As the baseball world awaited the announcement of this year’s Cy Young winners, this conversation took place on Twitter (excerpted):
Fun fact I discovered that will be part of an upcoming SN feature: Bartolo Colon is listed at 265 pounds, and had a 2.65 ERA this year.
Get @EliasSports & @jaysonst on this. 1st time? RT @jessespector: Fun fact: B. Colon is listed at 265 pounds and had a 2.65 ERA this year.
@jessespector Was Chris Sale’s ERA 1.35?
@CJNitkowski @EliasSports @jessespector I think that 3.43 last year might be closer to his real poundage. But I’m actually working on this!
Jayson Stark @jaysonst
@CJNitkowski @EliasSports @jessespector Closest I could find in expansion era: Bobby Jenks (270 pounds) had ERAs of 2.77 & 2.63. Winner?
CJ Nitkowski @CJNitkowski
@jaysonst how in the world did you get that so fast?!?!
Jayson Stark @jaysonst
@CJNitkowski Lee Sinins’ Complete Baseball Encyclopedia. Just searched for guys of 265+ and their ERAs. What a country!
@jaysonst @funbaseballfact @CJNitkowski @EliasSports @jessespector Greg Maddux: 170 lbs, 1.56 ERA in 1994 and 1.63 ERA in 1995.
@obxleatherman @jaysonst @funbaseballfact @CJNitkowski @EliasSports @jessespector Roger Clemens? 1.93 in 1990, 2.05 in 1997, 2.30 in 2006?
@jaysonst @funbaseballfact @CJNitkowski @EliasSports @jessespector Since 1920, pitchers whose ERA < weight/100: baseball-reference.com/play-index/sha…
So building on this, here are the 25 instances since 1901 in which a pitcher’s ERA equaled 1/100th of his listed weight (as per Baseball Reference). We’ve had at least one pitcher achieve this in each of the last five seasons. Roger Clemens led the league with his 2.05 ERA in 1997, and Carlos Zambrano is the heaviest to have pulled this feat off:
| Player | Year | Wt | Tm | IP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bartolo Colon | 2013 | 2.65 | 265 | OAK | 190.1 |
| Scott Elbert | 2012 | 2.20 | 220 | LAD | 32.2 |
| Francisco Cordero | 2011 | 2.45 | 245 | CIN | 69.2 |
| Jonny Venters | 2010 | 1.95 | 195 | ATL | 83.0 |
| Jordan Walden | 2010 | 2.35 | 235 | LAA | 15.1 |
| Henry Rodriguez | 2009 | 2.25 | 225 | OAK | 4.0 |
| Carlos Zambrano | 2004 | 2.75 | 275 | CHC | 209.2 |
| Toby Borland | 2003 | 1.86 | 186 | FLA | 9.2 |
| Trevor Hoffman | 2003 | 2.00 | 200 | SDP | 9.0 |
| Paul Quantrill | 2003 | 1.75 | 175 | LAD | 77.1 |
| Roger Clemens | 1997 | 2.05 | 205 | TOR | 264.0 |
| Chuck Ricci | 1995 | 1.80 | 180 | PHI | 10.0 |
| Steve Howe | 1994 | 1.80 | 180 | NYY | 40.0 |
| Steve Farr | 1990 | 1.98 | 198 | KCR | 127.0 |
| Gary Lucas | 1981 | 2.00 | 200 | SDP | 90.0 |
| Tug McGraw | 1972 | 1.70 | 170 | NYM | 106.0 |
| Tug McGraw | 1971 | 1.70 | 170 | NYM | 111.0 |
| Mudcat Grant | 1970 | 1.86 | 186 | TOT | 135.1 |
| Masanori Murakami | 1964 | 1.80 | 180 | SFG | 15.0 |
| Howie Pollet | 1943 | 1.75 | 175 | STL | 118.1 |
| Bill Voiselle | 1942 | 2.00 | 200 | NYG | 9.0 |
| George Boehler | 1915 | 1.80 | 180 | DET | 15.0 |
| Dave Davenport | 1915 | 2.20 | 220 | SLM | 392.2 |
| Jeff Pfeffer | 1915 | 2.10 | 210 | BRO | 291.2 |
| Rube Foster | 1914 | 1.70 | 170 | BOS | 211.2 |
| Player | Year | Wt | Tm | IP |
Generated 11/13/2013.
In terms of hitting one’s weight, we’ve had no fewer than 245 instances of a batter hitting exactly 1/1000th of their listed weight. Here are the ones to do that in at least 250 plate appearances in a season. We’ve had at least one player do it every season since 2003:
| Player | Year | Wt | PA | Tm | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Reynolds | 2013 | .220 | 220 | 504 | TOT |
| Brian McCann | 2012 | .230 | 230 | 487 | ATL |
| Scott Rolen | 2012 | .245 | 245 | 330 | CIN |
| Bryan Petersen | 2012 | .195 | 195 | 273 | MIA |
| Vernon Wells | 2012 | .230 | 230 | 262 | LAA |
| Carlos Pena | 2011 | .225 | 225 | 606 | CHC |
| Jarrod Saltalamacchia | 2011 | .235 | 235 | 386 | BOS |
| Aaron Hill | 2010 | .205 | 205 | 580 | TOR |
| Gerald Laird | 2009 | .225 | 225 | 477 | DET |
| Joe Thurston | 2009 | .225 | 225 | 307 | STL |
| Frank Thomas | 2008 | .240 | 240 | 289 | TOT |
| Richie Sexson | 2007 | .205 | 205 | 491 | SEA |
| Joe Borchard | 2006 | .230 | 230 | 270 | TOT |
| Juan Uribe | 2006 | .235 | 235 | 495 | CHW |
| John Buck | 2006 | .245 | 245 | 409 | KCR |
| Austin Kearns | 2005 | .240 | 240 | 448 | CIN |
| Toby Hall | 2004 | .255 | 255 | 441 | TBD |
| Jason Giambi | 2003 | .250 | 250 | 690 | NYY |
| Ruben Rivera | 1999 | .195 | 195 | 475 | SDP |
| Mike Cameron | 1998 | .210 | 210 | 443 | CHW |
| Scott Servais | 1994 | .195 | 195 | 275 | HOU |
| Rob Deer | 1993 | .210 | 210 | 532 | TOT |
| Lance Blankenship | 1993 | .190 | 190 | 328 | OAK |
| Rob Deer | 1989 | .210 | 210 | 532 | MIL |
| Jose Canseco | 1986 | .240 | 240 | 682 | OAK |
| Player | Year | Wt | PA | Tm | |
| Dave Kingman | 1986 | .210 | 210 | 604 | OAK |
| Ray Oyler | 1969 | .165 | 165 | 291 | SEP |
| Buck Rodgers | 1968 | .190 | 190 | 281 | CAL |
| Willie Kirkland | 1964 | .206 | 206 | 282 | TOT |
| John Bateman | 1963 | .210 | 210 | 434 | HOU |
| Don Zimmer | 1959 | .165 | 165 | 292 | LAD |
Generated 11/13/2013.