24th July 2009
We had to install a kernel update this morning which means that all of the servers went down for awhile (unfortunately B-R was down for two hours due to a messed up config file). This was the first time the servers had been rebooted in about 350 days. Pretty impressive if you ask me.
I also did some manipulation of the build script to move it to a less loaded machine which should have the affect of 1) dramatically improving the time that the site is updated 8am rather than 10:30am and 2) improving the performance of the site in the morning.
Also due to the Mark Buehrle perfect game and resulting traffic spike, I fiddled with the server configs and made some changes (mainly with keep alives, i.e. disabling them) that should speed things up substantially on the site. We'll see. This Sunday and next Friday will be the litmus tests.
Posted in Announcements | 5 Comments »
24th July 2009
Playing around with Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Pitching Game Finder, looking for a "not-so-perfect game," I set the controls for "From 1954 to 2009, requiring BR>=21 and IP=9" and this is what I got:
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 Billy O'Dell 1962-04-16 SFG LAD W 19-8 CG 9 ,W 9 15 8 6 4 21 4 1 172 111 29 47 41 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 6.00
2 Burt Hooton 1974-04-17 CHC PIT W 18-9 CG 9 ,W 9 16 9 5 1 21 7 3 33 47 46 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5.00
Games found: 2.
Note the dates on both these games - and that O'Dell and Hooton got wins too.
Posted in Game Finders | 2 Comments »
23rd July 2009
Congratulations to Mark Buehrle on his perfect game! It has been reported that this is Buehrle's second no hitter, however it is more than that. Buehrle is only the second pitcher since 1954 (if you have time to check prior to 1954, let me know and I'll post it, otherwise I'll try to do it later) to have 2 no-hitters in his career in which he faced the minimum 27 batters. The other is Sandy Koufax. Here are the lines from Buehle's previous no hitter and Koufax's games:
Cnt 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
+----+-------------+---+----+-------+---------+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+--+--+--+--+--+------+
Buehrle 1 2007-04-18 CHW TEX W 6-0 SHO9 ,W 9 0 0 0 1 8 0 106 66 94 27 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00
Koufax 1 1964-06-04 LAD @PHI W 3-0 SHO9 ,W 9 0 0 0 1 12 0 92 66 98 27 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.00
Koufax 2 1965-09-09 LAD CHC W 1-0 SHO9 ,W 9 0 0 0 0 14 0 113 79 101 27 27 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Posted in Uncategorized | 29 Comments »
23rd July 2009
This came up in a recent discussion. Most baseball trivia buffs will know that Steve Carlton was the last guy to pitch 300 innings in a season:
Cnt Player Year IP Age Tm Lg G GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% SV 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 Steve Carlton 1980 304 35 PHI NL 38 38 13 3 0 24 9 .727 0 243 87 79 90 286 2.34 162 15 1228 1114 50 13 12 2 14 8 14 14 16 9 7 17 .218 .276 .327 .603 69
2 Phil Niekro 1979 342 40 ATL NL 44 44 23 1 0 21 20 .512 0 311 160 129 113 208 3.39 120 41 1436 1290 50 6 8 11 14 7 25 40 11 2 4 18 .241 .306 .384 .690 88
3 Phil Niekro 1978 334.1 39 ATL NL 44 42 22 4 1 19 18 .514 1 295 129 107 102 248 2.88 142 16 1389 1254 42 10 5 13 13 6 13 34 12 4 3 11 .235 .298 .323 .621 71
4 Jim Palmer 1977 319 31 BAL AL 39 39 22 3 0 20 11 .645 0 263 106 103 99 193 2.91 132 24 1269 1148 42 9 1 3 10 9 22 15 30 1 0 7 .229 .290 .344 .634 77
5 Steve Rogers 1977 301.2 27 MON NL 40 40 17 4 0 17 16 .515 0 272 122 104 81 206 3.10 122 16 1235 1121 44 10 3 5 18 9 23 24 13 4 1 14 .243 .294 .343 .637 77
6 Dave Goltz 1977 303 28 MIN AL 39 39 19 2 0 20 11 .645 0 284 129 113 91 186 3.36 120 23 1253 1149 41 14 4 2 7 5 26 18 16 6 1 9 .247 .302 .367 .669 82
7 Phil Niekro 1977 330.1 38 ATL NL 44 43 20 2 1 16 20 .444 0 315 166 148 164 262 4.03 111 26 1428 1236 44 9 12 8 11 8 26 47 32 4 3 17 .255 .344 .368 .712 88
8 Randy Jones 1976 315.1 26 SDP NL 40 40 25 5 0 22 14 .611 0 274 109 96 50 93 2.74 120 15 1251 1173 40 3 9 4 15 9 34 15 3 2 1 0 .234 .265 .311 .576 74
9 Jim Palmer 1976 315 30 BAL AL 40 40 23 6 0 22 13 .629 0 255 101 88 84 159 2.51 130 20 1256 1140 35 8 5 8 10 14 20 33 15 3 0 5 .224 .278 .321 .599 80
10 Gaylord Perry 1975 305.2 36 TOT AL 37 37 25 5 0 18 17 .514 0 277 127 110 70 233 3.24 116 28 1248 1159 45 7 6 4 11 3 15 12 17 2 0 5 .239 .284 .362 .646 82
11 Jim Palmer 1975 323 29 BAL AL 39 38 25 10 1 23 11 .676 1 253 87 75 80 193 2.09 169 20 1268 1172 37 10 4 2 10 4 32 29 11 1 0 4 .216 .266 .316 .582 68
12 Jim Kaat 1975 303.2 36 CHW AL 43 41 12 1 1 20 14 .588 0 321 121 105 77 142 3.11 125 20 1279 1172 51 6 0 9 11 10 31 4 12 2 2 0 .274 .321 .379 .700 95
13 Andy Messersmith 1975 321.2 29 LAD NL 42 40 19 7 2 19 14 .576 1 244 92 82 96 213 2.29 149 22 1276 1148 29 3 2 5 20 7 24 14 7 2 0 8 .213 .275 .301 .576 67
14 Catfish Hunter 1975 328 29 NYY AL 39 39 30 7 0 23 14 .622 0 248 107 94 83 177 2.58 144 25 1294 1191 38 5 4 5 7 8 17 15 14 0 0 7 .208 .261 .312 .573 62
15 Nolan Ryan 1974 332.2 27 CAL AL 42 41 26 3 1 22 16 .579 0 221 127 107 202 367 2.89 118 18 1392 1165 38 6 3 9 12 4 24 28 21 3 0 9 .190 .313 .279 .592 76
16 Phil Niekro 1974 302.1 35 ATL NL 41 39 18 6 1 20 13 .606 1 249 91 80 88 195 2.38 159 19 1219 1106 43 7 3 6 10 8 22 18 13 1 4 6 .225 .284 .328 .612 73
17 Luis Tiant 1974 311.1 33 BOS AL 38 38 25 7 0 22 13 .629 0 281 106 101 82 176 2.92 133 21 1266 1166 40 12 3 4 6 8 24 23 7 2 0 1 .241 .291 .350 .641 78
18 Wilbur Wood 1974 320.1 32 CHW AL 42 42 22 1 0 20 19 .513 0 305 143 128 80 169 3.60 105 27 1316 1201 50 7 8 9 14 12 33 29 16 6 0 5 .254 .303 .375 .678 91
19 Gaylord Perry 1974 322.1 35 CLE AL 37 37 28 4 0 21 13 .618 0 230 98 90 99 216 2.51 144 25 1262 1127 34 7 7 6 19 12 27 12 6 3 0 2 .204 .269 .313 .582 67
20 Catfish Hunter 1974 318.1 28 OAK AL 41 41 23 6 0 25 12 .676 0 268 97 88 46 143 2.49 134 25 1240 1171 43 7 2 4 9 10 15 14 19 1 0 1 .229 .258 .342 .600 76
21 Fergie Jenkins 1974 328.1 31 TEX AL 41 41 29 6 0 25 12 .676 0 286 117 103 45 225 2.82 126 27 1305 1231 56 2 3 8 9 12 17 18 10 0 2 4 .232 .262 .347 .609 76
22 Mickey Lolich 1974 308 33 DET AL 41 41 27 3 0 16 21 .432 0 310 155 142 78 202 4.15 91 38 1263 1155 48 10 11 3 17 10 24 16 32 5 0 10 .268 .314 .426 .740 109
He pitched 304 innings over 38 starts, or exactly 8 innings per start. Check out Carlton's complete 1980 game log right here. Lefty had only 4 starts all year where he didn't reach at least 7 IP. He also had 13 games where he pitched 9 innings, all for complete games except this September 22nd game that the Phillies won in the 10th inning. He also pitched one 10-inning complete game.
From his game logs, you can also see that he pitched quite a bit on 3 days' rest instead of 4 days' rest. The Phillies weren't quite using a full 5-man rotation yet, which is how Carlton got 38 starts instead of the typical 32 to 34 we see for a full-time ace these days.
Posted in Season Finders | 3 Comments »
22nd July 2009
On August 19, 1997 the Cincinnati Reds beat the Colorado Rockies 6-5 beginning a stretch in which they went 20-17. While this may seem unremarkable, the Reds managed to record a save in every single one of those wins. It was the longest streak of wins saved by any team from 1954-2009 (and presumably ever). As a quick point of reference, the longest such streak this year was 8 games by the Royals earlier this month. Here are the longest streaks 1954-2009:
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Streak Finders | 8 Comments »
22nd July 2009
We'll be rebooting the servers this Friday morning. We should be out of commission (Murphy wiling) for just a few minutes. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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22nd July 2009
Joel Pineiro recently pitched his 4th straight start without issuing a walk. Here are the longest such streaks so far this year:
StreakStart Streak End Games W L GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA HBP WP BK Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Joel Pineiro 2009-06-28 2009-07-19 4 2 1 4 1 0 0 0 29.2 24 10 7 0 11 1 2.12 1 1 0 STL
Hiroki Kuroda 2009-06-12 2009-06-28 4 1 3 4 0 0 0 0 26.1 27 16 15 0 22 4 5.13 0 2 0 LAD
Joel Pineiro 2009-05-08 2009-05-24 4 1 3 4 1 1 0 0 28 30 13 12 0 12 0 3.86 1 0 0 STL
Josh Geer 2009-06-29 2009-07-09 3 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 18 21 11 11 0 7 5 5.50 0 0 0 SDP
Josh Beckett 2009-06-14 2009-06-26 3 2 1 3 1 1 0 0 22 22 7 6 0 18 1 2.45 1 0 0 BOS
Braden Looper 2009-06-09 2009-06-19 3 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 15.2 22 13 13 0 13 4 7.47 1 0 0 MIL
Jamie Moyer 2009-05-31 2009-06-11 3 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 19 15 6 6 0 10 1 2.84 2 0 0 PHI
Mark Buehrle 2009-05-19 2009-05-30 3 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 21.1 27 6 5 0 12 2 2.11 0 0 0 CHW
Danny Haren 2009-05-12 2009-05-28 3 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 22 22 10 10 0 20 5 4.09 1 0 0 ARI
Kevin Slowey 2009-04-25 2009-05-06 3 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 16 22 9 9 0 13 1 5.06 0 0 0 MIN
Pineiro's streak is the only active one. After him, there are two guys working on active 2-game streaks: Roy Halladay (duh!) and Barry Zito (surprise!)
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21st July 2009
Last night the A's overcame Gio Gonzalez's nightmarish start to stun the Twins 14-13. Gonzalez allowed 10 hits and 11 runs in 2 and 2/3 innings. His game score of -8 was by far the worst for any pitcher on a winning team since 1954. Here are the previous "leaders" in this category:
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 Jaime Navarro 1997-07-31 CHW @ANA W 14-12 GS-5 4.2 11 11 10 2 1 1 83 51 -1 27 24 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 19.29
2 Aaron Sele 1998-06-03 TEX @OAK W 16-10 GS-5 4 12 10 8 3 2 2 103 53 1 28 23 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 18.00
3 Andy Pettitte 1996-04-30 NYY @BAL W 13-10 GS-2 1 8 9 8 2 0 1 1 13 10 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 72.00
4 Al Nipper 1987-05-31 BOS @CHW W 10-9 GS-2 1.1 7 9 9 2 1 2 3 15 11 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 60.75
5 Geoff Zahn 1980-04-27 MIN OAK W 20-11 GS-5 4.1 14 8 8 2 2 0 3 26 24 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 16.62
6 Jon Garland 2007-08-02 CHW @NYY W 13-9 GS-2 1.1 9 8 8 0 1 1 56 38 5 13 13 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 54.00
7 Ryan Dempster 2002-08-04 CIN @SDP W 15-10 GS-5 4 10 10 10 1 4 1 78 48 5 23 21 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 22.50
8 Dan Wright 2001-08-22 CHW @KCR W 13-12 GS-1 0.2 9 7 7 1 0 0 31 19 5 11 10 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 94.50
9 Bill Pulsipher 1998-09-11 MIL @CHC W 13-11 GS-5 4.2 11 9 9 2 1 3 98 63 5 27 23 3 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 17.36
10 Charles Nagy 1998-03-31 CLE @SEA W 10-9 GS-5 4.2 12 9 9 2 3 4 5 27 23 2 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 17.36
11 Juan Guzman 1993-05-30 TOR @OAK W 13-11 GS-3 2.1 7 9 9 3 1 1 75 42 5 17 13 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 34.71
Gonzalez recieved a no-decision for his efforts. His game score was the second worst for any starting pitcher not given a loss since 1954. Here are the previous "leaders":
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 Zack Greinke 2005-06-10 KCR @ARI L 11-12 GS-5 4.1 15 11 11 2 2 3 94 55 -11 29 27 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 22.85
2 Ramon Ortiz 2000-09-03 ANA @CHW L 12-13 GS-1 0.2 8 9 9 2 0 0 43 22 -2 12 9 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 121.50
3 Jaime Navarro 1997-07-31 CHW @ANA W 14-12 GS-5 4.2 11 11 10 2 1 1 83 51 -1 27 24 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 19.29
4 Jason Jacome 1996-04-15 KCR CHW L 10-11 GS-2 1.1 8 9 9 3 0 2 59 31 -1 15 12 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 60.75
5 Josh Fogg 2003-09-19(1) PIT CHC L 9-10 GS-3 2.1 9 9 9 3 0 2 54 29 0 19 16 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 34.71
6 Bob Forsch 1980-04-22 STL @CHC L 12-16 GS-5 4.2 14 9 9 2 2 1 0 28 25 5 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 17.36
7 Scott Feldman 2008-08-12 TEX @BOS L 17-19 GS-3 2.2 10 12 6 3 2 2 90 51 1 22 19 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 20.25
8 Aaron Sele 1998-06-03 TEX @OAK W 16-10 GS-5 4 12 10 8 3 2 2 103 53 1 28 23 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 18.00
9 Andy Pettitte 1996-04-30 NYY @BAL W 13-10 GS-2 1 8 9 8 2 0 1 1 13 10 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 72.00
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21st July 2009
Longest streaks this year by starting pitchers going at least 7 innings in each start:
StreakStart Streak End Games W L GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA HBP WP BK Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Roy Halladay 2009-04-06 2009-06-07 13 10 1 13 3 1 0 0 100 90 30 28 12 88 6 2.52 2 2 0 TOR
Danny Haren 2009-05-12 2009-06-30 9 4 2 9 1 0 0 0 66 45 18 18 6 62 8 2.45 2 1 0 ARI
Felix Hernandez 2009-06-05 2009-07-17 8 5 0 8 1 1 0 0 61.1 40 11 10 17 57 2 1.47 2 6 1 SEA
C.C. Sabathia 2009-05-08 2009-06-16 8 5 1 8 1 1 0 0 61.2 43 21 20 15 45 6 2.92 2 2 0 NYY
Johnny Cueto 2009-04-22 2009-05-29 8 4 2 8 0 0 0 0 57 40 15 14 13 38 6 2.21 3 1 0 CIN
Kevin Millwood 2009-04-06 2009-05-09 7 3 3 7 1 0 0 0 52.1 44 19 17 11 27 7 2.92 2 2 0 TEX
Tim Lincecum 2009-06-07 2009-07-04 6 5 1 6 3 2 0 0 49.1 30 7 6 9 50 2 1.09 1 3 0 SFG
Josh Johnson 2009-05-24 2009-06-20 6 4 0 6 1 0 0 0 44.2 33 14 14 12 36 2 2.82 1 3 0 FLA
Mark Buehrle 2009-05-07 2009-06-04 6 2 2 6 0 0 0 0 44.1 40 14 13 6 27 5 2.64 0 1 0 CHW
Cliff Lee 2009-04-22 2009-05-19 6 1 3 6 0 0 0 0 46 47 8 8 5 31 1 1.57 0 0 0 CLE
Zack Greinke 2009-04-18 2009-05-15 6 5 1 6 4 2 0 0 49 31 5 4 5 49 0 0.73 0 2 0 KCR
J.A. Happ 2009-06-27 2009-07-19 5 3 0 5 1 1 0 0 37 27 6 6 5 24 3 1.46 1 0 0 PHI
Adam Wainwright 2009-06-26 2009-07-18 5 2 2 5 0 0 0 0 39.1 32 8 7 15 39 1 1.60 1 1 0 STL
John Danks 2009-06-10 2009-07-03 5 3 2 5 0 0 0 0 35.2 22 6 6 8 31 2 1.51 3 0 0 CHW
Derek Lowe 2009-05-18 2009-06-09 5 2 2 5 0 0 0 0 36.1 30 14 12 6 15 0 2.97 1 0 1 ATL
Zach Duke 2009-05-12 2009-06-02 5 3 1 5 1 0 0 0 37 32 10 10 8 19 2 2.43 2 0 0 PIT
Chad Billingsley 2009-04-23 2009-05-14 5 2 1 5 0 0 0 0 35.2 26 9 8 17 35 1 2.02 4 2 0 LAD
Felix Hernandez has the longest active streak with 8 starts in a row, but Adam Wainwright and youngster J. A. Happ are working on active 5-game streaks of their own.
Happ has slipped under most people's radar since he started in the bullpen, only moving to the rotation when Brett Myers was unable to pitch anymore. Also, despite his 7-0 record, the Phillies lost several of his other starts, including 1-run late-game losses to the Yankees, Mets, Orioles, and Reds.
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20th July 2009
Here is a bit of trivial trivia: With their 2-1 tonight against the Orioles, the Yankees have now won 3 consecutive games by the score of 2-1. They are the 7th team since 1954 to have such a streak. This includes the San Diego Padres of last year who actually won 4 consecutive games by that score . Here are the teams:
Team StreakStart Streak End Games W L AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SO BB SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Opponents
+-------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
SDP 2008-06-04 2008-06-07 4 4 0 127 8 34 8 1 3 8 25 13 0 1 .268 .352 .417 .769 CHC,NYM
HOU 1991-08-03 1991-08-05 3 3 0 114 6 24 6 0 0 5 29 10 4 1 .211 .274 .263 .537 LAD,SDP
MIN 1987-09-03 1987-09-05 3 3 0 104 6 22 1 1 3 6 28 9 3 2 .212 .287 .327 .614 BOS,MIL
CAL 1972-09-24 1972-09-26 3 3 0 99 6 21 4 0 2 4 13 3 0 1 .212 .233 .313 .546 MIN,TEX
CLE 1972-05-17 1972-05-20 3 3 0 92 6 13 3 1 1 6 11 13 0 3 .141 .252 .228 .480 NYY,DET
CAL 1967-07-21 1967-07-23 3 3 0 87 6 19 4 0 0 5 19 5 3 1 .218 .277 .264 .541 MIN
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