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Archive for April, 2009
Zack Greinke
Last night, Zack Grienke won his 5th game of the year in his 5th start, but he broke his string of starts allowing no earned runs. Turns out he set the record for most starts allowing no runs and getting the win from the start of a season (1954 to present):
StreakStart Streak End Games W L GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA HBP WP BK Teams +-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Zack Greinke 2009-04-08 2009-04-24 4 4 0 4 2 1 0 0 29 19 1 0 6 36 0 0.00 1 1 0 KCR Dontrelle Willis 2004-04-08 2004-04-20 3 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 19.1 13 1 0 5 15 0 0.00 2 0 0 FLA Woody Williams 2003-04-02 2003-04-18 3 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 19.2 11 0 0 3 13 0 0.00 1 0 0 STL Tommy Greene 1991-05-01 1991-05-28 3 3 0 3 2 2 0 0 24 5 0 0 9 24 0 0.00 1 0 0 PHI Roger Moret 1973-04-22 1973-08-02 3 3 0 3 2 2 0 0 23.2 16 1 0 11 18 0 0.00 0 0 0 BOS Luis Tiant 1966-04-17 1966-05-03 3 3 0 3 3 3 0 0 27 14 0 0 8 25 0 0.00 0 0 0 CLE Tom Cheney 1963-04-11 1963-04-26 3 3 0 3 3 2 0 0 27 8 1 0 2 26 0 0.00 0 0 0 WSA Don Larsen 1958-04-15 1958-05-13 3 3 0 3 2 2 0 0 23 15 0 0 10 11 0 0.00 0 0 0 NYY
Greinke allowed 2 ER in 7 IP last night but still got the win. His troubles have been well-documented and this is a guy we should all root for to continue to succeed.
Greinke is the cover story on this week's Sports Illustrated. Click on the image above to read the story on their web site.
Comments Off | Posted in Streak Finders
Most consecutive games with an RBI, start of career
This is a simple batting streak finder for most games at the start of a career with at least 1 RBI, going back to 1954:
StreakStart Streak End Games AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SO BB SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Teams +-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Gene Baker 1954-04-13 1954-04-24 7 26 10 12 3 0 4 10 0 7 0 0 .462 .576 1.038 1.614 CHC Faye Throneberry 1955-04-12 1955-04-17 6 25 12 10 4 0 3 12 3 2 0 0 .400 .429 .920 1.349 BOS Mike Lansing 1993-04-07 1993-04-11 5 26 6 12 2 0 2 8 1 1 0 0 .462 .481 .769 1.250 MON Bobby Knoop 1964-04-13 1964-04-21 5 17 2 3 0 0 2 5 4 2 0 0 .176 .263 .529 .792 LAA Jesse Barfield 1981-09-03 1981-09-06 4 15 1 4 1 0 1 6 2 1 1 1 .267 .313 .533 .846 TOR Ron Cash 1973-09-04 1973-09-10 4 16 4 8 0 1 0 4 1 0 0 0 .500 .471 .625 1.096 DET Jed Lowrie 2008-04-15 2008-04-20 3 12 3 5 3 0 0 5 5 0 0 0 .417 .385 .667 1.052 BOS Alex Romero 2008-04-03 2008-04-08 3 2 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1.000 .667 1.000 1.667 ARI Shelley Duncan 2007-07-20 2007-07-22 3 12 3 4 0 0 3 7 4 2 0 0 .333 .429 1.083 1.512 NYY Jeff Salazar 2006-09-07 2006-09-10 3 9 5 5 1 0 0 5 1 4 1 0 .556 .643 .667 1.310 COL Jason Bay 2003-05-23 2003-08-27 3 11 3 4 2 0 1 3 2 2 0 0 .364 .462 .818 1.280 SDP-PIT Reed Johnson 2003-04-20 2003-05-17 3 9 3 5 2 0 1 3 2 0 0 1 .556 .636 1.111 1.747 TOR Hideki Matsui 2003-03-31 2003-04-02 3 14 0 4 2 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 .286 .267 .429 .696 NYY Jason Tyner 2000-06-05 2000-06-08 3 11 0 3 0 0 0 3 2 1 0 1 .273 .308 .273 .581 NYM Yamil Benitez 1995-09-16 1995-09-19 3 9 2 5 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 .556 .556 1.111 1.667 MON Shane Andrews 1995-04-27 1995-04-29 3 10 3 5 2 0 2 5 4 1 0 0 .500 .545 1.300 1.845 MON Pete Coachman 1990-08-18 1990-08-20 3 14 1 6 1 0 0 4 3 0 0 0 .429 .429 .500 .929 CAL Mike Ramsey 1987-04-06 1987-04-08 3 12 2 5 0 1 0 3 4 0 0 0 .417 .417 .583 1.000 LAD Rey Quinones 1986-05-17 1986-05-20 3 10 4 3 2 0 0 4 2 3 0 1 .300 .462 .500 .962 BOS George Bjorkman 1983-07-10 1983-07-13 3 10 1 4 0 0 1 7 1 1 0 0 .400 .455 .700 1.155 HOU Joe Lefebvre 1980-05-22 1980-05-24 3 8 2 4 0 0 2 5 2 1 0 0 .500 .556 1.250 1.806 NYY Danny Ainge 1979-05-21 1979-05-23 3 10 4 6 0 0 0 3 1 1 0 0 .600 .636 .600 1.236 TOR Ramon Aviles 1979-05-04 1979-05-07 3 9 3 5 2 0 0 4 1 1 0 0 .556 .600 .778 1.378 PHI Paul Molitor 1978-04-07 1978-04-09 3 16 4 7 0 0 1 7 0 0 0 0 .438 .438 .625 1.063 MIL Ruppert Jones 1976-08-01 1976-08-07 3 12 2 4 1 1 0 5 1 1 0 1 .333 .385 .583 .968 KCR Jim Rice 1974-08-19 1974-08-23 3 9 0 2 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 .222 .250 .222 .472 BOS Gomer Hodge 1971-04-06 1971-04-11 3 4 1 4 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.500 2.500 CLE Al Gallagher 1970-04-07 1970-04-09 3 12 2 6 1 1 0 3 1 0 0 0 .500 .462 .750 1.212 SFG Thurman Munson 1969-08-08 1969-08-12 3 9 3 3 0 0 1 4 3 4 0 0 .333 .538 .667 1.205 NYY Coco Laboy 1969-04-08 1969-04-10 3 11 2 6 3 0 1 5 2 2 0 0 .545 .615 1.091 1.706 MON Roberto Pena 1965-04-12 1965-04-14 3 13 4 5 1 0 2 5 2 1 0 0 .385 .429 .923 1.352 CHC Bill Freehan 1961-09-26 1961-10-01 3 10 1 4 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 .400 .455 .400 .855 DET R.C. Stevens 1958-04-15 1958-04-20 3 4 2 4 0 0 2 4 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 2.500 3.500 PIT Jim Finigan 1954-04-25 1954-05-01 3 10 0 5 1 0 0 3 1 3 0 1 .500 .615 .600 1.215 PHA Sammy White 1954-04-13 1954-04-18 3 10 2 7 2 0 2 6 0 0 0 0 .700 .700 1.500 2.200 BOS
Well, hold your horses...Gene Baker is not the leader, because his career actually started in 1953. The box scores (and hence the streak finder) doesn't back before 1954. Same goes for Sammy White, last guy on the list, as his career started earlier. But Jim Finigan did start in 1954, so he counts.
This list is certainly a varied bunch. For every Paul Molitor and Jim Rice there is a Rey Quinones and Coco Laboy.
So I guess this is more trivial point of itnerest than anything else...
1 Comment | Posted in Streak Finders
Two homers in first career game
Since 1954 two players have hit 2 homers in their first career major-league game. Do you know whom?
5 Comments | Posted in Game Finders
Most Innings with a PA – 9 Inning Game
Here is quick piece of trivia.
Since 1954 four players have come up 8 times in a nine inning game. However, in only one of those games did all of the plate appearances each take place in a different inning. On August 28th 1992, Darryl Hamilton of the Brewers took part in his team's 22-2 thrashing of the Blue Jays. The 22 runs were evenly distributed and Hamilton managed to come to the plate in every inning except the 5th. Here are his PAs as listed by PI:
Darryl Hamilton
PA Inn Bases Outs Pitcher Result
- 1. 1--, 0 outs vs. Key, Strikeout (K+SB2)
- 2. --3, 2 outs vs. Key, Base on Balls (W)
- 3. 123, 2 outs vs. Timlin, Single (S8/L8LM.3-H;2-H;1-3)
- 4. 1--, 1 out vs. Linton, Single (S9/G34D.1-3)
- 6. ---, 0 outs vs. MacDonald, Out (9/F9M)
- 7. 12-, 2 outs vs. MacDonald, Single (S9/L9S.2-H;1-3)
- 8. 123, 2 outs vs. Eichhorn, Single (S/L89S.3-H;2-H;1-3)
- 9. 12-, 2 outs vs. Wells, Out (4(1)/FO/G4M.B-1)
3 Comments | Posted in Uncategorized
Pitchers batting 8th
I know I've written on this before, but just wanted to check in on it again. Most career games since 1954 as a pitcher batting 8th, minimum 1 PA in the game:
Games Link to Individual Games +-----------------+-----+-------------------------+ Braden Looper 41 Ind. Games Todd Wellemeyer 36 Ind. Games Joel Pineiro 35 Ind. Games Adam Wainwright 31 Ind. Games Kyle Lohse 31 Ind. Games Matt Morris 16 Ind. Games Kent Mercker 15 Ind. Games Brad Thompson 14 Ind. Games Kent Bottenfield 11 Ind. Games Darren Oliver 10 Ind. Games Kip Wells 9 Ind. Games Jeff Suppan 9 Ind. Games Ben Sheets 9 Ind. Games Donovan Osborne 9 Ind. Games Carlos Villanueva 7 Ind. Games Anthony Reyes 7 Ind. Games David Bush 7 Ind. Games
Oh you crazy Tony LaRussa...
Comments Off | Posted in Game Finders
HAPPY RBITHDAY!!!!
Yesterday, Kosuke Fukudome became the first player since 1954 to have 5 or more RBI on his 32nd birthday. Here are all the players since 1954 to have at least 5 RBI on their birthdays.
AgeY.D Date Tm Opp GmReslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BOr Positions +----+------+-----------------+-------------+---+----+-------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---------+ 27.000 Don Lock 1963-07-27 WSA @DET W 8-4 5 4 2 3 1 0 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 5th CF 27.000 R.J. Reynolds 1986-04-19 PIT @CHC W 14-8 6 6 1 3 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1st LF 27.000 Alex Rodriguez 2002-07-27 TEX OAK W 10-6 6 6 3 3 0 0 2 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3rd SS 29.000 Travis Hafner 2006-06-03 CLE LAA W 14-2 5 4 2 3 1 0 1 6 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4th DH 29.000 Frank Thomas 1958-06-11 PIT @SFG W 14-6 6 5 3 2 0 0 2 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5th 3B 29.000 Nomar Garciaparra 2002-07-23(1) BOS TBD W 22-4 6 5 3 3 0 0 3 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3rd SS 30.000 Carlos Delgado 2002-06-25 TOR @TBD W 20-11 6 5 2 2 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4th 1B 30.000 Bill Mazeroski 1966-09-05(1) PIT ATL W 13-5 4 4 3 2 0 0 2 6 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5th 2B 31.000 Mike Sweeney 2004-07-22 KCR @DET W 13-7 6 5 2 2 0 0 2 7 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3rd DH 32.000 Kosuke Fukudome 2009-04-26 CHC @STL W 10-3 5 4 2 3 0 0 1 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3rd RF 36.000 Gus Zernial 1959-06-27 DET BAL W 12-2 4 4 2 2 0 0 2 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5th 1B 37.000 Tim Raines 1996-09-16 NYY @TOR W 10-0 5 5 2 2 0 0 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2nd LF
Nomar looks to have had the best birthday. However, if you look at the results of the second game of his team's double header (allowing 5 in the 9th to lose 5-4) , you have to wonder if he still had any interest in celebrating. Ouch.
2 Comments | Posted in Game Finders
Homers during Kalas’ tenure
I'm having a hard time saying goodbye to Harry Kalas.
He was a broadcaster with the Phillies from 1971 until this season. Here are the most homers by a Phillies player from 1971 to 2008:
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 +----+-----------------+-------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+----+----+---+----+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Mike Schmidt 548 1972 1989 22-39 2404 10062 8352 1506 2234 408 59 1595 1507 201 1883 79 16 108 156 174 92 .267 .380 .527 .907 *53/64 2 Pat Burrell 251 2000 2008 23-31 1306 5388 4535 655 1166 253 14 827 785 47 1273 26 0 42 104 5 1 .257 .367 .485 .852 *7/3D 3 Greg Luzinski 223 1971 1980 20-29 1281 5302 4618 618 1297 253 21 811 569 74 1093 61 1 53 96 29 27 .281 .364 .490 .854 *7/3 4 Bobby Abreu 195 1998 2006 24-32 1353 5885 4857 891 1474 348 42 814 947 94 1078 23 4 54 88 254 80 .303 .416 .513 .929 *9/8D 5 Ryan Howard 177 2004 2008 24-28 572 2442 2071 360 578 99 7 499 331 97 692 19 0 21 39 2 2 .279 .380 .590 .970 *3/D 6 Mike Lieberthal 150 1994 2006 22-34 1174 4613 4141 528 1137 255 10 609 331 34 560 88 10 43 112 8 7 .275 .338 .450 .788 *2/D 7 Scott Rolen 150 1996 2002 21-27 844 3643 3125 533 880 207 19 559 426 29 714 54 0 38 50 71 25 .282 .373 .504 .877 *5 8 Darren Daulton 134 1983 1997 21-35 1109 4185 3504 489 858 189 23 567 607 57 709 23 12 39 34 48 9 .245 .357 .427 .784 *2/9D37 9 Chase Utley 130 2003 2008 24-29 735 3126 2739 490 817 189 22 492 272 22 496 83 3 29 44 60 11 .298 .375 .526 .901 *4/3D 10 Jimmy Rollins 125 2000 2008 21-29 1251 5787 5269 845 1461 307 90 544 426 34 695 30 31 31 75 295 61 .277 .333 .441 .774 *6/4 11 Von Hayes 124 1983 1991 24-32 1208 4988 4306 646 1173 232 30 568 619 74 677 16 4 43 79 202 77 .272 .363 .427 .790 3897/5 12 Juan Samuel 100 1983 1989 22-28 852 3780 3503 523 921 176 71 413 208 20 825 40 3 26 45 249 78 .263 .310 .439 .749 *4/895
Chase Utley had another homer in 2009 before Kalas' death.
I don't know if Kalas called all of Mike Schmidt's career homers. Probably not--Kalas probably missed a game here or there due to illness.
Harry the K also was a broadcaster for the Houston Colt 45s (now the Astros) from 1965 to 1970. Here are the leading HR hitters during that period for the Astros:
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 +----+-----------------+-------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+----+----+---+----+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Jimmy Wynn 163 1965 1970 23-28 882 3780 3167 534 845 152 19 484 543 49 713 17 21 32 54 130 47 .267 .374 .481 .855 2 Joe Morgan 48 1965 1970 21-26 713 3158 2623 435 698 109 46 219 486 13 304 10 25 14 24 154 49 .266 .381 .398 .779 *4 3 Doug Rader 44 1967 1970 22-25 456 1832 1640 218 428 76 14 239 157 19 287 13 8 14 51 6 12 .261 .328 .405 .733 *5/3 4 Rusty Staub 43 1965 1968 21-24 594 2401 2101 228 614 129 6 290 243 63 222 13 21 23 56 7 5 .292 .366 .421 .787 3 5 John Bateman 30 1965 1968 24-27 363 1281 1177 98 284 55 4 134 72 39 210 10 8 14 51 1 2 .241 .288 .371 .659 *2 6 Denis Menke 29 1968 1970 27-29 458 1943 1657 210 455 74 17 238 233 28 248 15 21 17 27 13 20 .275 .366 .392 .758 *64/35 7 Bob Aspromonte 20 1965 1968 27-30 565 2228 2033 184 528 64 12 208 153 32 218 9 16 17 66 5 8 .260 .312 .333 .645 *5/36 8 Norm Miller 16 1965 1970 19-24 374 1292 1131 140 270 57 10 125 132 14 215 13 7 9 26 15 10 .239 .323 .349 .672 /52 9 Joe Pepitone 14 1970 1970 29-29 75 299 279 44 70 9 5 35 18 9 28 1 0 1 7 5 2 .251 .298 .470 .768 /*3 10 Bob Watson 14 1966 1970 20-24 169 580 522 65 135 29 2 74 43 2 99 7 1 7 17 2 1 .259 .320 .402 .722 /*32 11 Jim Gentile 14 1965 1966 31-32 130 439 371 38 90 17 2 49 55 10 111 9 3 1 8 0 0 .243 .353 .412 .765 *3
Not much doing other than Wynn, thanks to the Astrodome.
Also, because I was curious, here are the most games by a Phillie from 1965 to 1970 against the Astros with at least one homer.
Games Link to Individual Games +-----------------+-----+-------------------------+ Dick Allen 20 Ind. Games Johnny Callison 7 Ind. Games Bill White 6 Ind. Games Tony Gonzalez 4 Ind. Games Deron Johnson 3 Ind. Games Wes Covington 3 Ind. Games Cookie Rojas 2 Ind. Games Don Money 2 Ind. Games Don Lock 2 Ind. Games Larry Hisle 2 Ind. Games Johnny Briggs 2 Ind. Games Rick Wise 1 Ind. Games Bobby Wine 1 Ind. Games Tony Taylor 1 Ind. Games Dick Stuart 1 Ind. Games Clay Dalrymple 1 Ind. Games Doug Clemens 1 Ind. Games Byron Browne 1 Ind. Games
Allen had 21 homers in those 20 games.
Anyway, sorry for my random musings. Like I said, I'm, having trouble saying goodbye.
1 Comment | Posted in Game Finders, Season Finders
Yankees-Red Sox
The most intense rivalry in sports renews itself this weekend. Here are a couple of lists to get you started.
1 Comment | Posted in Game Finders, Leaders, Postseason
BoondockSaint’s Contest
In the comments to a different thread BoondockSaint posted a contest that he would like to have. I don't have time to run it, but I am posting it here anyway. If BoondockSaint (or someone else) wants to run it, please feel free to use this thread:
6 Comments | Posted in Uncategorized
Chien-Ming Wang
Wang might be the nicest guy in the majors but he's off to the worst start of all players this year.
Since 1954, here are all the teams with at least 3 games among their first 12 where the starting pitcher went no more than 4 innings and gave up at least 7 earned runs:
Tm Year Games Link to Individual Games +---+----+-----+-------------------------+ MIN 1994 4 Ind. Games SFG 2001 3 Ind. Games SDP 2006 3 Ind. Games NYY 2009 3 Ind. Games BOS 2006 3 Ind. Games
If you click through on each "individual games" link, you'll see that the Twins had 4 different pitchers "achieve" the feat. The Giants had 3 different guys. The Padres got 2 such games from Dewon Brazelton and one from Jake Peavy of all guys. The Red Sox had 3 different guys.
Only the Yankees had the "feat' achieved by just 1 guy in these three starts:
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 Chien-Ming Wang 2009-04-08 NYY @BAL L 5-7 GS-4 ,L 3.2 9 7 7 3 0 1 73 40 12 21 17 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 17.18 2 Chien-Ming Wang 2009-04-13 NYY @TBR L 5-15 GS-2 ,L 1 6 8 8 3 1 0 61 34 7 12 8 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 72.00 3 Chien-Ming Wang 2009-04-18 NYY CLE L 4-22 GS-2 ,L 1.1 8 8 8 0 1 1 52 34 7 12 12 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 54.00
Those are some really ugly stat lines, especially for a guy who's had so much success so far in his career as one of the top game-winner from the last few seasons. I hope there's some sort of mild physical issue that Wang needs to recover from and he'll get back to his competitive form. I'm a big fan of international players in MLB and it's far too soon for Wang to leave the field.
3 Comments | Posted in Game Finders

