STL-OAK  .250  .327  .420  .747  105  23  25 147  14  38   82  16   1
   16 J.C. Romero          342     4 1999 2009 23-33  558  22   0   0 102  32  28  .533  581.2  541  290  267  327  468   4.13  112  50  2569  38  32   5  34 MIN-LAA-TOT-PHI  .249  .354  .378  .732   94  26  12 118   6  65   35  16   9
   17 Trevor Hoffman       337   572 1993 2009 25-41  953   0   0   0 794  57  67  .460 1011.1  779  341  310  279 1074   2.76  146  90  4063  54   8   0  47 TOT-SDP-MIL  .210  .264  .337  .601   68  28  29 151  27  55   47  13   2
   18 Justin Speier        337    17 1998 2009 24-35  599   0   0   0 189  34  32  .515  664    592  314  298  228  578   4.04  116 104  2826  35  43   5  38 TOT-ATL-CLE-TOT-COL-TOR-LAA  .237  .308  .417  .725   93  24  28 124   8  28   60  16   2
   19 Damaso Marte         334    36 1999 2009 24-34  526   0   0   0 131  22  25  .468  478    389  196  182  215  514   3.43  132  46  2010  29  25   4  13 SEA-PIT-CHW-TOT-NYY  .224  .316  .352  .668   79  18  17  73   5  38   35  10   7
   20 Aaron Fultz          329     3 2000 2007 26-33  463   1   0   0 111  25  15  .625  479.2  467  243  227  187  394   4.26  105  50  2057  27  18   3  12 SFG-TEX-MIN-PHI-CLE  .259  .331  .414  .745   94  24  27 104  12  40   13   9   1
   21 Armando Benitez      323   289 1994 2008 21-35  762   0   0   0 527  40  47  .460  779    545  296  271  403  946   3.13  139  95  3253  32  16   5  18 BAL-NYM-TOT-FLA-SFG-TOT-TOR  .195  .299  .338  .637   69  24  22  93  10  47  107  11   2
   22 B.J. Ryan            321   117 1999 2009 23-33  559   0   0   0 249  21  27  .438  536    423  213  198  262  625   3.32  134  41  2269  27  17   2  21 TOT-BAL-TOR  .216  .311  .316  .627   74  14  13  58   8  42   48  14   4
   23 Matt Herges          317    34 1999 2009 29-39  557   4   0   0 192  42  35  .545  680.2  723  331  297  254  464   3.93  110  64  2978  44  32   2  16 LAD-MON-TOT-SFG-FLA-COL-CLE  .275  .343  .418  .761  110  39  27 144  19  71   25  23   2
   24 Doug Brocail         310     9 1993 2009 26-42  610  39   0   0 169  52  48  .520  854    852  420  375  300  622   3.95  111  81  3675  34  35   7  33 SDP-HOU-DET-TEX-SDP  .261  .326  .396  .722   93  38  33 154  23  70   53  23   2
   25 Mariano Rivera       308   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          .213  .265  .294  .559   50  24  22 113  13  71   53  19   4

It’s pretty unusual for closers to inherit runners these days. Unless Rivera starts getting used differently, I think he’ll pass Hoffman in inherited runners pretty soon. I’m not sure how far back the Inherited Runners stat goes, but it’s not that far. I don’t think we can find data here for older players like Gossage or Fingers.

Hey, who the heck is #13 Brian Shouse? It says he’s been active since 1993 and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of him. Turns out he was out of the big leagues for 4 years TWICE early in his career. Whoa.

Quick…which pitcher has the best cumulative ERA+ since 2004?

Bet you don’t get it right.

Read the rest of this entry »

…not of the apocalypse, but of the post-season.

Here are teams in the last 20 years to have 4 pitchers throw at least 200 innings:

 Year Lg Team                              Number Players Matching
+----+--+---------------------------------+------+-----------------------------------------+
 2006 AL Chicago White Sox                      4 Jon Garland / Javier Vazquez / Freddy Garcia / Mark Buehrle
 2005 AL Chicago White Sox                      4 Freddy Garcia / Mark Buehrle / Jon Garland / Jose Contreras
 2003 NL Chicago Cubs                           4 Kerry Wood / Matt Clement / Carlos Zambrano / Mark Prior
 2003 AL New York Yankees                       4 Andy Pettitte / Roger Clemens / David Wells / Mike Mussina
 2003 AL Seattle Mariners                       4 Freddy Garcia / Jamie Moyer / Joel Pineiro / Ryan Franklin
 1997 NL Atlanta Braves                         4 John Smoltz / Denny Neagle / Tom Glavine / Greg Maddux
 1993 NL Atlanta Braves                         4 Tom Glavine / Greg Maddux / John Smoltz / Steve Avery
 1993 NL Los Angeles Dodgers                    4 Kevin Gross / Orel Hershiser / Tom Candiotti / Ramon Martinez
 1991 NL Atlanta Braves                         4 Charlie Leibrandt / John Smoltz / Steve Avery / Tom Glavine

These teams all made the playoffs, except for the 2006 White Sox (who still won 90 games), the 2003 Mariners (who won 93 and missed), and the 1993 Dodgers.

As you might imagine, this sort of thing used to be much more common, in particular when the 4-man rotation was still in use and bullpens had fewer members.

When you look at the list above, don’t just consider the 4 guys you see listed. Behind these names were good bullpens made better because they were rested. The more innings the starts pitch, the fewer times each guy in the bullpen gets used and the more effective they can be.

We were talking about this the other day so I thought I’d share the full list. this is the most IP in a full season while allowing no earned runs (since 1901.)

  Cnt Player              **IP**    ERA  Year Age Tm  Lg  G   GS CG SHO GF  W  L  W-L% SV  H   R   ER  BB  SO ERA+ HR  BF   AB  2B 3B IBB HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS Pk BK WP   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  OPS+  Pit  Str
+----+-----------------+---------+------+----+---+---+--+---+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+--+---+---+---+---+---+----+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----+
    1 Earl Moore           26       0.00 1908  28 PHI NL   3   3  3   1  0  2  1  .667  0  20   4   0   8  16    0  0  102                  2                        0  1                            0
    2 Harry Coveleski      20       0.00 1907  21 PHI NL   4   0  0   0  4  1  0 1.000  0  10   2   0   3   6    0  0   72                  1                        0  0                            0
    3 Karl Spooner         18       0.00 1954  23 BRO NL   2   2  2   2  0  2  0 1.000  0   7   0   0   6  27    0  0   68   62  0  0       0   0   0   0   0  2  0  0  0  .113  .191  .113  .304  -17
    4 Fernando Valenzue    17.2     0.00 1980  19 LAD NL  10   0  0   0  4  2  0 1.000  1   8   2   0   5  16    0  0   66   59  1  0   0   0   1   1   1   1  1  0  1  0  .136  .200  .153  .353    3
    5 Trevor Hoffman       17       0.00 2009  41 MIL NL  17   0  0   0 16  0  0       15   7   0   0   1  15    0  0   59   58  0  0   0   0   0   0   1   0  0  0  0  1  .121  .136  .121  .257    0  215  142
    6 Mike Norris          16.2     0.00 1975  20 OAK AL   4   3  1   1  0  1  0 1.000  0   6   2   0   8   5    0  0   65   56  1  0   0   0   0   1   0   2  0  1  0  0  .107  .215  .125  .340    0
    7 Wayne Twitchell      16       0.00 1971  23 PHI NL   6   1  0   0  2  1  0 1.000  0   8   4   0  10  15    0  1   69   55  0  0   0   1   2   1   1   0  0  0  0  0  .145  .284  .200  .484   42
    8 Bob McClure          15.1     0.00 1975  23 KCR AL  12   0  0   0  4  1  0 1.000  1   4   0   0  14  15    0  0   66   52  0  0   2   0   0   0   0   1  0  0  2  0  .077  .273  .077  .350    2
    9 Vicente Palacios     15       0.00 1990  26 PIT NL   7   0  0   0  4  0  0        3   4   0   0   2   8    0  0   50   48  0  0   0   0   0   0   0   0  0  0  0  2  .083  .120  .083  .203  -40
   10 Dave Ford            15       0.00 1978  21 BAL AL   2   1  0   0  1  1  0 1.000  0  10   0   0   2   5    0  0   53   51  0  0   0   0   0   0   2   2  1  0  0  0  .196  .226  .196  .422   24
   11 Jeremy Hernandez     14.1     0.00 1991  24 SDP NL   9   0  0   0  7  0  0        2   8   1   0   5   9    0  0   56   51  2  0   0   0   0   0   1   0  0  0  0  2  .157  .232  .196  .428   24
   12 Vin Mazzaro          13.2     0.00 2009  22 OAK AL   2   2  0   0  0  2  0 1.000  0   8   0   0   4   5    0  0   51   47  0  0   0   0   0   0   1   1  0  1  0  0  .170  .235  .170  .405    0  210  130
   13 Mike Hinckley        13.2     0.00 2008  25 WSN NL  14   0  0   0  2  0  0        0   8   1   0   3   9    0  0   49   45  1  0   0   1   0   0   2   1  0  0  1  0  .178  .245  .200  .445   22  192  110
   14 Charlie Puleo        13.1     0.00 1981  26 NYM NL   4   1  0   0  2  0  0        0   8   1   0   8   8    0  0   53   44  4  0   2   0   1   0   1   2  1  0  0  1  .182  .308  .273  .581   71
   15 Ken Brett            13.1     0.00 1980  31 KCR AL   8   0  0   0  3  0  0        1   8   0   0   5   4    0  0   54   46  1  0   0   1   2   0   2   0  0  0  0  0  .174  .269  .196  .465   27
   16 Pat Perry            12.1     0.00 1985  26 STL NL   6   0  0   0  1  1  0 1.000  0   3   0   0   3   6    0  0   42   39  0  0   1   0   0   0   0   0  1  1  0  1  .077  .143  .077  .220  -35
   17 Don Newhauser        12       0.00 1973  25 BOS AL   9   0  0   0  8  0  0        1   9   2   0  13   8    0  0   59   44  1  0   2   1   0   1   2   0  0  0  0  2  .205  .390  .227  .617   74
   18 Hal White            12       0.00 1949  30 DET AL   9   0  0   0  8  1  0 1.000  2   5   0   0   4   4    0  0   44                  0                        0  0                            0
   19 Scot Shields         11       0.00 2001  25 ANA AL   8   0  0   0  6  0  0        0   8   1   0   7   7    0  0   48   40  1  0   0   1   0   0   0   0  0  0  0  2  .200  .333  .225  .558   52  208  115
   20 Todd Frohwirth       11       0.00 1987  24 PHI NL  10   0  0   0  2  1  0 1.000  0  12   0   0   2   9    0  0   43   41  1  0   0   0   0   0   3   1  0  0  0  0  .293  .326  .317  .643   76
   21 Joe Henderson        11       0.00 1976  29 CIN NL   4   0  0   0  2  2  0 1.000  0   9   1   0   8   7    0  0   48   40  2  0   3   0   0   0   2   2  0  0  0  1  .225  .354  .275  .629   85
   22 Ed Sprague           11       0.00 1971  25 CIN NL   7   0  0   0  1  1  0 1.000  0   8   2   0   1   7    0  0   43   41  1  0   0   0   0   1   0   0  1  0  0  1  .195  .209  .220  .429   29
   23 Jim Pearce           11       0.00 1954  29 CIN NL   2   1  1   0  0  1  0 1.000  0   7   1   0   5   3    0  0   43   36  0  0       1   1   0   3   0  0  0  0  0  .194  .310  .194  .504   37
   24 John Dagenhard       11       0.00 1943  26 BSN NL   2   1  1   0  1  1  0 1.000  0   9   2   0   4   2    0  0   46                  2                        0  1                            0
   25 Jack Bentley         11       0.00 1913  18 WSH AL   3   1  0   0  1  1  0 1.000  1   5   0   0   2   5    0  0   31                  1                        0  1                            0

So we’ve got 2 guys from 2009 on here. In all likelihood, they’ll both disappear since they’re both likely to give up an earned run at some point this season. But I have to admit that I’d never heard of #13 Mike Hinckley before. He went 14 games and 13.2 innings for the Nats last year and didn’t give up any earned runs. This year, he’s already given up 5 earned runs in just 9.2 innings.

A companion list to yesterday’s post…most career HR from Age 30 season onwards:

  Cnt Player             **HR** From  To   Ages   G    PA    AB    R    H   2B  3B  RBI  BB  IBB  SO  HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions Teams
+----+-----------------+-------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+----+----+---+----+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+
    1 Barry Bonds         503   1995 2007 30-42 1705  7203  5333 1337 1648 325  36 1236 1747 514  827  78   1  44 106  205  48  .309  .482  .666 1.148 *7/D8     SFG
    2 Babe Ruth           430   1925 1935 30-40 1403  6106  4834 1249 1622 236  53 1328 1181   0  731  19  72   0   2   51  51  .336  .468  .673 1.141 *97/31    NYY-BSN
    3 Rafael Palmeiro     414   1995 2005 30-40 1674  7213  6169  994 1737 319  13 1233  921 114  872  50   0  73 124   40  17  .282  .375  .539  .914 *3D       BAL-TEX
    4 Hank Aaron          413   1964 1976 30-42 1787  7358  6424 1097 1873 303  21 1176  861 169  774  12   2  59 172  137  36  .292  .373  .538  .911 *93D7/84  MLN-ATL-MIL
    5 Willie Mays         381   1961 1973 30-42 1774  7195  6212 1178 1802 290  49 1091  898 112 1021  26  12  47 147  134  40  .290  .380  .537  .917 *8/39675  SFG-TOT-NYM
    6 Mark McGwire        354   1994 2001 30-37  931  3826  2980  647  826 118   1  782  769 104  880  46   0  31  67    6   1  .277  .429  .674 1.103 *3/D467   OAK-TOT-STL
    7 Sammy Sosa          336   1999 2007 30-38 1107  4800  4149  748 1175 197  12  867  579  98 1108  26   0  46  98   17  16  .283  .371  .579  .950 *9D/8     CHC-BAL-TEX
    8 Jim Thome           318   2001 2009 30-38 1133  4754  3865  742 1054 190   7  838  821 105 1188  33   0  35  70    2   9  .273  .401  .572  .973 *3D       CLE-PHI-CHW
    9 Mike Schmidt        313   1980 1989 30-39 1320  5556  4639  832 1287 225  28  929  818 138  925  34   0  65 103   57  38  .277  .385  .540  .925 *53/6     PHI
   10 Willie Stargell     310   1970 1982 30-42 1434  5465  4734  755 1348 271  20  970  636 145 1185  46   0  49  81    6   8  .285  .371  .547  .918 37/9      PIT

Wow…Barry Bonds had more than 500 HR after he turned 30!

It’s not surprising to see Bonds, Ruth, and Aaron all on this list. You don’t get over 700 career HR without hitting lots during ALL phases of your career. Seeing Palmeiro was quite surprising to me. He had only 155 HR before the age of 30, this means. (Keep in mind these are all seasonal ages on June 30 and they don’t consider each player’s specific birthdate.)

Seeing Jim Thome on there makes me wonder how much longer he’ll continue. He’s 38 now but is having a good year (not great by his standards, but certainly good enough to be an everyday player.) If he can hang on for a couple more years, Thome should reach 600 HR.

Here are the current leaders for most career HR through Age 29 season (Age as calculated by Baseball-Reference.com, which is calculated on June 30th of each season.)

  Cnt Player             **HR** From  To   Ages   G    PA    AB    R    H   2B  3B  RBI  BB  IBB  SO  HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions Teams
+----+-----------------+-------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+----+----+---+----+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+
    1 Alex Rodriguez      429   1994 2005 18-29 1592  7100  6195 1245 1901 338  25 1226  730  51 1265  98  16  61 136  226  56  .307  .385  .577  .962 *65/D     SEA-TEX-NYY
    2 Ken Griffey         398   1989 1999 19-29 1535  6688  5832 1063 1742 320  30 1152  747 170  984  47   6  56 109  167  60  .299  .380  .569  .949 *8/D379   SEA
    3 Jimmie Foxx         379   1925 1937 17-29 1561  6605  5551 1216 1852 313  93 1345  985   0  859   9  60   0   0   71  53  .334  .435  .628 1.063 *35/2796  PHA-BOS
    4 Mickey Mantle       374   1951 1961 19-29 1552  6699  5519 1245 1700 241  66 1063 1129  69 1136  10  13  28  57  124  29  .308  .425  .579 1.004 *89/645   NYY
    5 Eddie Mathews       370   1952 1961 20-29 1482  6482  5466 1032 1548 223  55  992  930  55  886  16  31  39  72   55  26  .283  .387  .547  .934 *5/7      BSN-MLN
    6 Andruw Jones        342   1996 2006 19-29 1607  6617  5836  962 1556 303  32 1023  647  61 1256  75   6  53 143  133  53  .267  .345  .505  .850 *89/D7    ATL
    7 Hank Aaron          342   1954 1963 20-29 1511  6582  5940 1077 1898 321  77 1121  541 124  609  20  19  62 156  103  37  .320  .375  .572  .947 *987/453  MLN
    8 Mel Ott             342   1926 1938 17-29 1739  7294  6148 1247 1939 336  61 1306 1035   0  516  37  74   0  44   60   0  .315  .417  .557  .974 *958/74   NYG
    9 Juan Gonzalez       340   1989 1999 19-29 1248  5283  4831  791 1421 282  19 1075  344  63  947  48   2  58 129   21  15  .294  .343  .572  .915 97D8      TEX
   10 Albert Pujols       337   2001 2009 21-29 1295  5626  4770  991 1595 355  13 1028  740 172  526  63   1  52 165   52  28  .334  .426  .626 1.052 *37/59D64 STL

Albert Pujols is #10, but he’s in his Age 29 season right now and doesn’t turn 30 until January of next year. He’s on a torrid pace this year but if he finishes with just his average number of homers will get “only” 24 more this year for a total of 42. Still that would give him 361 HR through his Age 29 season and bump him up to 6th on this list.

Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey both got out to extremely fast starts in the first half of their careers. Injuries and now old age have spoiled the second half of Griffey’s career and time has yet to tell on A-rod.

My gut tells me that in the end, Pujols will pass both those guys in career HR and career reputation. But we’ll need 7-10 more years to find out about that.

In case you’ve been under a rock, Randy Johnson became the 24th pitcher to win 300 career games.

Among that group, he’s second in career strikeouts:

  Cnt Player             **SO**   W  From  To   Ages   G   GS  CG SHO  GF  L   W-L%  SV   IP     H    R   ER   BB    ERA  ERA+  HR   BF  IBB HBP  BK  WP Teams
+----+-----------------+--------+---+----+----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+-----+---+------+----+----+----+----+------+----+---+-----+---+---+---+---+-----------+
    1 Nolan Ryan          5714   324 1966 1993 19-46  807 773 222  61  13 292  .526   3 5386   3923 2178 1911 2795   3.19  111 321 22575  78 158  33 277 NYM-CAL-HOU-TEX
    2 Randy Johnson       4845   300 1988 2009 24-45  607 597 100  37   5 164  .647   2 4097.1 3307 1682 1494 1487   3.28  136 402 16902  37 188  33 106 MON-TOT-SEA-ARI-NYY-SFG
    3 Roger Clemens       4672   354 1984 2007 21-44  709 707 118  46   0 184  .658   0 4916.2 4185 1885 1707 1580   3.12  143 363 20240  63 159  20 143 BOS-TOR-NYY-HOU
    4 Steve Carlton       4136   329 1965 1988 20-43  741 709 254  55  13 244  .574   2 5217.1 4672 2130 1864 1833   3.22  115 414 21683 150  53  90 183 STL-PHI-TOT-MIN
    5 Tom Seaver          3640   311 1967 1986 22-41  656 647 231  61   6 205  .603   1 4782.2 3971 1674 1521 1390   2.86  127 380 19369 116  76   8 126 NYM-TOT-CIN-NYM-CHW
    6 Don Sutton          3574   324 1966 1988 21-43  774 756 178  58  12 256  .559   5 5282.1 4692 2104 1914 1343   3.26  108 472 21631 102  82  21 112 LAD-HOU-TOT-MIL-CAL-LAD
    7 Gaylord Perry       3534   314 1962 1983 23-44  777 690 303  53  33 265  .542  11 5350.1 4938 2128 1846 1379   3.11  117 399 21953 164 108   6 160 SFG-CLE-TOT-TEX-SDP-TOT-ATL-SEA
    8 Walter Johnson      3509   417 1907 1927 19-39  802 666 531 110 129 279  .599  34 5914.2 4913 1902 1424 1363   2.17  147  97 23749     203   4 155 WSH
    9 Greg Maddux         3371   355 1986 2008 20-42  744 740 109  35   3 227  .610   0 5008.1 4726 1981 1756  999   3.16  132 353 20421 177 137  28  70 CHC-ATL-TOT-SDP
   10 Phil Niekro         3342   318 1964 1987 25-48  864 716 245  45  83 274  .537  29 5404.1 5044 2337 2012 1809   3.35  115 482 22677  86 123  42 226 MLN-ATL-NYY-CLE-TOT
   11 Cy Young            2803   511 1890 1911 23-44  906 815 749  76  84 316  .618  17 7354.2 7092 3167 2147 1217   2.63  138 138 30058     163   3 156 CLV-STL-BOS-CLE-TOT
   12 Tom Glavine         2607   305 1987 2008 21-42  682 682  56  25   0 203  .600   0 4413.1 4298 1900 1734 1500   3.54  118 356 18604 145  66   7  65 ATL-NYM
   13 Warren Spahn        2583   363 1942 1965 21-44  750 665 382  63  68 245  .597  29 5243.2 4830 2016 1798 1434   3.09  118 434 21547  60  42   5  81 BSN-MLN-TOT
   14 Tim Keefe           2562   342 1880 1893 23-36  600 594 554  39   7 225  .603   2 5047.2 4439 2468 1472 1220   2.62  127  81 20975      96   0 233 TRO-NYP-NYG-NYI-TOT-PHI
   15 Christy Mathewson   2502   373 1900 1916 19-35  635 551 434  79  74 188  .665  28 4780.2 4218 1616 1133  844   2.13  135  91 19136      59   6 114 NYG-TOT
   16 Early Wynn          2334   300 1939 1963 19-43  691 612 290  49  66 244  .551  15 4564   4291 2037 1796 1775   3.54  107 338 19408  36  64   2  51 WSH-CLE-CHW
   17 Lefty Grove         2266   300 1925 1941 25-41  616 457 298  35 123 141  .680  55 3940.2 3849 1594 1339 1187   3.06  148 162 16633      42   1  51 PHA-BOS
   18 Eddie Plank         2246   326 1901 1917 25-41  623 529 410  69  74 194  .627  23 4495.2 3958 1569 1174 1072   2.35  122  41 18225     196   6  87 PHA-SLM-SLB
   19 Pete Alexander      2198   373 1911 1930 24-43  696 599 437  90  80 208  .642  32 5190   4868 1851 1476  951   2.56  135 164 20928      70   1  39 PHI-CHC-TOT-STL-PHI
   20 John Clarkson       1978   328 1882 1894 20-32  531 518 485  37  12 178  .648   5 4536.1 4295 2376 1417 1191   2.81  134 161 11954      35   0 182 WOR-CHC-BSN-TOT-CLV
   21 Kid Nichols         1868   361 1890 1906 20-36  620 561 531  48  56 208  .634  17 5056.1 4912 2477 1660 1268   2.95  140 156 21243     133   1 169 BSN-STL-TOT-PHI
   22 Mickey Welch        1850   307 1880 1892 20-32  565 549 525  41  15 210  .594   4 4802   4587 2556 1447 1297   2.71  114 106 18186      29   1 274 TRO-NYG
   23 Charley Radbourn    1830   309 1881 1891 26-36  528 503 489  35  24 195  .613   2 4535.1 4335 2275 1348  875   2.67  119 117 18910      54   0 217 PRO-BSN-BOS-CIN
   24 Pud Galvin          1806   364 1875 1892 18-35  705 689 646  57  17 310  .540   2 6003.1 6405 3355 1910  745   2.86  107 122 25234      57   1 223 STL-BUF-TOT-PIT-PBB-TOT

I give him less than a 5% chance of catching Nolan Ryan in that department, although RJ is a far better pitcher than Ryan.

Among the 300-game winners, top K/9 rates:

  Cnt Player             **SO/9**  W  From  To   Ages   G   GS  CG SHO  GF  L   W-L%  SV   IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO    ERA  ERA+  HR   BF  IBB HBP  BK  WP Teams
+----+-----------------+---------+---+----+----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+-----+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+------+----+---+-----+---+---+---+---+-----------+
    1 Randy Johnson       10.64   300 1988 2009 24-45  607 597 100  37   5 164  .647   2 4097.1 3307 1682 1494 1487 4845   3.28  136 402 16902  37 188  33 106 MON-TOT-SEA-ARI-NYY-SFG
    2 Nolan Ryan           9.55   324 1966 1993 19-46  807 773 222  61  13 292  .526   3 5386   3923 2178 1911 2795 5714   3.19  111 321 22575  78 158  33 277 NYM-CAL-HOU-TEX
    3 Roger Clemens        8.55   354 1984 2007 21-44  709 707 118  46   0 184  .658   0 4916.2 4185 1885 1707 1580 4672   3.12  143 363 20240  63 159  20 143 BOS-TOR-NYY-HOU
    4 Steve Carlton        7.13   329 1965 1988 20-43  741 709 254  55  13 244  .574   2 5217.1 4672 2130 1864 1833 4136   3.22  115 414 21683 150  53  90 183 STL-PHI-TOT-MIN
    5 Tom Seaver           6.85   311 1967 1986 22-41  656 647 231  61   6 205  .603   1 4782.2 3971 1674 1521 1390 3640   2.86  127 380 19369 116  76   8 126 NYM-TOT-CIN-NYM-CHW

Fewest hits per 9:

  Cnt Player             **H/9**   W  From  To   Ages   G   GS  CG SHO  GF  L   W-L%  SV   IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO    ERA  ERA+  HR   BF  IBB HBP  BK  WP Teams
+----+-----------------+---------+---+----+----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+-----+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+------+----+---+-----+---+---+---+---+-----------+
    1 Nolan Ryan           6.56   324 1966 1993 19-46  807 773 222  61  13 292  .526   3 5386   3923 2178 1911 2795 5714   3.19  111 321 22575  78 158  33 277 NYM-CAL-HOU-TEX
    2 Randy Johnson        7.26   300 1988 2009 24-45  607 597 100  37   5 164  .647   2 4097.1 3307 1682 1494 1487 4845   3.28  136 402 16902  37 188  33 106 MON-TOT-SEA-ARI-NYY-SFG
    3 Tom Seaver           7.47   311 1967 1986 22-41  656 647 231  61   6 205  .603   1 4782.2 3971 1674 1521 1390 3640   2.86  127 380 19369 116  76   8 126 NYM-TOT-CIN-NYM-CHW
    4 Walter Johnson       7.48   417 1907 1927 19-39  802 666 531 110 129 279  .599  34 5914.2 4913 1902 1424 1363 3509   2.17  147  97 23749     203   4 155 WSH
    5 Roger Clemens        7.66   354 1984 2007 21-44  709 707 118  46   0 184  .658   0 4916.2 4185 1885 1707 1580 4672   3.12  143 363 20240  63 159  20 143 BOS-TOR-NYY-HOU

Nolan gets the edge there.

Best W-L%:

  Cnt Player             **W-L%**  W  From  To   Ages   G   GS  CG SHO  GF  L   SV   IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO    ERA  ERA+  HR   BF  IBB HBP  BK  WP Teams
+----+-----------------+---------+---+----+----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+------+----+---+-----+---+---+---+---+-----------+
    1 Lefty Grove          .680   300 1925 1941 25-41  616 457 298  35 123 141  55 3940.2 3849 1594 1339 1187 2266   3.06  148 162 16633      42   1  51 PHA-BOS
    2 Christy Mathewson    .665   373 1900 1916 19-35  635 551 434  79  74 188  28 4780.2 4218 1616 1133  844 2502   2.13  135  91 19136      59   6 114 NYG-TOT
    3 Roger Clemens        .658   354 1984 2007 21-44  709 707 118  46   0 184   0 4916.2 4185 1885 1707 1580 4672   3.12  143 363 20240  63 159  20 143 BOS-TOR-NYY-HOU
    4 John Clarkson        .648   328 1882 1894 20-32  531 518 485  37  12 178   5 4536.1 4295 2376 1417 1191 1978   2.81  134 161 11954      35   0 182 WOR-CHC-BSN-TOT-CLV
    5 Randy Johnson        .647   300 1988 2009 24-45  607 597 100  37   5 164   2 4097.1 3307 1682 1494 1487 4845   3.28  136 402 16902  37 188  33 106 MON-TOT-SEA-ARI-NYY-SFG

Guess who’s last out of 24? (Yep, Ryan.)

And finally, top ERA+ values:

  Cnt Player            **ERA+**  W  From  To   Ages   G   GS  CG SHO  GF  L   W-L%  SV   IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO    ERA   HR   BF  IBB HBP  BK  WP Teams
+----+-----------------+--------+---+----+----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+-----+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+------+---+-----+---+---+---+---+-----------+
    1 Lefty Grove          148   300 1925 1941 25-41  616 457 298  35 123 141  .680  55 3940.2 3849 1594 1339 1187 2266   3.06 162 16633      42   1  51 PHA-BOS
    2 Walter Johnson       147   417 1907 1927 19-39  802 666 531 110 129 279  .599  34 5914.2 4913 1902 1424 1363 3509   2.17  97 23749     203   4 155 WSH
    3 Roger Clemens        143   354 1984 2007 21-44  709 707 118  46   0 184  .658   0 4916.2 4185 1885 1707 1580 4672   3.12 363 20240  63 159  20 143 BOS-TOR-NYY-HOU
    4 Kid Nichols          140   361 1890 1906 20-36  620 561 531  48  56 208  .634  17 5056.1 4912 2477 1660 1268 1868   2.95 156 21243     133   1 169 BSN-STL-TOT-PHI
    5 Cy Young             138   511 1890 1911 23-44  906 815 749  76  84 316  .618  17 7354.2 7092 3167 2147 1217 2803   2.63 138 30058     163   3 156 CLV-STL-BOS-CLE-TOT
    6 Randy Johnson        136   300 1988 2009 24-45  607 597 100  37   5 164  .647   2 4097.1 3307 1682 1494 1487 4845   3.28 402 16902  37 188  33 106 MON-TOT-SEA-ARI-NYY-SFG

Somehow, it almost seems like Randy Johnson is underrated.

Next stop: Cooperstown