Intentionally Walking the Pitcher?

Posted on 12 May, 2013 by Diane

Last Monday night, HighHeatStats tweeted the following:

High Heat Stats ‏@HighHeatStats 

Boxscore Trivia (difficulty 4 out of 5): what happened most recently in this 1995 game? http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU199507250.shtml …

In attempting to answer the question, I misread the boxscore and this conversation ensued:

intentionally walking the pitcher?

Hmm @dianagram wow did that happen? Not what I was looking for.

But it got me wondering if there had ever been an intentional walk of a pitcher.  With the Baseball Reference Play Index Event Finder fired up, I found these nine occurrences since 1945 (as far back as the Event Finder goes, with the caveat that IBBs were not an officially-tracked statistic until 1955):

Date Batter Tm Opp Pitcher Score Inn RoB Out
1946-04-21 (1) Schoolboy Rowe PHI BSN Johnny Sain tied 2-2 b9 -2- 2
1947-08-15 Schoolboy Rowe PHI BRO Joe Hatten tied 1-1 b2 -2- 2
1947-08-15 Schoolboy Rowe PHI BRO Joe Hatten tied 1-1 b4 -2- 2
1947-09-20 (1) Fred Hutchinson DET CLE Bob Feller tied 2-2 b10 -2- 1
1957-05-12 (1) Mickey McDermott KCA @CLE Early Wynn ahead 0-2 t4 -23 1
1957-07-14 (2) Lou Sleater DET BAL George Zuverink tied 6-6 b9 -2- 1
1958-07-25 (2) Juan Pizarro MLN CHC Don Elston ahead 1-3 b6 -2- 2
1970-09-01 (2) Jim Kaat MIN @MIL Bobby Bolin ahead 1-2 t11 -23 1
2004-05-05 Brooks Kieschnick MIL @CIN Danny Graves tied 4-4 t9 -2- 1
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/7/2013.

 

Schoolboy Rowe could really handle himself at the plate.  As a 22-year-old in A-ball in 1932, he hit .295 and smacked ten homers in 112 at-bats, while also going 19-7 on the mound with a 1.094 WHIP.  In 1943, at the age of 33, he hit .294/.390/.510 in 59 plate appearances as a pinch-hitter, to go along with a .304/.385/.420 rate in games he actually started at pitcher.

Continue reading →

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Posted in factoids, game events, pitchers, Play Index mining | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Dodgers Can’t Bring Them Home

Posted on 6 May, 2013 by Diane

The L.A. Dodgers have been having a hellacious time driving in baserunners this season. Going into Monday night’s action, they are tied for sixth in the Majors with a .335 team OBP.  However, they are next to last in runs per game, at 3.47.  So, it shouldn’t surprise you to read that they are 28th in the league in OPS with men on base (.656), and also 28th with men in scoring position (.618).

Add it all up and the Dodgers have driven in only 23% of their baserunners this season (RS%), far below the MLB average of 30%:

Note: RS% = (R-HR)/(H+HBP+BB-HR)
Tm R/G RS%
STL 4.84 36%
BAL 4.97 34%
NYM 4.89 34%
OAK 5.34 34%
DET 5.47 33%
KCR 4.48 33%
SFG 4.52 33%
BOS 4.90 32%
CIN 4.59 31%
CLE 5.07 31%
COL 5.29 31%
TBR 4.37 31%
ARI 4.39 30%
MIL 4.50 30%
MIN 4.11 30%
LgAvg 4.28 30%
PIT 4.03 29%
TEX 4.42 29%
ATL 4.30 28%
HOU 3.84 28%
NYY 4.43 28%
PHI 3.53 28%
SDP 3.87 28%
LAA 4.16 27%
WSN 3.53 27%
CHW 3.52 26%
TOR 3.66 26%
CHC 3.65 25%
MIA 3.06 24%
SEA 3.55 24%
LAD 3.47 23%
4.28 30%
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/6/2013.

Here are the only teams to drive in no more than 25% of their baserunners over a full season:

YEAR TEAM WIN% R H HR BB RS%
1942 PHI .278 394 1174 44 392 23.0%
1969 SD .321 468 1203 99 423 24.2%
1971 SD .379 486 1250 96 438 24.5%
1972 CAL .484 454 1249 78 358 24.6%
1972 CLE .462 472 1220 91 420 24.6%
2010 SEA* .377 513 1274 101 459 24.7%
1972 PHI .378 503 1240 98 487 24.9%
1954 BAL .351 483 1309 52 468 25.0%
1968 ATL .500 514 1399 80 414 25.0%
* Also had 39 HBP. HBP data unavailable for other teams

As you can see, only one team since 1972 has driven in 25% or less of their baserunners . . . the woeful 2010 Mariners who finished 61-101, and only the ’68 Braves finished at or above .500.

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2013 Pi Young Award – April Update

Posted on 1 May, 2013 by Diane

April has come and gone, so let us see which hurlers are leading their respective leagues in the race for the annual “Pi Young Award“.

First up . . . the American League/no innings requirement.  Cleveland’s Justin Masterson is only .02 off the magic mark, with the Red Sox’ resurgent Jon Lester right behind him at 3.11 and A’s reliever Pat Neshek .04 away in third.

Player ERA Tm W L IP ER
Justin Masterson 3.12 CLE 4 2 40.1 14
Jon Lester 3.11 BOS 4 0 37.2 13
Pat Neshek 3.18 OAK 0 0 11.1 4
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/1/2013.

The race is almost exactly the same for the American League/ERA qualifiers group, as Masterson and Lester hold down the top two spots, and they are joined by the Royals’ Jeremy Guthrie at 3.06.

Player ERA Tm W L IP ER
Justin Masterson 3.12 CLE 4 2 40.1 14
Jon Lester 3.11 BOS 4 0 37.2 13
Jeremy Guthrie 3.06 KCR 3 0 32.1 11
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/1/2013.

In the National League/no innings requirement race, despite (or maybe because of) getting roughed up by the Tigers in his last start, the Braves’ Mike Minor is at the top of the heap at 3.13.  He’s in a statistical dead-heat with tough-luck Stephen Strasburg.  Diamondbacks reliever Tony Sipp is right behind those two at 3.12.

Player ERA Tm W L IP ER
Mike Minor 3.13 ATL 3 2 31.2 11
Stephen Strasburg 3.13 WSN 1 4 37.1 13
Tony Sipp 3.12 ARI 1 1 8.2 3
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/30/2013.

In the National League/ERA qualifiers contest, Minor and Strasburg are still one and two respectively, while the Cardinals’ Lance Lynn slips into third.

Player ERA Tm W L IP ER
Mike Minor 3.13 ATL 3 2 31.2 11
Stephen Strasburg 3.13 WSN 1 4 37.1 13
Lance Lynn 3.10 STL 4 0 29.0 10
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/30/2013.

 

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You Were Meant to Play for Us!

Posted on 24 April, 2013 by Diane

Friend of the VORG Rob (aka @StumpTheRob) tweeted at me a couple of nights ago:

rob ‏@StumpTheRob 

@dianagram Got a project for you, but it starts with this trivia ?: what do Kyle Seager and Tony Cingrani have in common?

I wondered if it had to do with the last names of the players (since I DO like to have fun with names and such).   Eventually Rob mentioned that Damian Miller also met this criteria at one point in his career.  I was still stumped, and then Rob told me it was related to the teams these guys played for . . . and THAT’S when I got it.

So, having solved the riddle, I’ve done the research for the project and present to you . . .

The players whose first three letters of their last name match the three-letter abbreviation of the city/team for which they at one time played:

TeamID Name (Years)
BAL Orioles James Baldwin (2005)
BAL Orioles John Bale (2001)
BAL Orioles Jeff Ballard (1987-91)
BRO Superbas Matt Broderick (1903)
BRO Grooms Dan Brouthers (1892-3)
BRO Robins Eddie Brown (1924-5)
BRO Superbas/Robins Elmer Brown (1913-5)
BRO Dodgers George Browne (1911)
BRO Bridegrooms John Brown (1897)
BRO Dodgers Lindsay Brown (1937)
BRO Robins Lloyd Brown (1925)
BRO Dodgers Mace Brown (1941)
BRO Grooms Pete Browning (1894)
BRO Dodgers Tommy Brown (1944-5,’47-’51)
CIN Reds Tony Cingrani (2012-3)
COL Rockies Greg Colbrunn (1998)
COL Rockies Alex Cole (1993)
COL Rockies Darnell Coles (1997)
COL Rockies Alvin Colina (2006)
COL Rockies Tyler Colvin (2012)
HAR Dark Blues Bill Harbridge (1875-7)
HOU Astros J.R. House (2006,’08)
HOU Astros Pat House (1967-8)
HOU Astros Paul Householder (1987)
MIL Brewers Damian Miller (2005-7)
MIN Twins Don Mincher (1961-6)
MON Expos John Montague (1973-5)
MON Expos Willie Montanez (1980-1)
MON Expos Charlie Montoyo (1993)
PHI Phillies Adolfo Phillips (1964-6)
PHI Phillies Buz Phillips (1930)
PHI Phillies Dave Philley (1958-60)
PHI Phillies J.R. Phillips (1996)
PHI Phillies Taylor Phillips (1959-60)
PIT Pirates Jake Pitler (1917-8)
SEA Mariners Kyle Seager (2011-3)
TOR Blue Jays Hector Torres (1977)
TOR Blue Jays Yorvit Torrealba (2012)

 

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Choo Down with HBP? Who’s Down with HBP?

Posted on 23 April, 2013 by Diane

Coming into the 2013 season, Reds outfield Shin-Soo Choo had 2,960 plate appearances, and had been hit by a pitch in 55 of them (one HBP every 54 PAs).  This season, through Monday night’s action, for whatever reason, Choo has already been hit ten times in 95 plate appearances (you can figure out that ratio yourself).  Combined with 13 walks and an NL-leading 26 hits, its helped vault him to a Majors-leading .521 OBP.

So what’s with the HBPs?  How much of a statistical oddity are we looking at here?

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Posted in factoids, Play Index mining, records | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Your Last Name is My First Name!

Posted on 20 April, 2013 by Diane

Friend of the VORG Keith DeCandido alerted me to the following Wednesday afternoon:

Keith R.A. DeCandido @KRADeC

Ben Francisco batting before Francisco Cervelli, and I’m wondering how often that’s happened. (Paging @dianagram….)

Well, after poring over the nearly 160,000 Retrosheet gamelogs of NL/AL games through 2012, it appears that there have been approximately 130 instances of one player’s last name being the same as the first name in the next batter in the lineup.

The first occurrence came on September 13, 1916 in the second game of a doubleheader between the Cardinals and Phillies.  The Cardinals third hitter, SS Dot Miller, was immediately followed in the batting order by 2B Miller Huggins.  The most recent occasion (prior to 2013) was April 12, 2011 when the Mariners SS Brendan Ryan was followed by CF Ryan Langerhans in their game against the Blue Jays.  There has never been a “trio” in a single lineup, though on May 30, 1958 the Dodgers had C Sammy Taylor, 2B Tony Taylor and P Taylor Phillips as the bottom third of the order.

The most frequent “name duo” in history is Casey Blake and Blake DeWitt, who were in the same lineup in the same order 41 times for the Dodgers between 2008 and 2010.  Here is the list of lineup pairings for all 130 occurrences through 2012:

Pairing Count
Casey Blake, Blake DeWitt 41
Jake Early, Early Wynn 20
Felix Jose, Jose Lind 13
Greek George, George Kell 9
Dan Wilson, Wilson Valdez 6
Roberto Kelly, Kelly Dransfeldt 6
Sammy Taylor, Taylor Phillips 6
Brendan Ryan, Ryan Ludwick 5
Vance Wilson, Wilson Delgado 5
Chad Curtis, Curtis Pride 4
Cliff Lee, Lee King 3
Cody Ross, Ross Gload 3
Brendan Ryan, Ryan Langerhans 2
Tony Taylor, Taylor Phillips 2
Desi Wilson, Wilson Delgado 1
Donnie Scott, Scott Scudder 1
Dots Miller, Miller Huggins 1
Josh Paul, Paul Byrd 1
Rodney Scott, Scott Sanderson 1

And here is the list of each occurrence by date:

Continue reading →

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Posted in lineups, Names, Retrosheet | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

VORG Crossword Puzzle #8

Posted on 14 April, 2013 by Diane

Its Sunday . . . time for another baseball crossword puzzle!

Before we get to the standard VORG Crossword, here is the solution to puzzle #7:

vorgpuzzle7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is the solution to the “Opening Day” puzzle that appeared at ESPN.COM:

openingdaypuzzle3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is puzzle #8. As always you can solve it online here, and print out a PDF version of it.

vorgpuzzle8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Across
1. Turkish title
5. Ballpark worker
10. “Sac fly and an ____”
13. Senators catcher who scored winning run in 1924 World Series game 7
14. Bowler’s pickup
15. Starring role
16. Chin-hui ___, first Taiwanese player in the Majors (2003)
17. Golfer with an “army”
18. Skilled
19. One of two pitchers Red Sox obtained in Beckett/Crawford/Gonzalez trade
22. Film special effects, briefly
24. “Is that ___?”
25. Like Mayberry
26. Current Giants batting coach
31. Fish
32. Ricelike pasta
33. Like a busybody
34. ____ Diaz, Indians catcher in early 2000s
36. Be slack-jawed
40. Starr or Simpson
41. Entertained, in a way
42. To breathe rapidly and deeply in a panic
47. 1988 AL Cy Young winner
48. Common deciduous tree
49. ___ Barker, pitched perfect game in 1981
50. The quality or state of being unbeatable
55. HOF pitcher Coveleski
56. Belittle
57. Allergic reaction
60. Reds pitching prospect Cigrani
61. Compare
62. 1.60934 kilometers
63. Singer DiFranco
64. That is, in Latin
65. Wood sorrels

Down
1. Tigers pitcher Houtteman, who won 19 in 1950 and lost 20 two years later
2. Early Wynn’s nickname
3. Part of salary arbitration processes
4. He piloted his team to 100 wins in 2003, yet finished 4th in NL Mgr. of Yr. vote
5. Functional
6. With agility
7. Full house, e.g.
8. Home of the SeaWolves (Tigers Double-A affiliate)
9. Film unit
10. Like many evangelicals
11. Trees with soft wood
12. Perfect
15. Reds’ catcher during early 2000s
20. Christian of “The Dark Knight Rises”
21. Folkie Guthrie
22. “Rush Hour” star, 1998
23. ____ Petralli, Rangers backup catcher during late ’80s-early ’90s
27. Like a fox
28. HOFer Ward from the 1800s
29. Mariano Rivera’s 2.21 is the active leader
30. Fielding meas. based on range
34. Matt Holliday had a moth extracted from this during game on 8/23/2011
35. Hip-hop producer Gotti
36. Baseball’s Benji or Geronimo
37. Skilled in reasoning
38. ____ Gray, one-armed OFer from 1945
39. Paradise
40. Noggin
41. User-edited Web site
42. Chuck ____, OFer for Senators and Indians in the 1960s
43. Brewers ace Gallardo
44. “Elder” of ancient history
45. Boom, zoom and vroom
46. Ability
47. Far-reaching view
51. Cartel city
52. Bibliographical abbr.
53. 1974 NL Rookie of the Year McBride
54. ___ Perez, OFer for Mets in early 2000s
58. Former sidearming reliever Meredith
59. Males

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