Posted by Steve Lombardi on July 21, 2008
Watching Andy Pettitte throw a gem in the Bronx yesterday got me thinking "How many 'older' left-handed starting pitchers in the A.L. have recently thrown really good games?" So, I turned to Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Pitching Game Finder and set the controls for: "From 1956 to 2008, Playing in the AL, Throws LH, as Starter, (requiring Age>=36 and game_score>=80)." And, this is what I found:
Cnt AgeY.D 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 38.079 Mike Cuellar 1975-07-26 BAL @MIL W 4-0 SHO9 ,W 9 1 0 0 3 10 0 92 29 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
2 36.044 Frank Tanana 1989-08-16 DET BAL W 4-0 SHO9 ,W 9 2 0 0 2 10 0 136 81 91 32 28 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.00
3 41.319 Randy Johnson 2005-07-26 NYY MIN W 4-0 GS-8 ,W 8 2 0 0 0 11 0 97 71 89 26 25 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
4 36.052 David Wells 1999-07-11 TOR @MON W 1-0 SHO9 ,W 9 2 0 0 1 7 0 103 74 89 31 29 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
5 37.015 Tommy John 1980-06-06 NYY @SEA W 3-0 SHO9 ,W 9 2 0 0 0 6 0 89 29 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
6 39.325 David Wells 2003-04-10 NYY MIN W 2-0 SHO9 ,W 9 3 0 0 0 6 0 96 72 87 32 30 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
7 38.361 David Wells 2002-05-16 NYY TBD W 13-0 SHO9 ,W 9 3 0 0 0 6 0 112 79 87 31 30 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
8 40.115 Tommy John 1983-09-14 CAL KCR L 0-1 GS-13 13 13 0 0 0 6 0 87 47 47 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 2 0 0 0 0.00
9 36.255 Jerry Koosman 1979-09-04 MIN KCR W 5-1 CG 9 ,W 9 2 1 1 0 7 1 86 29 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.00
10 38.023 Mike Cuellar 1975-05-31 BAL @CAL W 1-0 SHO9 ,W 9 1 0 0 1 2 0 86 30 27 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
11 36.167 Chuck Finley 1999-05-12 ANA @NYY W 1-0 GS-8 ,W 8 3 0 0 2 11 0 127 75 85 30 28 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0.00
12 44.078 Tommy John 1987-08-08 NYY @DET W 7-0 SHO9 ,W 9 2 0 0 1 3 0 85 29 27 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
13 36.330 Tommy John 1980-04-16 NYY @CHW W 6-0 SHO9 ,W 9 2 0 0 0 2 0 85 28 27 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0.00
14 39.043 Mike Cuellar 1976-06-20 BAL @TEX W 2-0 SHO9 ,W 9 3 0 0 2 6 0 85 31 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
15 38.095 Mike Cuellar 1975-08-11 BAL KCR W 4-0 SHO9 ,W 9 2 0 0 2 4 0 85 30 28 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0.00
16 36.253 Jim Kaat 1975-07-18 CHW DET W 4-0 SHO9 ,W 9 4 0 0 1 7 0 85 31 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.00
17 37.117 Mike Cuellar 1974-09-02(2) BAL BOS W 1-0 SHO9 ,W 9 2 0 0 2 4 0 85 29 27 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0.00
18 36.072 Mike Cuellar 1973-07-19 BAL @CAL W 3-1 CG 11 ,W 11 9 1 1 2 12 1 85 44 41 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.82
19 36.213 Whitey Ford 1965-05-22 NYY WSA W 6-0 SHO9 ,W 9 3 0 0 4 8 0 85 33 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0.00
There's a lot of "Mike Cuellar" in there. Known as "Crazy Horse," Cuellar's name doesn't come up these days as much as guys like Tommy John, Jim Kaat, and David Wells in the conversation of ol' crafty lefties in the American League. But, he deserves to be there.
Posted in Game Finders | 6 Comments »
Posted by Andy on July 20, 2008
This has very little to do with B-R.com but since a few people out there seem to think I know a thing or two about baseball, here are my predictions for division winners and wild card winners.
AL EAST: Boston, though behind Tampa Bay at this writing, they have a much better run-scoring differential than the Rays, and that's with Big Papi sitting on the sidelines.
AL CENTRAL: Chicago should run away with this one in what is a pretty bad division. Only Minnesota's good performances by young pitchers have kept them alive, and Detroit and Cleveland are too far buried already to make it back.
AL WEST: I'm going with Oakland, although this is a very tough pick. The Angels are a pretty good team who got extremely lucky in close games in the first half. Oakland has just as much offense and slightly better pitching, but is 7 games out at the moment. That's a very tough gap to close, but I'm picking them to do it.
AL WILDCARD: Tampa Bay, or if the Rays do squeak past Boston, then the Red Sox will be the WC.
NL EAST: Philadelphia will win out here, thanks in large part to an excellent offense and excellent bullpen. Picking up Joe Blanton was odd, except that he should get them deeper into games and help keep that bullpen fresh late into the season.
NL CENTRAL: Chicago, like their AL counterparts, will run away and hide. The Cubs have by far the best offense and pitching in the division, and Sabathia alone cannot put Milwaukee over the top.
NL WEST: With all the teams here under .500, it's unpleasant to even think about somebody "winning" the division. I'll go with Los Angeles, who have been just .500 at home so far and will probably improve on that a bit the rest of the way, beating out Arizona by a few games.
NL WILDCARD: It will comes down to St Louis vs Milwaukee, and here is where I think the addition of Sabathia will put Milwaukee on top, and the Cardinals will be the most deserving team in baseball not to make the playoffs.
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by Andy on July 19, 2008
I've always felt that Garret Anderson was very overrated. Even at the peak of his career, 2000 to 2003 when he had at least 28 HR and 116 RBI each season, I felt his performances lacked punch and his numbers were, for the most part, a product of the offensive era he played in.
OPS+ is one of the most valuable stats we have today. OPS alone is incredibly useful, and correcting for yearly averages and park effects (which is basically what OPS+ is) lets us very easily compare players from different eras. True it involves some simplifications, including ignoring how style of game play may differ from team to team and era to era, but it's a much better metric than comparing just raw numbers.
Anyway, here are all players with at least 250 career HR, ranked by lowest OPS+
Cnt Player **OPS+** 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 Vinny Castilla 95 320 1991 2006 23-38 1854 7384 6822 902 1884 349 28 1105 423 64 1069 60 8 71 224 33 43 .276 .321 .476 .797 *56/43 ATL-COL-TBD-TOT-ATL-WSN
2 Gary Gaetti 97 360 1981 2000 22-41 2507 9817 8951 1130 2280 443 39 1341 634 57 1602 96 32 104 236 96 65 .255 .308 .434 .742 *53/D67149 MIN-CAL-TOT-KCR-STL-TOT-CHC-BOS
3 Bret Boone 101 252 1992 2005 23-36 1780 7432 6683 927 1775 366 28 1021 552 32 1295 69 55 73 168 94 53 .266 .325 .442 .767 *4/5D SEA-CIN-ATL-SDP-SEA-TOT
4 Tim Wallach 102 260 1980 1996 22-38 2212 8908 8099 908 2085 432 36 1125 649 89 1307 77 6 77 192 51 66 .257 .316 .416 .732 *5/39D7164 MON-LAD-TOT
5 Todd Zeile 103 253 1989 2004 23-38 2158 8649 7573 986 2004 397 23 1110 945 47 1279 42 8 81 223 53 51 .265 .346 .423 .769 *532/D71 STL-TOT-LAD-TEX-NYM-COL
6 Tony Armas 103 251 1976 1989 22-35 1432 5502 5164 614 1302 204 39 815 260 37 1201 15 11 52 149 18 20 .252 .287 .453 .740 987/D36 PIT-OAK-BOS-CAL
7 Steve Finley 104 304 1989 2007 24-42 2583 10460 9397 1443 2548 449 124 1167 844 69 1299 53 91 75 152 320 118 .271 .332 .442 .774 *89/7D1 BAL-HOU-SDP-ARI-TOT-LAA-SFG-COL
8 Brooks Robinson 104 268 1955 1977 18-40 2896 11782 10654 1232 2848 482 68 1357 860 120 990 53 101 114 297 28 22 .267 .322 .401 .723 *5/46 BAL
9 Garret Anderson 105 266 1994 2008 22-36 1954 8242 7763 995 2295 475 34 1257 387 99 1091 6 12 74 174 77 45 .296 .327 .468 .795 *78D9 CAL-ANA-LAA
10 Ruben Sierra 105 306 1986 2006 20-40 2186 8782 8044 1084 2152 428 59 1322 610 102 1239 7 1 120 193 142 52 .268 .315 .450 .765 *9D7/8 TEX-TOT-OAK-CHW-TEX-SEA-NYY-MIN
11 Joe Carter 105 396 1983 1998 23-38 2189 9154 8422 1170 2184 432 53 1445 527 86 1387 90 10 105 132 231 66 .259 .306 .464 .770 7983D/45 CHC-CLE-SDP-TOR-TOT
12 Dante Bichette 106 274 1988 2001 24-37 1704 6855 6381 934 1906 401 27 1141 355 32 1078 41 5 73 176 152 73 .299 .336 .499 .835 *97/D85 CAL-MIL-COL-TOT-BOS
13 Lance Parrish 106 324 1977 1995 21-39 1988 7797 7067 856 1782 305 27 1070 612 62 1527 37 23 58 197 28 37 .252 .313 .440 .753 *2D/397 DET-PHI-CAL-TOT-CLE-PIT-TOR
14 Tom Brunansky 106 271 1981 1994 20-33 1800 7169 6289 804 1543 306 33 919 770 43 1187 30 8 72 146 69 70 .245 .327 .434 .761 *9/78D3 CAL-MIN-TOT-STL-BOS-MIL-TOT
15 Eric Karros 107 284 1991 2004 23-36 1755 7100 6441 797 1724 324 11 1027 552 21 1167 31 0 76 181 59 30 .268 .325 .454 .779 *3/D LAD-CHC-OAK
16 Dean Palmer 107 275 1989 2003 20-34 1357 5513 4902 734 1229 231 15 849 502 21 1332 54 4 51 95 48 31 .251 .324 .472 .796 *5D/736 TEX-TOT-KCR-DET
17 Larry Parrish 107 256 1974 1988 20-34 1891 7450 6792 850 1789 360 33 992 529 79 1359 42 31 56 187 30 36 .263 .318 .439 .757 *59D/376 MON-TEX-TOT
18 Frank Thomas 107 286 1951 1966 22-37 1766 6916 6285 792 1671 262 31 962 484 55 894 51 26 70 191 15 22 .266 .320 .454 .774 7583/94 PIT-CIN-CHC-TOT-NYM-CHC
19 Graig Nettles 110 390 1967 1988 22-43 2700 10226 8986 1193 2225 328 28 1314 1088 94 1209 50 12 90 197 32 36 .248 .329 .421 .750 *5/739D68 MIN-CLE-NYY-SDP-ATL-MON
20 Vada Pinson 110 256 1958 1975 19-36 2469 10403 9645 1366 2757 485 127 1170 574 69 1196 54 52 78 164 305 122 .286 .327 .442 .769 *897/3D CIN-STL-CLE-CAL-KCR
Just as I suspected, Anderson checks in high on the list at #9. Three other guys who have also been hugely overrated--Vinny Castilla, Bret Boone, and Steve FInley--also make it ahead of Garret. And before you freak out, Frank Thomas at #18 is old-school Frank Thomas, not the current player. Current Frank Thomas has the 13th best OPS+ ever for a player with 250+ HR. The full list is right here.
Posted in Season Finders | 24 Comments »
Posted by Raphy on July 13, 2008
Tim Redding finally got a win on Friday night ending his streak of 9 consecutive starts without a decision. (1 short of the (post 1956?) record ).
However, Redding did pitch 6 innings in that game, keeping alive an unprecedented (at least since 1956) streak. Since April 13 Redding has made 18 starts. In every single one of those starts he has pitched at least 5 innings, but no more than six and 1/3. This by far shatters the (post 1956) record of 13 consecutive starts.
Here are the leaders:
StreakStart Streak End Games W L GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA HBP WP BK Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Tim Redding 2008-04-13 2008-07-11 18 6 2 18 0 0 0 0 103.2 107 50 48 33 70 12 4.17 3 6 0 WSN
Josh Fogg 2005-07-26 2006-04-24 13 4 5 13 0 0 0 0 72.1 91 46 40 23 34 9 4.98 2 3 0 PIT-COL
Javier Vazquez 2006-05-23 2006-07-30 12 5 3 12 0 0 0 0 70.2 90 53 51 22 57 10 6.50 8 2 0 CHW
Cory Lidle 2006-05-16 2006-07-15 12 3 3 12 0 0 0 0 70.2 75 40 39 31 47 11 4.97 5 2 0 PHI
Jimmy Haynes 2002-06-16 2002-08-13 12 5 3 12 0 0 0 0 69.2 80 36 36 27 39 8 4.65 0 1 0 CIN
Andy Ashby 1996-06-05 1996-09-28 12 2 3 12 0 0 0 0 66 68 27 25 16 35 7 3.41 2 2 0 SDP
Mike Pelfrey 2007-05-01 2008-04-09 11 4 6 11 0 0 0 0 60.2 65 35 33 31 40 4 4.90 7 2 0 NYM
Jeff Suppan 2007-06-22 2007-08-17 11 1 3 11 0 0 0 0 60.1 79 36 35 24 41 2 5.22 3 6 0 MIL
Jaret Wright 2006-04-28 2006-06-27 11 4 4 11 0 0 0 0 59.2 63 27 26 22 30 4 3.92 2 3 0 NYY
Kirk Rueter 2001-08-07 2001-10-07 11 3 5 11 0 0 0 0 62.1 69 26 26 16 22 6 3.75 1 0 0 SFG
Kevin Brown 2001-05-23 2001-09-22 11 5 2 11 0 0 0 0 61 56 25 23 28 50 5 3.39 1 2 0 LAD
Hipolito Pichardo 1992-05-20 1992-07-16 11 4 3 11 0 0 0 0 62.2 62 26 22 23 26 3 3.16 0 2 0 KCR
Ron Robinson 1985-10-05 1987-08-10 11 4 2 11 0 0 0 0 64.1 67 30 29 17 39 4 4.06 0 1 0 CIN
Posted in Streak Finders | 4 Comments »
Posted by Andy on July 12, 2008
Extremely sad news today about the passing of Bobby Mercer.
Mercer was a very good player who didn't get tons of press since he never put up 100 RBI in a season. But check out the leaders in 88 to 99 RBI seasons from 1971 to 1977:
From To Ages Seasons Link to Individual Seasons
+-----------------+----+----+-----+-------+------------------------------+
Bobby Murcer 1971 1977 25-31 7 Ind. Seasons
Tony Perez 1971 1977 29-35 4 Ind. Seasons
Lee May 1971 1977 28-34 4 Ind. Seasons
Ted Simmons 1972 1977 22-27 3 Ind. Seasons
Dave Parker 1976 1977 25-26 2 Ind. Seasons
Chris Chambliss 1976 1977 27-28 2 Ind. Seasons
Graig Nettles 1975 1976 30-31 2 Ind. Seasons
George Brett 1975 1977 22-24 2 Ind. Seasons
Willie Stargell 1974 1975 34-35 2 Ind. Seasons
Joe Rudi 1974 1976 27-29 2 Ind. Seasons
Hal McRae 1974 1977 28-31 2 Ind. Seasons
Reggie Jackson 1974 1976 28-30 2 Ind. Seasons
Greg Luzinski 1973 1976 22-25 2 Ind. Seasons
Bobby Darwin 1973 1974 30-31 2 Ind. Seasons
George Scott 1972 1977 28-33 2 Ind. Seasons
Doug Rader 1972 1973 27-28 2 Ind. Seasons
Al Oliver 1972 1973 25-26 2 Ind. Seasons
Rusty Staub 1971 1976 27-32 2 Ind. Seasons
Frank Robinson 1971 1973 35-37 2 Ind. Seasons
Sal Bando 1971 1973 27-29 2 Ind. Seasons
Dick Allen 1971 1974 29-32 2 Ind. Seasons
Mercer was universally loved and a great part of the game of baseball. He'll be missed.
Posted in Season Finders | 3 Comments »
Posted by Andy on July 11, 2008
A lot has been written about the amazing reemergence of Josh Hamilton, and rightly so. To overcome such a serious drug addiction and not only resume a normal life but play major league baseball at such a high level is both amazing and commendable.
Through today, Josh Hamilton's major league totals in 661 AB are 40 HR, 138 RBI, a .301 BA and an OPS+ of 138.
661 AB is about one full season, and over the last 10 full seasons, here are the only guys to have a year matching all of Hamilton's stats:
Cnt Player Year HR RBI BA OPS Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS OBP SLG OPS Positions
----+-----------------+----+--+---+-----+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+---------
1 Alex Rodriguez 2007 54 156 .314 177 31 NYY AL 158 708 583 143 183 31 0 95 11 120 21 0 9 15 24 4 .422 .645 1.067 *5/D
2 Ryan Howard 2006 58 149 .313 167 26 PHI NL 159 704 581 104 182 25 1 108 37 181 9 0 6 7 0 0 .425 .659 1.084 *3
3 Mark Teixeira 2005 43 144 .301 144 25 TEX AL 162 730 644 112 194 41 3 72 5 124 11 0 3 18 4 0 .379 .575 .954 *3/D
4 David Ortiz 2004 41 139 .301 145 28 BOS AL 150 669 582 94 175 47 3 75 8 133 4 0 8 12 0 0 .380 .603 .983 *D3
5 Carlos Delgado 2003 42 145 .302 161 31 TOR AL 161 705 570 117 172 38 1 109 23 137 19 0 7 9 0 0 .426 .593 1.019 *3D
6 Sammy Sosa 2001 64 160 .328 203 32 CHC NL 160 711 577 146 189 34 5 116 37 153 6 0 12 6 0 2 .437 .737 1.174 *9
7 Todd Helton 2001 49 146 .336 160 27 COL NL 159 696 587 132 197 54 2 98 15 104 5 1 5 14 7 5 .432 .685 1.117 *3
8 Luis Gonzalez 2001 57 142 .325 174 33 ARI NL 162 728 609 128 198 36 7 100 24 83 14 0 5 14 1 1 .429 .688 1.117 *7
9 Frank Thomas 2000 43 143 .328 163 32 CHW AL 159 707 582 115 191 44 0 112 18 94 5 0 8 13 1 3 .436 .625 1.061 *D3
10 Sammy Sosa 2000 50 138 .320 161 31 CHC NL 156 705 604 106 193 38 1 91 19 168 2 0 8 12 7 4 .406 .634 1.040 *9/8
11 Todd Helton 2000 42 147 .372 163 26 COL NL 160 697 580 138 216 59 2 103 22 61 4 0 10 12 5 3 .463 .698 1.161 *3
12 Manny Ramirez 1999 44 165 .333 173 27 CLE AL 147 640 522 131 174 34 3 96 9 131 13 0 9 12 2 4 .442 .663 1.105 *9/D
13 Rafael Palmeiro 1999 47 148 .324 159 34 TEX AL 158 674 565 96 183 30 1 97 14 69 3 0 9 12 2 4 .420 .630 1.050 *D3
14 Sammy Sosa 1998 66 158 .308 160 29 CHC NL 159 722 643 134 198 20 0 73 14 171 1 0 5 20 18 9 .377 .647 1.024 *9/8
15 Juan Gonzalez 1998 45 157 .318 149 28 TEX AL 154 669 606 110 193 50 2 46 9 126 6 0 11 20 2 1 .366 .630 .996 *9D
16 Albert Belle 1998 49 152 .328 171 31 CHW AL 163 706 609 113 200 48 2 81 10 84 1 0 15 17 6 4 .399 .655 1.054 *7/D
And here are the most times anybody has had such a season since 1901:
From To Ages Seasons Link to Individual Seasons
-----------------+----+----+-----+-------+------------------------------
Babe Ruth 1921 1931 26-36 7 Ind. Seasons
Lou Gehrig 1927 1936 24-33 5 Ind. Seasons
Jimmie Foxx 1932 1938 24-30 4 Ind. Seasons
Sammy Sosa 1998 2001 29-32 3 Ind. Seasons
Hank Greenberg 1937 1940 26-29 3 Ind. Seasons
Todd Helton 2000 2001 26-27 2 Ind. Seasons
Ken Griffey 1996 1997 26-27 2 Ind. Seasons
Juan Gonzalez 1996 1998 26-28 2 Ind. Seasons
Albert Belle 1996 1998 29-31 2 Ind. Seasons
Chuck Klein 1929 1930 24-25 2 Ind. Seasons
I find it inconceivable that anybody could root against Josh Hamilton.
Posted in Season Finders | 7 Comments »
Posted by Sean Forman on July 11, 2008
Baseball-Reference.com Play Index - Baseball-Reference PI
In honor of the All-Star Game, the Play Index is free through July 19th. Kick the tires a bit (maybe you'll want to subscribe) and enjoy.
Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »
Posted by Andy on July 10, 2008
Why?
Maybe because he's one of just 5 guys with at least 30 HR over 2007-2008 but an OPS+ under league average.
Cnt Player **OPS+** 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 Pedro Feliz 85 31 2007 2008 32-33 239 918 862 93 222 45 3 116 50 3 102 1 1 4 27 2 2 .258 .298 .425 .723 *5/37692 SFG-PHI
2 Richie Sexson 87 32 2007 2008 32-33 195 783 686 85 144 29 0 93 88 1 176 5 0 4 20 2 0 .210 .303 .392 .695 *3/D SEA
3 Chris Young 87 45 2007 2008 23-24 238 1022 927 133 219 51 5 114 79 2 229 7 2 7 13 32 8 .236 .299 .448 .747 *8 ARI
4 Khalil Greene 88 35 2007 2008 27-28 242 1023 945 115 229 55 5 129 51 4 213 9 0 18 17 9 1 .242 .283 .422 .705 *6 SDP
5 Jhonny Peralta 99 35 2007 2008 25-26 235 997 899 137 237 50 2 113 83 2 216 4 3 8 27 6 4 .264 .326 .440 .766 *6/D CLE
6 Ryan Zimmerman 102 32 2007 2008 22-23 212 942 859 123 227 54 5 118 70 3 163 5 0 8 30 4 1 .264 .321 .451 .772 *5/D WSN
7 Mike Cameron 104 35 2007 2008 34-35 207 886 778 120 186 45 6 112 92 1 227 9 2 5 11 25 7 .239 .325 .447 .772 *8 SDP-MIL
8 Carlos Delgado 104 40 2007 2008 35-36 228 983 871 120 222 48 1 137 88 16 193 15 0 9 18 5 0 .255 .331 .450 .781 *3/D NYM
9 Mike Jacobs 105 36 2007 2008 26-27 192 752 699 96 182 42 3 106 47 9 171 2 0 4 16 2 2 .260 .307 .484 .791 *3/D FLA
10 Paul Konerko 105 39 2007 2008 31-32 215 911 784 98 192 43 1 121 113 11 149 6 0 8 29 1 1 .245 .341 .452 .793 *3/D CHW
11 J.J. Hardy 106 38 2007 2008 24-25 230 965 884 127 249 50 1 118 71 4 115 1 7 2 23 4 4 .282 .335 .469 .804 *6 MIL
12 Adam LaRoche 106 31 2007 2008 27-28 236 972 862 110 228 59 3 130 99 9 201 4 0 7 24 2 1 .265 .341 .448 .789 *3/D PIT
13 Brandon Phillips 106 44 2007 2008 26-27 247 1087 1004 158 288 44 11 150 57 6 169 14 2 10 37 50 12 .287 .331 .484 .815 *4/6 CIN
14 Ken Griffey 110 41 2007 2008 37-38 230 981 829 118 217 39 1 131 138 27 153 2 0 12 20 6 2 .262 .364 .460 .824 *9/D CIN
15 Gary Sheffield 110 30 2007 2008 38-39 186 814 684 130 174 29 1 93 113 2 111 11 0 6 20 25 5 .254 .366 .431 .797 *D/79 DET
Full list of all 79 guys is right here.
Posted in Season Finders | 1 Comment »
Posted by Andy on July 9, 2008
As of this morning, here are the longest streaks (in terms of number of games played) without hitting a homer:
StreakStart Streak End Games AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SO BB SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Jason Bartlett 2008-03-31 2008-07-02 77 273 24 70 8 1 0 20 41 14 18 3 .256 .299 .293 .592 TBR
Juan Pierre 2008-04-01 2008-06-29 73 274 30 76 9 1 0 24 17 17 35 7 .277 .327 .318 .645 LAD
Joey Gathright 2008-03-31 2008-07-08 69 232 30 58 2 1 0 15 32 15 19 4 .250 .302 .267 .569 KCR
Ryan Theriot 2008-04-16 2008-07-08 69 279 42 89 10 1 0 20 25 33 12 6 .319 .394 .362 .756 CHC
Julio Lugo 2008-03-25 2008-06-18 63 207 18 57 12 0 0 15 40 25 9 3 .275 .361 .333 .694 BOS
Delmon Young 2008-03-31 2008-06-06 60 230 31 62 10 4 0 19 39 17 9 4 .270 .321 .348 .669 MIN
Jason Kendall 2008-03-31 2008-06-10 58 194 16 48 12 2 0 19 14 16 2 2 .247 .324 .330 .654 MIL
Jamey Carroll 2008-04-06 2008-07-08 56 194 29 52 7 4 0 19 35 17 5 1 .268 .344 .345 .689 CLE
Tony Pena 2008-03-31 2008-06-24 56 169 14 26 4 1 0 8 36 5 3 1 .154 .177 .189 .366 KCR
The full list is here.
Many of the top streaks are ongoing. Bartlett, Pierre, and Gathright all have yet to hit a homer this year. Theriot hit one in mid-April but none since.
One guy who really sticks out to me is Julio Lugo. He's had double-digit homers in 4 out of his 8 seasons prior to this year but has managed just 1 so far this year. And it's not like he's doing anything else with the bat considering his absolutely horrid .676 OPS. Boston has made numerous excellent player acquisitions in the last several years (coming to mind right away are Matsuzaka, Beckett, Lowell, Okajima, and even Nancy J.D. Drew seems to be turning it around) but in Lugo they've been saddled with one of the worst players in the major leagues.
Isn't it crazy to see a list like this? 20 years ago, lots of guys (especially middle infielders) would go the whole season with 0, 1, or 2 homers. To see streaks of 80+ games wouldn't be that rare. Now, we expect every guy to have at least a handful every year.
Posted in Streak Finders | 9 Comments »
Posted by Raphy on July 7, 2008
In the history of modern baseball there have only been two teams that have been able to win more games than they lost while only scoring 1 run. These 2 teams, the '06 Cubs (1906 that is) and the '69 Mets (also 1969) need no introduction as they are familiar to anyone who has spent 2 minutes watching baseball. Two other teams with less impressive resumes (The 1910 Reds and the 1960 Braves) have finished the season at .500 in such games. This season, the Angels can join this illustrious group. The Angels have scored 1 run in a game 5 times this season and are 3-2 in those games.
It is interesting to note that the other LA team, the one which is famous for winning 1-0 this season, has only done it that one time and in fact, leads the majors with 18 losses when scoring 1 run.
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
