trivial occurrences 2018

Joe Panik is the first player in major league history to hit a home run in consecutive 1-0 victories by his team.

today's cubs-reds tilt will, weather permitting, feature the first-ever tyler vs tyler matchup (chatwood and mahle)

there have been 451 total starts by tylers; the first was by tyler greene in 1993

I would like to unsubscribe from Tyler facts

Cardinals/Brewers tonight was the first game in MLB history to start and end with back-to-back homers

Didi Gregorious set the Yankee record for RBI in a game with 8 - 6 had been done 4 times before.

Christian Villanueva hit 3 homeruns in his 14th career game. Jarrett Parker did the same in 2015 and only the immortal Bobby Estalella did it earlier, in his 10th game in 1997.

From the Washington Post:
Ohtani is the first player to win as a starting pitcher, then start and homer as a non-pitcher in his next game in the same season since Babe Ruth in 1921, according to STATS LLC. He is also the first player with four hits, a home run and a win in his first six games since Boston’s Wes Ferrell in 1937, and the first rookie with at least three hits and a win in his first six games since Dutch Stryker of the 1924 Boston Braves.

Mets pitchers have struck out 82, an all-time MLB record for the first 7 games of a season.

(for clemenza, that'd be 1898 over a full year)

Along with his 0-for-7, five-strikeout performance in Sunday's loss, Stanton went hitless and posted five strikeouts in his Yankees home debut on Tuesday.

That marked the first time in the live-ball era that a player went hitless with five strikeouts in two games in the same season, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Stanton also became the third player in the past 100 seasons to post multiple five-strikeout games in a season.

the san jose giants' previous cycle was in 2009; last night two of them did it

that has never happened in the majors and doesn't *seem* to have previously happened in the minors

Noticed at lunch that the Royals had four players with matching 1st & 2nd initials. All-time record in our db (s.1908) is the 1998 Cubs with 6 in this game.

Brant Brown,Sammy Sosa,Gary Gaetti,Scott Servais,Mickey Morandini,Mike Morganhttps://t.co/N32mXGCmgU

— Sean Forman (@sean_forman) April 20, 2018

happy 4/20 mookie!

the red sox have more grand slams (five) than the white sox, royals or reds have wins

Ronald Acuña Jr. and @albiesozzie97 are the youngest teammates to homer in the same game since 1978 when Glenn Hubbard and Bob Horner also did it for the @Braves … against the #Reds. pic.twitter.com/MHj5tCavBX

— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) April 26, 2018

Damn, just when I managed to quit liking the barves.

dan plesac's nephew threw a 74-pitch shutout in the minors yesterday

kris bryant hit his 100th mlb home run exactly three years to the day after hitting his first mlb home run

orioles had 13 hits and were shut out in a nine-inning game today

- that had never happened before in orioles team history (they did have 13 hits in a 1-0, 15-inning loss at cleveland on 5/14/1961)

- red sox had never (since at least 1908) allowed that many hits in a shutout

- last time it happened: the dodgers had 13 hits in a 5-0 loss to the phillies on 8/25/2008. no word on how many times it's happened, but i suspect not very many

Kole Calhoun is the first 'qualified' hitter to have an all-sub-.200 slash line this late in the season since 1963.

Since Corey Kluber last walked a batter, there have been 3,067 walks issued in the big leagues.

austin bibens-dirkx and isiah kiner-falefa of the rangers will reportedly form major league baseball's first-ever hyphenated battery tonight

All the starters who allowed 10+ ER but did not get a loss (add #RedSox Steven Wright to this list after tonight):@bradfo @ChrisCotillo pic.twitter.com/KPVHw7o8Ia

— Gary Marbry (@nuggetpalooza) June 23, 2018

ralph branca!

https://i.imgur.com/ETFLNti.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Steven_Wright_1994.jpg/220px-Steven_Wright_1994.jpg

Wes Ferrell TWICE

From @EliasSports via @SlangsOnSports: Jerry Blevins is the 2nd pitcher in the Modern Era (Since 1900) to allow HR to the 1st 2 batters he faced in his 1st career MLB start. The other was Don Hendrickson on July 6, 1945 for the the Boston Braves against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) June 24, 2018

I don’t know anything about him,but Jerry Blevins is exactly the kind of name of someone who gives up 2 HRs to start their career

he's 34 years old and had already pitched in 532 games, just never before as a starter

and apparently they only told him about it last night, because mets

well, in fairness they only disabled Vargas last night and had... no one.

On April 13, the Mets had the best record in baseball (11-1) and the Reds had the worst (2-11). Today, the Reds passed the Mets in winning percentage. pic.twitter.com/Gw4fckCuTs

— Anthony Castrovince (@castrovince) June 24, 2018

last night the dodgers' caleb ferguson entered the game with a 16-run lead and earned his first career save

the record, however, is for a 27-run differential.

In Toronto, we call a 16-run save a "Biagini."

I'm watching the Netflix romantic comedy Set It Up with my wife. At one point, the characters go to a Red Sox/Yankees game, and the announcer says that Andrew Benintendi is at bat, but it is clearly not Andrew Benintendi (the batter is not white). But then later they announce Aaron Hicks and it is Aaron Hicks. A trivial occurrence in 2018.

this was discussed on the Effectively Wild podcast, as are most baseball in movies/TV fuckups.

today the twins won a game without making any plays at first base on defense (no assists or putouts)
6th time since 2000

via BP's Stacey Gotsulias:

The Pirates swept a doubleheader Saturday. Perhaps the biggest key to the sweep: Starling Marte and Polanco hit back-to-back home runs in both games.

They are only the third pair of teammates in MLB history—and second pair of Pirates—to accomplish this feat, and it has been over 50 years since it last happened. The other Pirates were Frank Thomas (not that one) and Dick Groat in 1957. Eleven years later, teammates Sal Bando and Reggie Jackson did it for the Athletics.

today in the dominican summer league:

the pirates 1 (they have two teams) out-hit their opponents 21-8, drew nine walks, went 13-for-33 with runners in scoring position . . . and lost, in nine innings, 14-13. the other team had only 36 at-bats in total

baseball is a weird game

the only winning move is not to play

https://goo.gl/images/WB7A3m

matt carpenter +

The only other player in Major League history to hit 3 home runs and 2 doubles in a game is Kris Bryant (June 27, 2016). #stlcards

— Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) July 20, 2018

nerds are unhappy that it won't continue

Yes, the Cardinals have this game well in hand (it's 15-1), but in the history of Major League Baseball no one has ever had 20 total bases in a game. Matt Carpenter had 16 with at least one (and maybe two) more ABs. And he was pulled.

— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) July 20, 2018

his spot in the order came up while victor caratini was pitching, too!

of course, this enables matt carpenter to end the story with "and i have to say...if i would have had one more chance, i'm pretty sure i would have broken the record that day"

just dreaming about matt carpenter continuing to be amazing and winning the mvp, and realizing he didn't make the all-star team! are there examples of MVPs who didn't make the all-star team? probably there are more than i realize.

(yep, there are a bunch. no spoilers in case people want to guess, but https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/17637/bp-unfiltered-mvps-who-werent-all-stars/)

a hint: several of the examples are also prominent examples of players who shouldn't have won an MVP award

another trivial thing that i can't immediately find: who leads the league in getting picked off? (guessing tommy pham)

Freakish:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-most-consistent-hitter-in-baseball-history/

Harper is the anti-Davis, "tied as the third most volatile hitter ever over a five-year period."

Obviously, batting average is a rather limited way to look at this. When you look at his whole batting line, Davis's OBPs and SLGs bounce around normally.

first teenager since 1898

https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/07/27/juan-soto-home-run-three-straight-games-nationals-video

Just discovered that a) Soto has a nickname already ("Childish Bambino"), and b) we share a birthday.

Top 10 most Home Runs as a teenager:

1. Tony Conigliaro (Boston) 24
2. Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals) 22
3. Mel Ott (NY Giants) 19
4. Ken Griffey, Jr. (Seattle) 16
5. Phil Cavarretta (Cubs) 14
6. Juan Soto (Washington Nationals) 13 <-Turns 20 October 25, 2018
6. Mickey Mantle (NY Yankees) 13
8. Ed Kranepool (NY Mets) 12
9. Robin Yount (Milwaukee) 11
10. Harmon Killebrew (Washington Senators) 9

I'm still tied for last for Most Home Runs as a 56-year-old (but, like Juan, have till Oct. 25, 2018, to make my move).

catcher sal perez with an unassisted double play today

what -- how?

OK I watched the replay haahahahhahhahha

getting conflicting reports on how rare that is, but it's not *common*

only two catchers have ever done it twice in one season -- jorge posada in 2000 and frank crossin in 1914

alex avila did it in 2013, which may or may not be the previously most recent

Yankees have to hit home runs as they do some dumb, dumb stuff on the base paths.

john gant is currently tied with 3 other players for the most career ABs (26) with an on-base percentage of .000

https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2018/7/30/17628794/john-gants-descent-into-despair

i'm assuming that other players have broken this record before, of course, and then gone on to get on base

Jose Reyes, per @EliasSports, is the first player in Major League history to allow multiple home runs in a game, then hit multiple home runs in his team's next game. #Mets

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) August 1, 2018

the white sox selected 2B nick madrigal with the fourth overall pick in june

it's only low A, but he has not struck out in his first 66 PA as a pro

yoan moncada struck out looking four times today

Most strikeouts looking this season
52 Yoán Moncada (4 today)
43 Aaron Judge
42 Chris Taylor

— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) August 2, 2018

That Jose Reyes thing--saw something today that said it's the first time since 1884, which may not count as major-league history for some.

if ohtani resumes pitching regularly, i'd expect him to do it again pretty soon.

or maybe bumgarner

when Sam Miller co-hosted the EW podcast, he preferred to mark 1988 as the start of real baseball

Last night Rougned Odor became only the fourth hitter in history to have a five-walk, one-homer game. The others: Henry Aaron in 1972; Mark McGwire in 1997 and Edgar Martinez in 2004.

Odor is, however, the only one whose walks were all unintentional. (He has 27 BB all season.)

Dee Gordon has what would be the lowest walk rate by a qualified hitter since 1922

— Jeff Sullivan (@based_ball) August 2, 2018

Dan Straily has drawn one fewer walks than Dee Gordon this year.

— Kazuto Yamazaki (@Kazuto_Yamazaki) July 12, 2018

Update: walks drawn in 2018:

Dee Gordon 6
Dan Straily 5

— Kazuto Yamazaki (@Kazuto_Yamazaki) August 2, 2018

Oliver Drake is on his 5th team of the season; he's the first person to play for 5+ teams in one year https://t.co/7W7LioDkc6

— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) August 6, 2018

for the second time this season -- high-a san jose in april and triple-a indianapolis last night -- two teammates hit for the cycle in the same game

this has never happened in the majors. (there have twice been two cycles on the same day -- two dudes in 1920 and adrian beltre + stephen drew in 2008 -- but not in the same game)

it's probably happened in the minors before, but there seems to be no record of it

The @Mets scored a franchise-record 24 runs. They're the first team to score 24+ runs in a game and allow 24+ runs in a game in the same season since 1894, when 4 teams did it.

They're also the first team to score 40 runs in a 2-game span since the 1953 Red Sox. #LGM

— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) August 16, 2018

Andrew Benintendi singled the other night by hitting the ball twice with his bat on the same pitch

I would have thought that would be called a foul ball. Same thing happens in badminton and golf (putting) sometimes, and it's a rule infraction that you're supposed to call yourself on even if no one else notices.

i've seen that happen a few times in the last 45+ years

i remember hunter pence (I think? could've been michael morse) hitting a home run and the bat broke and the ball hit the bat twice, once before and once after the bat cracked. or maybe i'm making this up.

i also remember i think it was pence again hitting a home run with the bat in either one or zero of his hands upon impact. and that time michael morse had to pretend to hit a home run before running the bases. those guys have had some incredibly strange at bats

ok it wasn't a home run but the bat hit the ball THREE TIMES (video here)

http://mlb.mlb.com/images/6/9/2/290567692/081518_nyy_ball_double_hit.gif

yeah pence hat a hit like that gif and it spun the opposite way so the short stop was completely stumped
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmXOZtNjOew

That YouTube clip is amazing. I couldn't see it until near the end, when they slowed everything to a near-stop, and yeah, there it is, plain as day--three times. Makes me think it's not that unusual, just nearly undetectable by the human eye.

pirates hit into seven double plays against the cubs last night, tying the record

deGrom ties record of Cubs righty King Cole, who also went 25 straight starts giving up three or fewer runs in 1910, when he went 20-4 with a 1.80 ERA.

The Reds are now 1-19 when Homer Bailey starts after losing 3-2 to the Pirates. Bailey is 1-14 with a 6.09 ERA and his only win came against the Dodgers back in May. Only once before has a team lost 19 of a pitcher's first 20 starts: Frank Bates of the 1899 Cleveland Spiders. Who folded after the season.

i know this is silly and incidental (and trivial) but last time i saw him pitch he just looked sad the entire time, even before he started getting his ass kicked

this doesn't look like a sad face but it'll have to do

https://i.imgur.com/AZ0Z9xd.jpg

I've been wondering about the answer to this: which pitcher has the highest career WAR who never received a single Cy Young vote? Does anyone with better search skills than me know how to find the answer? Obviously we're talking about pitchers in the era of Cy Young awards in both leagues, i.e. 1967 and onward.

I've found a few notable pitchers who earned downballot votes in a single year (e.g. Javier Vazquez, 45.9 career WAR). For all I know the answer might be a middle reliever.

I just plowed through the list of WAR leaders manually, and the answer seems to be a little below Vazquez: Tom Candiotti, career WAR of 42.5 with no Cy Young votes. Mark Buehrle and Chuck Finley were both around 60.0 and only had one mid-ballot finish each.

For closers, I know that Henke never got a Cy vote, and he finished with a career WAR of 23.0; that could be the highest for a closer, I don't know. (Also one of the best final seasons ever: 36 saves, 1.82 ERA, and exactly one 10th-place MVP vote.)

What’s always been funny to me historically is how well closers have done in MVP balloting vs starting pitchers. I’m not saying they always do better but they always nab a decent number of votes and since 1980 in the AL they’ve taken home three trophies (vs SPs who have won a pair.) and I mean I doubt any of them deserved to be in the top 5 or even 10. That goes for the Cy Young as well.

Willie Hernandez have a 4.8 WAR (according to BR) and pitch in 80 games and 149 innings in 1984 as a closer. He was 4th on the Tigers in WAR, but ahead of Jack Morris who was 8th w/ 2.5 WAR.

Chuck Finley, Mark Langston, and John Lackey were three of the names I checked (Angels starters seem to have a talent for this). Candiotti seems like a reasonable answer!

Willie Hernandez likely deserved his award, as would anyone pitching 150 innings in relief with a sub-2.00 ERA (if such a thing still happened in today's game). I don't think that WAR values these types of players correctly.

trivia: first player to hit a HR as a grandfather (that sounds odd, but i mean that they were a grandfather when they hit the HR)

i'm gonna need hints for that

one big one: I'm watching my fav team right now

and it's a player that most people have heard of

http://mlb.mlb.com//assets/images/5/5/2/148734552/MusialRockingChair_vfs05b0p.jpg

oic

I found about 22 instances of a relative pinch hitting for another, s.1908.

We don't have player anniversary dates, so some of the in-laws may not have been related at the time of PHing. Big gap in our dataset.https://t.co/OMMJtamjT3

cc: @Bencjacobs @dougcutchins pic.twitter.com/J5WqL5TBV9

— Sean Forman (@sean_forman) September 12, 2018

the son-in-law PH is vital trivia

That it's only happened once in the last 15 years (and 9 years ago) reflects on how the game is even more competitive now and there will be fewer opportunities for this to occur in the future.

X-post on Musial: his grandson had been born earlier the same day, and it was his first AB as a grandfather.

http://www.mlb.com/cut4/stan-musial-once-hit-a-homer-after-becoming-a-grandfather/c-148537416

Orlando Arcia bunted for a double yesterday. it was the 23rd bunt double on record (since 1988). it was the sixth by a right-handed batter. it was the first with multiple baserunners

— Jeff Sullivan (@based_ball) September 15, 2018

I attended the '85 matchup

When Jacob deGrom (1.71 ERA) faces Chris Sale (1.96) today, it will be MLB's first matchup of starters with sub-2.00 ERAs and at least 100 IP since Dwight Gooden (1.74) faced the Cardinals' John Tudor (1.95) at Shea Stadium in 1985, per Elias.

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) September 16, 2018

so sweet my god

https://www.mlb.com/brewers/video/arcias-2-run-bunt-double/c-2487986383

more of this sort of thing. PARTICULARLY against the shift and particularly if it's BAD FOR BASEBALL

xpost

is this the game? turned out to be a pitcher's duel, unsurprisingly: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN198509110.shtml

tudor pitched 10 innings and had a game score of 91; gooden pitched 9, game score 81

Yep! Orosco entered in the 10th and immediately yielded a solo HR by Cesar Cedeno.

Keith Hernandez made a great play on a bunt to the third base side of the mound (looks like by Tudor in the 7th) and got an out at third. Never saw a first baseman do that before or since.

on that same day, pete rose passed ty cobb

yes, at least until they recounted Cobb's hits

john tudor, whom the pirates famously dealt to the cardinals the previous winter for joggin' george hendrick, who hit .230/.278/.313 with two homers in 69 games before being dispatched to anaheim for a bag of balls

i mean look at this (57-104) 1985 pirates team: https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/PIT/1985.shtml

they traded *for* johnnie lemaster, who had already posted -1.1 bWAR in *23 games* with last-place san francisco and cleveland that season. there is a guy who has to be among the worst ever to play 1000 major league games

about all you can say is that rick reuschel had a great year at age 36

yes i'm still bitter

-1.1 bWAR in *23 games*

now that's amazing

Is it? James Shields' 2016 season seems as dismal...

it's pretty impressive for a utility infielder (or any non-pitcher). he only played the entire game in six of those 23, btw

he went 3-for-36 (all singles) with one walk, one run scored, one caught stealing and 11 strikeouts. also made three errors in 61 total chances at shortstop

by fangraphs WAR johnnie lemaster is indeed the second-worst position player of all time to play 1000 games, behind former mets great doug flynn

i would like to play major league baseball as a SS for 23 games, just so i could demolish the record for negative WAR

i would probably get hit by a changeup in the leg and die, though

Dee Gordon has eight walks and nine hit-by-pitches. the last qualified batter to have more hit-by-pitches than walks was Ollie O'Mara (1918)

— Jeff Sullivan (@based_ball) September 18, 2018

Deadball Dee

I need help from the Twitterverse!

Tuesday's walkoff HR in LA: Chris Taylor (No. 3 in your program) off Adam Ottavino (No. 0)

As @dakern74 mused, this is probably the lowest hitter/pitcher walkoff HR uniform total ever

If you can find the "record" I'll credit you in my column!

— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) September 20, 2018

That is one stupid thing to get paid to do, Jayson Stark. I guess that's why you're outsourcing the work.

i just responded with a couple lower ones because i have NOTHING to do at work right now

xpost lol embarrassing

oh and i missed "walkoff" double embarrassing

Eh don't mind me I have a permanently sour mood.

don't feel too bad, i used to give jayson stark shit (on ILX, of course, which i'm sure he reads) for appearing to land a gig where he gets paid by the word and has no limit on his word count

i saw him speak once at a SABR convention and he seemed... smarter than online

b-ref dude ftw

Lowest batter/pitcher number combination for a walkoff home run. Note we don't have pbp for every home run, so this isn't definitive. (cc:@jaysonst)https://t.co/8wNkqXNF7K pic.twitter.com/XE4Cz5qA7x

— Sean Forman (@sean_forman) September 20, 2018

in the thread he also lists highest number combo plus tallest/shortest/youngest/oldest combos lol

turk wendell references are always good

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24747024/yankees-set-major-league-record-most-players-10-hrs

Clevinger is likely to get 200 Ks this season, he's four away. That would give Cleveland four 200 K pitchers. does that tie a record or set a record? I'm sure it's been done before at some point.

just randomly checking, the 90s braves never got close. a few teams had *two* 200 K pitchers in '68 and '69

wouldn't be surprised at all if it's a record -- there just haven't been strikeouts on this scale before

the 90s braves

yeah, as dominant as maddux was, he only reached 200 strkekouts once (1998, with 204)

found this from baseball roundtable, a 2014 article:

With the recent “feel-good” publicity surrounding pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training, BBRT took time to reflect on some unique accomplishments involving major league batteries – specifically looking at teams that could boast 200-strikeout performances by three pitchers in the same season. It’s only happened three times in major history, and the nine hurlers involve make up a pretty diverse bunch:

Five have at least one MLB no-hitter on their resume, with two of those having fashioned multiple no-hit games;
One is on a streak of five consecutive 200+ strikeout seasons, while five notched only one (well-timed for this list) 200+ strikeout seasons in their careers;
One was only the eighth rookie to notch 200+ whiffs, and never came close to the mark again in a 14-season MLB career;
One won sixteen consecutive Gold Gloves, while another is one of only eight pitchers to capture the Cy Young Award and league MVP in the same season;
One threw 17 no-hitters in high school (while racking up a 52-1 won-lost record);
One celebrated his eighteenth birthday by making his first major league start and striking out Willie Mays to end his first major league inning;
One is one of only two pitchers to strikeout four batters in a single post-season inning;
Four, at one time, led their league in wild pitches, including one who led his league in wild pitches and hit batters two consecutive years.

1967 Minnesota Twins: Dean Chance (220 Ks), Jim Kaat (211), Dave Boswell (204).
1969 Astros: Don Wilson (235), Larry Dierker (222), Tom Griffin (200).
2013 Tigers: Max Scherzer (240), Justin Verlander (217), Anibel Sanchez (202).

Most consecutive quality starts in a season, MLB history:

1. Jacob deGrom, 23
2-t. Bob Gibson, 22
2-t. Chris Carpenter, 22

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) September 22, 2018

wow

re: the number of 200 K pitchers on one team, there's likely going to be another team with three 200 K guys this season: Houston w/Cole (272), Verlander (269), and Morton almost there (195.) Pittsburgh must be wondering what they were doing wrong with Gerrit and Charlie.

v. excited to see glasnow join them

matt carpenter, in 677 plate appearances, did not hit into a double play this season

NL player with the most PA who also did not hit into a double play is ryan mcmahon (202 PA)

that's crazy, especially because carpenter is pretty slow and he's usually hitting into a shift

although i guess the shift usually isn't on with runners on base, nm

Below is one of Frank Thomas's batting splits from his 1993 MVP season.

In one case, .367 with 33 HR, for a 1.251 OPS.
In the rest, .259 with 8 HR, for a 0.796 OPS.

What's the split? New post: https://t.co/hJfJSY0qht pic.twitter.com/pKnVDM5rAe

— Phil Birnbaum (@PhilBirnbaum) January 16, 2019

Ken Griffey Sr. had a bWAR of 15.8 from his age 30 season to his age 40 season (and then he played one more year and gained another 0.3 in WAR)

Ken Griffey Jr. had a bWAR of 13.1 from his age 30 season to his age 40 season (and then retired)

Cool stat of the day: Max Schezer and Jacob deGrom both have 10 strikeouts so far, the first time opposing starters have double-digit K's on Opening Day since 1970, when Sam McDowell and Dave McNally did it for the Indians and Orioles. (Also the only... https://t.co/H1mFNMik4V

— David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield) March 28, 2019

Rocco Baldelli is the first MLB manager to be born in the (19)80's.

george springer did *not* lead off the astros season with a homer for the third straight year

but he did homer in his second at-bat

.@tatis_jr is the youngest player to have a multi-hit game on #OpeningDay since Robin Yount in 1975. pic.twitter.com/bwYhJJ1qqv

— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) March 28, 2019

meanwhile, vladimir hones his game in extended spring training

history wd thank u for making a nu thred

mookie, it's up to you. my job here is to react to the trivia and then make really dumb jokes about it

Allow me to interrupt:

Today's opening day 47 HRs eclipses the previous record of 46 HRs set in 1999.

how many 'opening days' have had all the teams playing?

Scherzer/deGrom were the first Opening Day starters since McNally/McDowell in 1970 to both strike out 10.

Home runs and strikeouts, sounds familiar.

Eight HRs by the Dodgers set a new team opening day record.

now out of date, but

Dodgers have scored 49 runs this year. Giants have 50 total bases.

— Sam Miller (@SamMillerBB) April 3, 2019

Per @EliasSports, Chris Iannetta becomes the first Rockies player to record the game-winning RBI in 1-0 Rockies wins three different times. Has done it on a HR each time. He is the third active player to have three or more home runs in 1-0 wins (N. Walker, 4; J. Upton, 3).

— Rockies PR (@RockiesPR) April 3, 2019

The #Cubs lead the Majors in:

BA (.307) & OBP (.398)

AND

Opponent BA (.303) & OBP (.417)

— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) April 5, 2019

Shane Greene becomes first player since MLB recognized the save statistic 50 years ago to record seven saves in team's first 10 games.

— Jason Beck (@beckjason) April 7, 2019

Chris Davis now holds the all time hitless record - 49 consecutive at bats going back to last year

Chris Davis is due

to retire

dear Baltimore Orioles, I will CRUSH this record, hire me

Put it in the record books—the Mariners have hit a home run in 1️⃣5️⃣ straight games to start the season. 💥 pic.twitter.com/tIAHp1lZNC

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 11, 2019

if dee gordon hits a home run and nobody is in the stands to see it, does it count for runs

Mitch Garver is leading off tonight for the Twins. He's the first Twins catcher to bat leadoff in a game since Butch Wynegar in 1980.

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) April 15, 2019

I'm going to go by memory here and not check this first: in my mind, Wynegar and Wockenfuss were both considered fast for catchers?

15 career SB between them, so maybe not...(They did total 26 triples).

i had a memory of Carlton Fisk having had a season w/a lot of triples and he did, he led the AL in triples with 9 in his rookie season. weirdly he also stole 17(!) bases in 1985, tying a career high. this was the same season he hit a career high 37 home runs, all at age 37. I remember him being slow, but i may also be mixing it up with how long he took to take a single AB. considering the length of his career behind the dish i suspect he was just a more elite athlete than he appeared to be.

I think I was getting my '70s W-catchers mixed up: it was John Wathan who stole all the bases (seasonal high of 36, 105 in 860 career games).

i don't know where else to put these random bits of info regarding future 3,000 career hit possibilities:

there are currently four active players with over 2,000 hits:

Pujols - 3,093
Cabrera - 2,692
Cano - 2,484
Markakis - 2,256

Pujols and Cabrera look like toast, Cano is 36 and may very well be (that K rate is presently a bit worrisome for him), and the best player out of that group now appears to be Markakis. I'd be surprised if he's able to get enough playing time to reach 3k, he's in that "Mark Grace with the Arizona Diamondbacks" phase of his career.

the list of active players at least halfway there with 1,500+ career hits is this:

Ian Kinsler (14, 37) - 1,951
Melky Cabrera (15, 34) - 1,874
Yadier Molina (16, 36) - 1,865
Adam Jones (14, 33) - 1,836
Hanley Ramirez (15, 35) - 1,834
Ryan Braun (13, 35) - 1,814
Dustin Pedroia (14, 35) - 1,805
Matt Kemp (14, 34) - 1,778
Curtis Granderson (16, 38) - 1,749
Ryan Zimmerman (15, 34) - 1,749
Joey Votto (13, 35) - 1,742
Edwin Encarnacion (15, 36) - 1,723
Hunter Pence (13, 36) - 1,709
Andrew McCutchen (11, 32) - 1,625
Howie Kendrick (14, 35) - 1,617
Justin Upton (12, 31) - 1,604
Evan Longoria (12, 33) - 1,602
Nelson Cruz (15, 38) - 1,590
Elvis Andrus (11, 30) - 1,585
Asdrubal Cabrera (13, 33) - 1,543
Ben Zobrist (14, 38) - 1,540
Brian McCann (15, 35) - 1,526
Shin-Soo Choo (15, 36) - 1,515

Andrus seems like he'd have the best shot out of that group, which isn't to say it's likely.

Going down to guys with 1200+ career hits (Trout is at 1,202), it looks like only he and Altuve (1,441 hits at age 29) seem like good bets. But also Trout seems like a guy who will walk more and more as time goes on, I could see him getting Bonds'd when it comes to 3k.

Castro, Hosmer, and Freeman are all between 1200 and 1500 career hits at 29 years old but I don't know....

It's only of interest to me because of the relative frequency with which players have joined the club in recent decades.

going back there were a few major gaps:

- 17 years between Eddie Collins and Paul Waner

- 16 between Waner and Musial

- 12 between Musial and Aaron

since then the longest break was 7 years between Carew and Yount, but since Yount there have been 15 more players who have joined (in 26 years).

Miggy may suck now, but he'll make it to 3000 with ease. all he has to do is eke out 60 hits a year between now and the end of his contract

i guess it all depends on how much he wants the 3k and how long the Tigers will run him out there regularly...

i suppose, but then he only had 40 last year. i can see him rupturing more things than his biceps in the years to come

the tigers are 9-9 and shane greene has earned the save in all their wins

Cabrera would do well to retire, but if he gets another 100 hits this year, I'd say he makes it with relative ease.

Agree with Andrus on both counts: best bet from the middle group, but not a good one. There are so many relatively anonymous middle infielders who hit ~30 with ~1500 hits; if they haven't had star seasons by that point, they just don't last long enough. (I did mention Andrus on the underrated thread the other day, though.) I've been fooled many times.

I'd say yes to Trout and Altuve, then I think you drop down to Acuna, Albies, and Soto.

Check that, there's also another group nestled between Trout/Altuve and the three young guys: Betts, Lindor, Bogarts, etc. I'm sure at least one of those guys will make a run at 3,000.

Mets are the first NL team in more than 110 years to have three pitchers homer in the first 25 games of a season.

The Cubs are the first team since the Blue Jays in 2010 to hit multiple 2 out, 3 run homers (or better) in the same inning.

nationals are the first team to have three players under 22yo (soto, robles, kieboom) homer in the same game

Congrats on your first @MLB win, Elvis Luciano!

His milestones:
- FIRST player born in the 2000s to get a win
- Youngest pitcher in #BlueJays HISTORY to get a win pic.twitter.com/i9vukirSGg

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 28, 2019

alex bregman has drawn a walk in 10 straight games; the last astro to do that was noted moneyball-hater joe morgan in 1970

Cloggin' up the basepaths!

Noah Syndergaard is the 1st pitcher to throw a shutout and win 1-0 on his own solo HR since Bob Welch for the Dodgers on June 17, 1983...also vs the Reds.

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) May 2, 2019

would never have thought it's been that long

p sure Seaver did it at least once, maybe Koosman too

Noah Syndergaard is the eighth pitcher since 1908 to throw a shutout and hit a HR in a 1-0 win (seventh, if you don't include that 1915 Federal League game) pic.twitter.com/N1HudLpPrN

— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) May 2, 2019

i was wrong obv

bet i listened to or watched that Pizarro game

not a bad list of pitchers

though Juan Pizarro having thrown 17 career shutouts is another eye-opener on how how baseball has changed over the past several decades. Pizarro World.

getting *more* trivial: thor, wynn and ruffing were the only ones with 10+ K

tbf syndergaard got some help on the last couple

is throwing a shutout and hitting the only run for your team literally worth one (1.0) WAR or is the whole system dumb and bad

not unless thor played all of the defensive positions too!

even then, i don't think it would add up to 1.0 WAR. WAR doesn't know that the solo HR ended up being the difference in the game. it would just know how much a HR, on average, contributes to a win (i think)

the stat you might be looking for here is WPA (win probability added): https://www.fangraphs.com/wins.aspx?date=2019-05-02&team=Mets&dh=0&season=2019

by that measure, syndergaard had .686 WPA through his pitching, and added another .062 through his solo HR, for a total of .748 WPA. not too shabby

Yeah WAR just measures performance against a league average player, you're probably thinking more along the lines of Win Shares (a James-ian concept that has fallen out of vogue).

or WPA I guess (I'm less familiar with that).

haha yeah i am just being a goof over here :) pretty damn cool tho winning on yr own (w/ defense's help ofc)

Would be interesting to see a list of pitchers with a combination of the most strikeouts complete games AND offensive production (esp. HRs) if it were easy to filter...

i decided to take the plunge and pay $2 to use the baseball-reference Play Index for 24 hours.

i desperately needed to know if there were any pitchers with shutouts and 2 or more home runs. turns out there were four!

https://i.imgur.com/UhZz1BL.png

of those, sonny siebert's game in sept. '71 was the only one where he plated all of the runs, with all 3 RBIs via his 2 HRs

I didn't quite do that right (some of the pitchers on that list didn't get a complete game because other pitchers were used). but the four on top all threw a CG

i have much to learn during my remaining 23 hours

Jesse Winker has 23 career home runs. He has at least one in all nine spots of the batting order.

— David Laurila (@DavidLaurilaQA) May 6, 2019

Pablo Sandoval on Monday became the first major league player since 1905 to hit a home run, steal a base and post a scoreless outing in the same game.

Sandoval achieved the feat in the San Francisco Giants' 12-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Monday.

The only other time the feat was achieved, it was also accomplished by a Giants player in a game against the Reds. Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson threw nine shutout innings, hit a homer and stole a base in a victory on May 23, 1905, according to the Elias Sports Bureau's data.

I'm not sure which is more mind-blowing: Sandoval somehow pulling this off, or the fact that the same teams were involved the only other time it happened.

it's the stealing a base i'm finding hard to believe

The first five guys in the Rays batting order today have four-letter last names.

Whit and Mondesi are both on pace for 20 homers, 20 doubles, 20 triples and 20 steals. There are four members of the 20-20-20-20 club. Ever.

— David Lesky (@DBLesky) May 8, 2019

This sounds like a club Ricky Henderson would be in

I think either Yount or Brett did that in the late '70s.

Nope. Brett came real close in '79: 42/20/23/17--three SB short. Yount was 49/10/23/20 in 1980--he covered three of them but was 10 triples short, which isn't exactly close.

.@JoeyGallo24 is the first player in @MLB history to hit his 100th HR before his 100th single. 👀

h/t: @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/FnwZ44vJBC

— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) May 8, 2019

Holy shit, that’s kind of amazing

not even close

This is my new favorite stat.

Fewest career singles at time of 100th HR
1) Joey Gallo: 93
2) Russell Branyan: 172
3) Ken Phelps: 174
4) Ryan Howard: 176
5) Chris Carter: 179
6) Dave Kingman: 180

Great breakdown from @SlangsOnSports https://t.co/TzebRczUmf

— Matt Meyers (@mtmeyers) May 8, 2019

the blaze it club - four 20s

Mets have now employed 3 of the 4 MLB players in history named Wilmer (only lacking Difo)

name the one who wound up in Congress

Wilmer Cook of the Maltese Falcons.

Wilmer (Vinegar Bend) Mizell was no gunsel

Tuesday: In his MLB debut as a hitter, TOR pitcher Trent Thornton gets two hits at SF.

Wednesday: In his MLB debut, SF pitcher Shaun Anderson gets two hits vs. TOR.

Previously, no pitcher had gotten multiple hits in his MLB hitting debut since Steven Matz in 2015.

— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) May 15, 2019

The Royals have played 48 games. Their pitchers have recorded five saves.

— Brendan Gawlowski (@GawlowskiB) May 22, 2019

One for the ages:

https://i.imgur.com/2aAvLGa.jpg

they wdn't have that record if Johan Santana was still pitching

Pete Alonso passed Mark McGwire and Albert Pujols tonight for most home runs in a player's first 50 games. The list:

1-t. Gary Sanchez, 19
1-t. Cody Bellinger, 19
3-t. Rhys Hoskins, 18
3-t. Wally Berger, 18
5-t. Pete Alonso, 17
5-t. Wally Joyner, 17
5-t. Jose Abreu, 17

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) May 25, 2019

wally joyner!

for some reason, wally joyner is one of my very first baseball memories, one of the very first names i remember being aware of. no idea why, because his angels wouldn't have played in any cardinals games i may have saw on my grandpa's tv in 86-88

looks like wally only hit 5 more HRs in the other 104 games he played in 1986

he was touted!

he always reminded me of matthew broderick. i remember being excited that i had his rookie card. surely one day it would be worth lots of money. see also: kent hrbek

he was good! just never thought of him as a power guy. see also: mark grace

where have you gone, first basemen who hit .300, take more walks than K's, and only hit a dozen homers

paul o'neill in the mid 90s was a little like this

no it's true those guys were good. not mattingly/boggs level but very very good.

I too remember stocking up on Wally Joyner rookie cards

1989 NLCS, Giants over the Cubs in five

Mark Grace: 11-for-17, HR, 3B, 3 2B, 8 RBI, 4 BB, K

Will Clark: 13-for-20, 2 HR, 3B, 3 2B, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K

thank god steve bedrosian didn't win MVP for saving three games

Josh Bell and total bases

https://www.mlb.com/news/josh-bell-finishes-record-breaking-may

A #Brewers note you may have missed yesterday -- according to the Jewish Baseball News, Ryan Braun's 332nd career home run now gives him the most of any Jewish player in MLB history, passing Hank Greenberg. https://t.co/fML4F6eHJW

— JR Radcliffe (@JRRadcliffe) June 8, 2019

truly the Manischewitz of juicing

I always think Greenberg has a higher HR total than he does. A baseball counting stat casualty of WW2

13-HR game

https://sports.yahoo.com/diamondbacks-phillies-crush-13-home-060846119.html

the wilmington (delaware) blue rocks, a royals affiliate in the high-a carolina league, are 40-22 with a -11 run differential

they are 23-6 in one-run games

um i believe that's called clutch hitting look it up

Derek Law has never started a game any professional (MLB or MiLB) or collegiate level.

He'll start for the Blue Jays tonight.

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) June 12, 2019

waht

um dudes, this happens all the time nowadays:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opener_(baseball)

as an opener? xp

(shitty ilx url parse code will fuck that up so add a close parenth.)

(...countdown til st3t chimes in with some snarky "this only happens on Firefox run on OS" BS lol...)

idk, i don't think there are that many big league relievers who were never starters in college/low minors

even sergio romo was a starter for a year or two

meanwhile

The Mariners have homered in 59 of their 70 games this season and the opposing team has homered in the other 11 games.

The 70 straight games with a homer by at least one team is longest streak in MLB history, breaking mark of 69 by 1985 Orioles, 2017 White Sox & 2017 Rangers).

— Greg Johns (@GregJohnsMLB) June 12, 2019

rangers prospect jonathan hernandez has made 11 starts for double-a frisco this season; he's given up a homer on his first pitch in four of them

he's allowed only four other homers in 59 innings

ok that's an instant classic of the genre

Shohei Ohtani became the first Japanese-born player to hit for the cycle in major league history.

And I remind you that nothing is more trivial than a cycle.

You'd think that in 2005 either Ichiro or Dave Roberts would have chanced upon a cycle but no:

year/player: singles/doubles/triples/HRs
2005 Ichiro: 158/21/12/15
2005 Roberts: 76/19/10/8
2019 Otani: 23/2/1/8

Pretty wild that Otani only has 2 doubles on the year...

a trio of met greats

Rays threw 57 pitches to Yankees in the 1st inning today. But wow @StatsBySTATS found that the record since 1988 (when pitch-by-pitch data started) is 99! Rangers scored 16 runs against the Orioles in the 8th on 4/19/96 (Armando Benitez, Jesse Orosco & infielder Manny Alexander).

— James Smyth (@JamesSmyth621) June 19, 2019

quite an inning: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TEX/TEX199604190.shtml

4 bases-loaded BBs in a row :( :( :( :(

never threw another pitch again : /

:|
:}
:)
:D

well.. he was a shortstop

This was Fri/Sat. Five minutes ago they added a third straight on a GWHR by one Will Smith.

The @Dodgers are the first team EVER to have rookies hit walk-off HRs on back-to-back days in @MLB history.

h/t @EliasSports via @ESPNStatsInfo pic.twitter.com/mDb1zkUWIl

— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) June 23, 2019

#Orioles' Hanser Alberto entered today with the fourth-best batting average in the American League, but he was outslugging only one of the league's other top 50 hitters. Guess which one? Miguel Cabrera. (h/t @JoeTrezz)

— Nathan Ruiz (@NathanSRuiz) June 26, 2019

From @EliasSports: Over his last 10 games, DJ LeMahieu is batting .537 (22 for 41) with 16 runs scored and 18 RBIs. LeMahieu is the first Yankees player since Mickey Mantle in May 1955 to have at least a .500 batting average, 15 runs and 15 RBIs over a 10-game span.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) June 30, 2019

Per SNY, since 1935, only Wade Boggs and Joe DiMaggio had more hits in their first 500 official MLB at-bats than Jeff McNeil.
And he would have tied Joe D. if not for that Urshela play.

— Peter Botte (@PeterBotte) July 4, 2019

Has a team ever batted around twice or more in one inning? If so, has anyone ever made all three outs in one inning? (I'm watching the CHC-PIT game on too little sleep and these things come to me.)

it never even occurred to me that it might be the pirates who were doing the batting around

speaking of which, jordan lyles' teams are about to fall to 0-16 in games he has started in july

the Gurriel bros have put on quite a show over the last 30 days, 22 HR in something like 190 at bats.

Brandon Crawford: 4-for-5, 3 R, 6 RBI

Mike Yastrzemski: 4-for-5, 3 R, 3 RBI

The last Giants teammates to have at least 4 hits, 3 runs, 3 RBI in the same game:

Barry Bonds and Matt Williams on April 18, 1993, vs. the Braves at Candlestick Park.

— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) July 15, 2019

Travis D'Arnaud is the first catcher in MLB history to have a 3-HR game out of the leadoff spot in the batting order https://t.co/ZYqoVDBfiE pic.twitter.com/KPd2Sq3XOG

— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) July 16, 2019

This is the second time in franchise history the Rays have hit back-to-back HR to start a game.

The other time was June 15, 1998, when Quinton McCracken and Wade Boggs went deep off the Blue Jays' Woody Williams to start a game in Tampa.

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) July 18, 2019

crazy to think boggs was playing in 98!!

keston hiura is the first brewers rookie to win a player of the week award

The #SFGiants are now the first MLB team in the live-ball era to win six extra-inning games in a 10-game span (via @StatsBySTATS). pic.twitter.com/zWt8N2bhMI

— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) July 27, 2019

appalachian league pitcher struck out five in one inning last night

haha whut? dropped third strikes i guess?

i think it was more guys swinging at wild pitches, but yeah. last happened in the minors in 2014

Nelson Cruz has three home runs today for the second time in his past eight games or something. Is that a record?

he won't make the HOF but he's a beast.

I'd argue 6 games as he was benched during the NL-rules Marlins series.

the juiced ball is starting to give me some sympathy for the PED-era HR champs. if MLB itself is going to shatter the record books by juicing, that kind of makes mark mcgwire a.... pioneer?

Bo Bichette is already past 10% of the way to his dad's career bWAR total!

wow his dad's 1999 season is stunning

.298/.354/.541, 34 homers, 133 RBI, -2.3 bWAR, -2.1 fWAR

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/dante-bichettes-unbelievable-1999-season/

Bichette and Cruz both on this chart (highest % of HR hit after 30):

https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/private/t_16x9/t_w1024/mlb/cqizmrwwvs65lrxacnar

This is the 4th time this season that Lourdes and Yuli Gurriel have homered on the same day.

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) August 7, 2019

Bo Bichette has an extra-base hit in nine consecutive games, which hasn’t been accomplished by a rookie since 1939.

you might've guessed who?

https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2019/08/08/bo-bichette-accomplishes-feat-last-done-by-ted-williams-in-1939/

...esp if you read the Toronto thread

we literally won't shut up about it!

Rafael Devers is the only player since 1908 to have a 6-hit, 4-double game https://t.co/ekywNbWvEu pic.twitter.com/Al03H9Hw7j

— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) August 14, 2019

https://www.mlb.com/news/chris-sale-2-000-career-strikeouts

nolan ryan's career total: 5,417

there was some stat the other night about how Sale is like 9th on the all-time list of pitchers with 10-strikeout games. something like 75 games. the leader was Ryan with 200+

he was not a good pitcher til he was around 35

i mean *really* good

Sale does have a chance to be the fifth guy to 4,000--he'd need eight more seasons of 250. Not a great chance, but a decent one. Scherzer, less of a chance I'd say (2,638, age 34); Kershaw, no chance (2,406, age 31--but he just barely cracked 200 once since 2015).

ronald acuña is the eighth player to hit 60 homers before turning 22

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EB87te7XUAI4k38.jpg

What a list--3 x 500+, 2 x 600+, Trout, Acuna, and a guy with really bad luck (who undoubtedly would have hit 500 otherwise heading out of the pitcher-dominated '60s).

Soto has a shot to hit 60 before turning 21 (he's on pace for 56 career HR by end of season, he turns 21 in October).

those dudes are so good. Acuna has got to be making a late run for MVP consideration at this point too; clearly still a tier below Belli and Yeli but the voters always like a guy on a contender who turns it on in the last couple months...

voters do like them, which is why no one needs to care about awards

speaking of which

Juan Soto hit his 25th HR of the year yesterday. He's the 11th player in MLB history to hit 25+ in a season before age-21 pic.twitter.com/MS3dm2rFAG

— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) August 14, 2019

I'm projecting him at 34 for the year which would put him on pace for #4 on that list.

Mat Albers just threw 11 straight balls in a one-run save situation and still somehow got the save

dunno if that's significant but it feels like it belongs here

(xpost) We always talk about small sample sizes, but when linked to age, it's amazing how strong that list is. Again, it's active players (one of whom is again Trout), the special case of Conigliaro, and seven HOF'ers after that (only one of whom, Cepeda, isn't inner circle)...well, okay, there's the technicality of A-Rod. But the point stands.

Posnanski has spent the last month obsessing over a streak whereby at least one player in either league has a two-homer game. Last night the streak hit 31 days, an all-time record.

The Braves beat the Marlins 5-0 without hitting any singles or doubles, the 4th time they've done that in team history if I heard right. One triple and two homers.

Saturday, the Tigers became the first team ever to strike out 24 times in a game without a walk. And they became the first team to ever have six players strike out at least three times in one game, confirmed by @EliasSports. #quirkjians

— Tim Kurkjian (@Kurkjian_ESPN) August 21, 2019

in their last six games, the pirates have scored one run before the eighth inning

Per B-Ref, the Angels are now on pace to become the first modern-era team to have zero pitchers reach 100 IP, and the second modern-era team to not have a pitcher make 20 starts (1919 Phillies). https://t.co/GZd9b6f7w6

— Simon Sharkey-Gotlieb (@simon_shargot) August 22, 2019

Mets have struck out 26 in the first 14 innings of tonight's game (and it may not be over) -- ties ML record it seems

Jacob deGrom accomplished the exceptionally rare feat of hitting a home run and striking out at least 13 batters in the same game for the second time this season. He is the first player to ever accomplish the feat twice in his career.

a few weeks ago, lake elsinore was down 13-3 with two outs in the ninth and no one on at lancaster (this is the high-a california league). they then scored 10 runs to tie it before winning in the 10th

Lake Elsinore Top of the 9th

Pitching Change: Austin Moore replaces Salvador Justo.
Jalen Washington pops out to second baseman LeeMarcus Boyd.
Allen Cordoba singles on a line drive to center fielder Matt Hearn.
Allen Cordoba advances to 2nd on defensive indifference.
Xavier Edwards flies out to left fielder Casey Golden.
Luis Campusano walks. Allen Cordoba to 3rd. Wild pitch by pitcher Austin Moore. Allen Cordoba to 3rd.
Gabriel Arias singles on a line drive to left fielder Casey Golden. Allen Cordoba scores. Luis Campusano to 2nd.
Mound Visit.
Eguy Rosario doubles (20) on a fly ball to right fielder Luke Morgan. Luis Campusano scores. Gabriel Arias scores.
Tirso Ornelas walks.
Mound Visit.
Pitching Change: Robert Tyler replaces Austin Moore.
Olivier Basabe walks. Eguy Rosario to 3rd. Tirso Ornelas to 2nd.
Jeisson Rosario walks. Eguy Rosario scores. Tirso Ornelas to 3rd. Olivier Basabe to 2nd.
Mound Visit.
Jalen Washington singles on a line drive to left fielder Casey Golden. Tirso Ornelas scores. Olivier Basabe scores. Jeisson Rosario to 2nd.
Mound Visit.
Pitching Change: Tommy Doyle replaces Robert Tyler.
Allen Cordoba singles on a ground ball to shortstop Taylor Snyder. Jeisson Rosario scores. Jalen Washington to 2nd. Throwing error by shortstop Taylor Snyder.
Xavier Edwards walks. Jalen Washington to 3rd. Allen Cordoba to 2nd.
Luis Campusano singles on a line drive to center fielder Matt Hearn. Jalen Washington scores. Allen Cordoba scores. Xavier Edwards to 3rd.
Gabriel Arias singles on a line drive to center fielder Matt Hearn. Xavier Edwards scores. Luis Campusano to 2nd.
Eguy Rosario strikes out swinging.

oh, i guess there was one on. still

fwiw Lake Elsinore is one of the best MiLB watching experiences i have had

very good burritos

xp: Fuck the mercy rule.

Aquino with a record month

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/27494373/reds-aquino-belts-14th-hr-august-record

In their win, the Nationals became the first National League team since the 1969 Astros to have three pitchers with at least 200 or more strikeouts each. (name the Houston trio; I know two...)

Dierker and Wilson for sure, then I draw a blank. And I should know because of Ball Four.

Checked, and I have zero recollection of the third guy. I don't think he's even mentioned in Ball Four.

I remember Tom Griffin bcz he pitched throughout the '70s.

Verlander/Cole are the first consecutive 14-K games ever. Surprised--thought Ryan/Tanana, Johnson/Schilling, McDowell/Tiant, etc. might have done it.

Verlander (again): that bizarre loss last week was tied for the 15th-toughest ever by Game Score:

http://www.billjamesonline.com/being_a_good_loser/

What a, uh, lively trio of games: historically tough loss, historically great no-hitter, and in between a game where he gets ejected in the 4th and breaks his 10-K streak.

Raisel Iglesias appeared in 59 games this year, mostly as the Reds' closer, and he has 11 losses.

That's not a "coincidence"--that's Twilight Zone-bizarre, if only for a day.

https://www.mlb.com/news/bruce-bochy-career-managerial-record-coincidence

Astros are the first team since the Brooklyn Bridegrooms on Aug. 6-7, 1894 to have a game in which they scored at least 20 runs and a different game in which they allowed at least 20 runs within a three-game span.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) September 11, 2019

mariners have used an MLB-record 65 players this season (and will likely go to at least 66), passing the 2014 rangers' 64

#dipoto

I wonder where Mitch Garver's season stacks up compared to other power-hitting catchers. he has 30 HR, 29 as a catcher. it's probably a bit too obscure to find the fewest AB to 30 HR at the catcher position, but he might be about to blow past it, having appeared in only 83 games.

it looks like the Braves may very well have three players hit 40+ HR (Acuna has 39, Freeman 38, Donaldson 37), which would be only the fourth time in MLB history it's occurred. The other three times: twice by the Rockies ('96 w/Burks, Galarraga, and Castilla & '97 w/Walker, Galarraga, and Castilla), and of course the '73 Braves (Aaron, Evans, Davey Johnson).

seattle's kyle lewis is the second player to homer in each of his first three MLB games

he hit a career-high 11 over 122 games for double-a arkansas this year (which tbf is one of the most pitcher-friendly parks in the minors)

We should start a new thread for Home Run Records Not Broken in 2019. I'll start:

1) No one will hit 74 HR this year.
2) No one will hit 763 HR this year.

After that, I get stuck.

i'm told that 16 teams are on pace to break their single-season homer records

the two homered-in-their-first-three-games guys, kyle lewis and trevor story, both (at different times) played for modesto in the california league and both lived with the same host family

The Diamondbacks had just 1 baserunner tonight, a Nick Ahmed 3B, but won 1-0 vs the Reds.

They're the 1st team in the Modern Era (since 1900) to win a game with just 1 baserunner, in a 9+ inning game.

(Which means the Reds are the 1st team to lose such a game)

h/t @EliasSports

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 15, 2019

At 24 years, 287 days, Pete Alonso is the third-youngest player to hit 50 in a season. Only Prince Fielder (23 years, 139 days) and Willie Mays (24, 137) were younger.

After his two-bagger on Sunday afternoon, Pete Alonso became the first rookie in MLB history to record 30 doubles and 50 home runs.

Nick Castellanos on the cusp of 60 doubles

https://www.mlb.com/news/nicholas-castellanos-on-historic-doubles-pace

Doubles at Comerica (210 PAs): 17
Doubles at Wrigley (119 PAs): 17

last week i was kinda hoping that one of the yankees would, in a three-game series, match castellanos' total of three homers in 49 games at comerica

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EFPEosdW4AAwFr8?format=jpg&name=small

now we're in deep

Austin Hays of the @Orioles is the first MLB rookie to have 5+ RBI, a stolen base and an outfield assist in the same game since RBI became an official stat in 1920.#Birdland

— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) September 24, 2019

50 HRs and a SLG under .600:
Cecil Fielder, 1990
Greg Vaughn, 1998
Andruw Jones, 2005
Pete Alonso, 2019https://t.co/fHrRvZh1Hwhttps://t.co/MsqIeDThFl

— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) September 25, 2019

Eugenio Suarez on the cusp of possibly sharing that distinction

Alonso 52 ties Judge

"When I think of baseball history, I think old-timey guys like Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds,'' Alonso said. "Geez, I mean, to think that as a rookie I hit more homers than everyone except for one guy, it's nuts. It's crazy. I'm not trying to sound any other way. It's just, wow.''

lol

tim anderson's 15 walks are the fewest ever for a batting champion

15???!

lol batting champions

There's a reason they're not called "walking champions"...

*grabs crotch, spits chew*

Roberto Pérez just became one of only 9 catchers to play 100 games with 0 passed balls.

I told him that last week and I don't think he knew, and thank god he made it through the last week without my jinx taking him out.

— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) September 30, 2019

from the Effectively Wild FB group:

If the Rays beat the Astros (107), Yankees (103) & Dodgers (106) that would have to be the most opposing team wins beaten, right? If so, was there even another year with a possible higher total when the playoffs started (WC game not counting)?

Red Sox have the top 2, 2004 with 298 and 2018 with 295.

Any AL team would take the record if they beat the Dodgers in the WS. If the AL WS team beats the Astros at some point, they’re guaranteed to take the record regardless of NL team.

Assuming he plays on Wednesday, Molina will pass Chipper Jones for the National League record for most postseason games with 94.

They're currently tied for 9th most all-time, with all eight players ahead of them being primarily AL players https://t.co/F4M8gP1s10 pic.twitter.com/IZZRFhJv9f

— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) October 8, 2019

"The 6th player to make an error on his birthday in the World Series"

Every single division has won a World Series in the last 6 years. No repeats. Also happened 2001-06.

ok, if the 6 divisions can agree to keep taking turns, and in the same order, we won't have to watch the playoffs any more. and if the teams in each division can agree on taking turns of who wins every year, we don't have to watch baseball at all!

topic A at the winter meetings

rando trivia:

during the 1980s and 90s, there were only two players (in two different seasons) who won the "slash-stat triple crown" (leading the league in BA, OBP, and SLG). who were they, and which years?

larry walker for the latter

yessir

hint: the other one is on the other end of the time period in question

George Brett 1980?

George fucking Brett

four catchers who were with the cardinals are in the hall of fame. who are they?

(note: current hall of famer yadier molina is not one)

nor is darrell porter

nope. and not tim mccarver.

hint: only one of the four got in his for work as a cardinals catcher.

Madison Bumgarner has 19 career HR.

Since 2010, only 3 of SF's 420 draft picks have hit *more* career homers (for any team, combined) than that.

Matt Duffy -- 22 HR (16 w/SF)
Joe Panik -- 38 HR (36 w/SF)
Adam Duvall -- 97 HR (3 w/SF)

(h/t Jason Ratliff of @MLBPipeline)

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) December 16, 2019