Here are the guys to do it since 1956:

  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 Jon Rauch         2006-04-26    WSN  CIN L  0-5   8-8       1    0  0  0  1    4    0  31  18       0  0  5  4  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  1   0.00
    2 Mike Stanton      2004-08-03    NYM @MIL W 12-3   8-8       1    0  0  0  1    4    0  21  14       0  0  5  4  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  1   0.00
    3 Octavio Dotel     2003-06-11    HOU @NYY W  8-0   8-8       1    0  0  0  0    4    0  20  15       0  0  4  4  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  1   0.00
    4 Kazuhiro Sasaki   2003-04-04    SEA @TEX W  6-4   9-9f ,S   1    0  0  0  0    4    0  21  14       0  0  4  4  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  1   0.00
    5 Jerry Spradlin    1999-07-22    SFG  SDP L  7-8   7-7       1    1  1  0  0    4    0  24  18       0  0  6  5  1  0   0   1  0  0   0  0  1  0  0  1   0.00
    6 Derek Wallace     1996-09-13    NYM  ATL W  6-4   9-9f ,S   1    1  0  0  0    4    0  21  14       0  0  5  5  1  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
    7 Bruce Ruffin      1996-07-25    COL  CHC L  8-10  9-9f ,L   1    3  2  2  1    4    0  32  22       0  0  8  7  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  2  18.00
    8 Mark Wohlers      1995-06-07    ATL  CHC W  4-3   9-9f ,S   1    0  0  0  0    4    0  17  12       0  0  4  4  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  1   0.00
    9 Paul Shuey        1994-05-14    CLE  DET W  9-3   9-9f      1    0  0  0  2    4    0  35  21       0  0  6  4  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  1   0.00
   10 Paul Assenmacher  1989-08-22    ATL  STL L  5-10  5-5       1    0  0  0  0    4    0  20  16       2  1  5  5  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  1   0.00
   11 Mike Stanton      1985-07-22    CHW  DET W  9-4   8-9       1    0  1  0  3    4    0               1  0  7  4  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00

Note that this is 1 IP, 4 K's. It doesn't include any of the numerous cases where a guy pitched more than one inning and struck out four during one of the innings he pitched. There's no way to search for that with the PI.

Lately, we've talked a bit about games where a relief pitcher throws very few pitches and gets one or more outs in a game. Here I am looking specifically at games where a relief pitcher threw just one pitch and gave up a hit.

Let's start out right here, with the list of games where a pitcher threw exactly one pitch and gave up at least one hit, ranked by innings pitched. As you know, pitch data is far from complete, and as a result we get a bunch of bogus entries on this search. Numbers 1 through 5 as well as 7 are all incorrectly listed at 1 pitch, but if you open up the box score you can see that this is not the case. (For this reason, I am not searching for appearances with 0 pitches, as they are tons and tons that incorrectly have 0 pitches listed.)

#6 on that list, though, is extremely interesting. Here's the box score from the game, a match between Oakland and Minnesota from last year that the Twins won, 6-2. Scrolling down to the bottom of the 7th:

Bottom of the 7th, Twins Batting, Ahead 5-2, Joe Kennedy facing 3-4-5
   O      ---  4   93%  J Mauer         Groundout: 2B-1B
          ---  3   95%  M Cuddyer       Triple to CF (Fly Ball to Deep CF-RF)
          --3  2   96%  J Morneau       Hit By Pitch
                  Kiko Calero replaces Joe Kennedy pitching
   ROO    1-3  1   96%  T Hunter        Double Play: Single to LF (Line Drive); Cuddyer Scores; Morneau out at 3B/LF-SS-2B; Hunter out at 2B
                  1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Athletics 2, Twins 6.

So Kiko Calero came in with runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. On Calero's first pitch, Torii Hunter singled, scoring the run from third, then the runner from first was throw out tried to stretch to 3rd base. Meanwhile, Hunter himself tried to stretch to 2nd base and was also thrown out. Now, runs score on double plays all the time, but rarely do we see an "ROO" play where the batter gets credit for an RBI, as Hunter did in this case.

Very weird.

The rest of the games on that list are of a much more common variety, such as can be seen in this game from earlier this season. Jesse Carlson relieved Shaun Marcum with runners on first and second. On Carlson's first pitch, Mark Teahan singled but the runner from second was thrown out at home. One pitch, one out, and then Carlson came out of the game. Of course, there are many more appearances where a pitcher throws one pitch in a game and records and out WITHOUT giving up a hit as well. They are just much less interesting.

I was just reading Jay Gibbons' letter to all 30 major league teams and noticed this nearly-worthless but interestingly quirky stat: most seasons batting exactly .277 over the last 5 years.

I've gotten a bunch of requests for this, so I'll post it here. I had completely forgotten about Nomar in 200. He finished at .372 (and finished 9th in the MVP balloting).

| name_common        | year_game | dateg | ABs  | Hs   | BA    |
+--------------------+-----------+-------+------+------+-------+
| George Brett       |      1980 | 09-04 |  384 |  154 | 0.401 |
| John Olerud        |      1993 | 08-02 |  365 |  146 | 0.400 |
| Nomar Garciaparra  |      2000 | 07-20 |  278 |  112 | 0.403 |
| Larry Walker       |      1997 | 07-17 |  343 |  138 | 0.402 |
| Tony Gwynn         |      1997 | 07-14 |  356 |  143 | 0.402 |
| Rod Carew          |      1983 | 07-13 |  254 |  102 | 0.402 |
| Rod Carew          |      1977 | 07-10 |  317 |  127 | 0.401 |
| Andres Galarraga   |      1993 | 07-05 |  255 |  102 | 0.400 |
| Tony Fernandez     |      1999 | 06-28 |  255 |  102 | 0.400 |
| Rod Carew          |      1974 | 06-27 |  265 |  106 | 0.400 |
| Rico Carty         |      1970 | 06-17 |  212 |   85 | 0.401 |
| Paul O'Neill       |      1994 | 06-16 |  200 |   81 | 0.405 |
| Rod Carew          |      1975 | 06-16 |  180 |   72 | 0.400 |
| Hank Aaron         |      1959 | 06-15 |  244 |   98 | 0.402 |
| Lenny Dykstra      |      1990 | 06-11 |  207 |   83 | 0.401 |
| Willie Mays        |      1958 | 06-11 |  220 |   88 | 0.400 |
| Stan Musial        |      1958 | 06-11 |  170 |   69 | 0.406 |
| Todd Helton        |      2000 | 06-10 |  205 |   82 | 0.400 |
| Roberto Alomar     |      1996 | 06-10 |  235 |   95 | 0.404 |
| Mickey Mantle      |      1956 | 06-08 |  185 |   74 | 0.400 |
| Billy Williams     |      1964 | 06-07 |  180 |   73 | 0.406 |
| Wade Boggs         |      1986 | 06-07 |  202 |   81 | 0.401 |
| Carney Lansford    |      1988 | 06-06 |  229 |   92 | 0.402 |
| Ted Williams       |      1957 | 06-05 |  142 |   57 | 0.401 |
| Rod Carew          |      1969 | 05-31 |  144 |   58 | 0.403 |
| Manny Ramirez      |      1995 | 05-28 |  105 |   42 | 0.400 |
| Dale Long          |      1956 | 05-28 |  129 |   53 | 0.411 |
| Matt Williams      |      1995 | 05-28 |  115 |   46 | 0.400 |
| Barry Bonds        |      1993 | 05-28 |  162 |   65 | 0.401 |
| Billy Grabarkewitz |      1970 | 05-27 |  122 |   49 | 0.402 |
| Reggie Jackson     |      1974 | 05-27 |  141 |   57 | 0.404 |
| Steve Kemp         |      1979 | 05-27 |  134 |   54 | 0.403 |
| Larry Walker       |      1999 | 05-26 |  130 |   52 | 0.400 |
| Manny Ramirez      |      2001 | 05-26 |  180 |   72 | 0.400 |
| Ron LeFlore        |      1976 | 05-25 |  117 |   47 | 0.402 |
| Harvey Kuenn       |      1959 | 05-24 |  120 |   48 | 0.400 |
| Willie Mays        |      1964 | 05-23 |  130 |   52 | 0.400 |
| Rod Carew          |      1978 | 05-22 |  154 |   62 | 0.403 |
| Doug Mientkiewicz  |      2001 | 05-22 |  144 |   58 | 0.403 |
| Reggie Smith       |      1974 | 05-20 |  137 |   55 | 0.401 |
| George Brett       |      1983 | 05-20 |  106 |   43 | 0.406 |
| Roy Smalley        |      1979 | 05-20 |  147 |   60 | 0.408 |
| Roberto Clemente   |      1967 | 05-20 |  117 |   47 | 0.402 |
| Ralph Garr         |      1971 | 05-20 |  165 |   66 | 0.400 |
| Willie Mays        |      1965 | 05-19 |  125 |   50 | 0.400 |
| Tony Oliva         |      1971 | 05-19 |  124 |   50 | 0.403 |
| Terry Francona     |      1984 | 05-18 |  130 |   52 | 0.400 |
| Ken Boyer          |      1956 | 05-18 |  101 |   41 | 0.406 |
| Tony Oliva         |      1964 | 05-16 |  125 |   51 | 0.408 |
| Dave Winfield      |      1988 | 05-16 |  132 |   53 | 0.402 |

I hope to make this a feature on the site at some point.

Johnny Damon is currently batting .326 on the season. When was the last time that a Yankees left fielder played 100+ games and batted .320 or better that season? Check out these stats, via Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Batting Season Finder:

  Cnt Player            Year   BA   G  Age Tm
+----+-----------------+----+-----+---+---+---+
    1 Dion James        1993  .332 115  30 NYY 
    2 Bob Meusel        1927  .337 135  30 NYY 
    3 Babe Ruth         1926  .372 152  31 NYY 
    4 Bob Meusel        1924  .325 143  27 NYY 
    5 Babe Ruth         1921  .378 152  26 NYY 
    6 Birdie Cree       1911  .348 137  28 NYY 
    7 Kip Selbach       1902  .320 128  30 BLA 
    8 Mike Donlin       1901  .340 121  23 BLA 
Seasons/Careers found: 8.

So, you have to go back to 1993 with Dion James. That was a while ago. But, before James, you have to go back to the 1920's to find the last time this happened.

In terms of being a Yankees left fielder, Johnny Damon is on pace to put together a special season - at least in terms of bating average.

Johnny Damon went 6-for-6 against the Royals yesterday. Here are the 20 most recent times a player went 6-for-6:

  Cnt Player            Date          Tm   Opp GmReslt PA AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BOr Positions
+----+-----------------+-------------+---+----+-------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---------+
    1 Willie Harris     2007-07-21    ATL  STL W 14-6   6  6  4  6  0  2  0   6  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  1  0 1st CF LF     
    2 Chone Figgins     2007-06-18    LAA  HOU W 10-9   6  6  1  6  1  1  0   3  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  1  0 2nd 3B        

    3 Raul Ibanez       2004-09-22    SEA @ANA W 16-6   6  6  1  6  0  0  0   5  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  1 3rd RF LF     
    4 Carlos Pena       2004-05-27    DET @KCR W 17-7   6  6  4  6  1  0  2   5  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 8th 1B        
    5 Alfonso Soriano   2004-05-08    TEX  DET W 16-15  6  6  1  6  2  0  0   4  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 3rd 2B        
    6 Frank Catalanotto 2004-05-01(2) TOR @CHW W 10-6   6  6  2  6  1  0  0   2  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 2nd LF        

    7 Nomar Garciaparra 2003-06-21    BOS @PHI L  5-6   7  6  1  6  0  0  0   1  1   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 3rd SS        

    8 Shawn Green       2002-05-23    LAD @MIL W 16-3   6  6  6  6  1  0  4   7  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 3rd RF        

    9 Damion Easley     2001-08-08    DET @TEX W 19-6   6  6  3  6  0  0  1   3  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 7th 2B        
   10 Paul Lo Duca      2001-05-28    LAD  COL W 11-10  6  6  3  6  0  0  1   4  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 1st C         

   11 Edgardo Alfonzo   1999-08-30    NYM @HOU W 17-1   6  6  6  6  1  0  3   5  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 2nd 2B        
   12 Cal Ripken        1999-06-13    BAL @ATL W 22-1   6  6  5  6  1  0  2   6  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 6th 3B        

   13 Lance Johnson     1995-09-23    CHW @MIN W 14-4   6  6  4  6  0  3  0   4  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 1st CF        
   14 Andres Galarraga  1995-07-03    COL  HOU W 15-10  6  6  4  6  1  0  2   5  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 5th 1B        

   15 Kevin Reimer      1993-08-24(2) MIL  OAK W  7-6   7  6  4  6  2  0  0   0  1   1  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 5th RF DH     
   16 Sammy Sosa        1993-07-02    CHC @COL W 11-8   6  6  2  6  1  0  0   2  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  3  1 4th RF        

   17 Wally Backman     1990-04-27    PIT @SDP W  9-4   6  6  1  6  1  0  0   2  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 1st 3B        

   18 Kirby Puckett     1987-08-30    MIN @MIL W 10-6   6  6  4  6  2  0  2   4  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 3rd CF        
   19 Kevin Seitzer     1987-08-02    KCR  BOS W 13-5   6  6  4  6  1  0  2   7  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 2nd 3B        

   20 Jorge Orta        1980-06-15    CLE  MIN W 14-5   6  6  4  6  1  0  0   1  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 2nd RF        

This list shows guys who had at least 6 hits and includes a number of 6-for-7 performances.

And if you're wondering, following are the guys to have 7 or more hits in a game since 1956:

  Cnt Player            Date          Tm   Opp GmReslt PA AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BOr Positions
+----+-----------------+-------------+---+----+-------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---------+
    1 Rennie Stennett   1975-09-16    PIT @CHC W 22-0   7  7  5  7  2  1  0   2  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 1st 2B        

    2 Cesar Gutierrez   1970-06-21(2) DET @CLE W  9-8   7  7  3  7  1  0  0   1  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  1 2nd SS        

    3 Rocky Colavito    1962-06-24    DET  NYY L  7-9  11 10  1  7  0  1  0   1  1   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 4th LF        

Today is the first birthday of this blog. There have been 642 posts and a whole lot of comments.

Edinson Volquez turned in another great performance last night, overcoming Brett Myers' no-hit bid into the 7th inning to beat the Phillies.  He once again allowed 2 ER or fewer, which he has done in all 12 starts so far this year.

Here are the pitchers since 1956 with the most starts allowing 2 or fewer ER in his team's first 60 games.

                   Year Games Link to Individual Games
+-----------------+----+-----+-------------------------+
 Joe Coleman       1972    15 Ind. Games                
 Wilbur Wood       1972    14 Ind. Games                
 Greg Maddux       1994    13 Ind. Games                
 Tom Bradley       1971    13 Ind. Games                
 Wilbur Wood       1973    12 Ind. Games                
 Bill Travers      1976    12 Ind. Games                
 Tom Timmermann    1972    12 Ind. Games                
 Zane Smith        1986    12 Ind. Games                
 Tom Seaver        1975    12 Ind. Games                
 Mike Scott        1986    12 Ind. Games                
 J.R. Richard      1980    12 Ind. Games                
 Gaylord Perry     1972    12 Ind. Games                
 Gaylord Perry     1974    12 Ind. Games                
 Jim Palmer        1972    12 Ind. Games                
 Jim Palmer        1978    12 Ind. Games                
 Sam McDowell      1969    12 Ind. Games                
 Juan Marichal     1965    12 Ind. Games                
 Juan Marichal     1967    12 Ind. Games                
 Sandy Koufax      1966    12 Ind. Games                
 Sam Jones         1960    12 Ind. Games                
 Randy Johnson     2000    12 Ind. Games                
 Tommy John        1966    12 Ind. Games                
 Joe Horlen        1968    12 Ind. Games                
 Ken Holtzman      1973    12 Ind. Games                
 Ken Holtzman      1972    12 Ind. Games                
+-----------------+----+-----+-------------------------+
                   Year Games Link to Individual Games
+-----------------+----+-----+-------------------------+
 Danny Haren       2007    12 Ind. Games                
 Tom Glavine       2002    12 Ind. Games                
 Woodie Fryman     1968    12 Ind. Games                
 Whitey Ford       1964    12 Ind. Games                
 Juan Eichelberger 1981    12 Ind. Games                
 Don Drysdale      1968    12 Ind. Games                
 John Denny        1983    12 Ind. Games                
 Vida Blue         1971    12 Ind. Games             

Keep in mind that Volquez has only had 12 opportunities so far, and has converted all 12. Back in the days of 4-man rotations, pitchers had more opportunities in the first 60 games.

From the suggestions page:

A’s rookie Carlos Gonzalez now has five hits on the season/career - all doubles.

What’s the most hits to start a season or career without a single?

Comment by gswitter — June 4, 2008 @ 5:16 pm

Good idea. We can't do a direct search but let's see what we can do.

1) If he would retire today Gonzalez would hold the record for the  most hits in a career without a single.

2) We can't search for ab streaks but we can search for games streaks.  By using the advanced criteria in the Batting Streak Finder, we can limit our search to games in which a player had a hit. Searching consecutive games without a single and to start a career yields the following results.

Four players (since 1956) started their careers with 6 hits before getting a single: Pete Incaviglia, Carlos Quentin, Dave Kingman, and Jim Lefebvre. (Pete Daley singled prior to 1956.)

Three previous players (since 1956) have started their careers with 5 hits before getting a single: Mark Johnson, Roric Harrison and Frank Ernaga.

I only checked the players who appear on the search with 4 hits or more. However, these lists are not necessarily all-inclusive. If a player started a game with three extra base hits and then singled it would not be included here.

Also, if a played had a really big day to start his career, it may have been overlooked. (Although a quick run of the PI Game Finder yields nothing significant.)

Dan Uggla and Lance Berkman both had 9 games with two or more extra base hits in their teams' first 50 games of 2008.

Here are the leaders in this since 1956:

                   Year Games Link to Individual Games
+-----------------+----+-----+-------------------------+
 Edgar Martinez    1996    12 Ind. Games                
 Hank Aaron        1959    12 Ind. Games                
 Vada Pinson       1959    10 Ind. Games                
 Frank Howard      1968    10 Ind. Games                
 Sean Casey        1999    10 Ind. Games                
 Albert Belle      1994    10 Ind. Games                
 Dan Uggla         2008     9 Ind. Games                
 Dave Parker       1977     9 Ind. Games                
 Roger Maris       1960     9 Ind. Games                
 Richard Hidalgo   2000     9 Ind. Games                
 Todd Helton       2001     9 Ind. Games                
 Lance Berkman     2008     9 Ind. Games