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Crazy Baseball Facts and #s


chirorob

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Arguably one of the most dominant pitchers over a 3-year period, a 6-2 lefty hailing from Baltimore, put up the following numbers from 1915-1917, with Boston:

 

1915 (20 years old):  18-8, 2.44 ERA, 112 K's, 85 BB's, 1,15 WHIP, 16 complete games, 1 Shutout, 28 starts, 217.2 IP

1916:  23-12, 1.75 ERA (1st in the AL that season), 170 K's, 118 BB's, 23 complete games, 9 shutouts (1st in AL), 40 starts (1st in AL), 323.2 IP

1917:  24-13, 2.01 ERA, 128 K's, 108 BB's, 35 complete games (1st in AL), 6 shutouts, 38 starts, 326.1 IP

 

The name of that "pitcher"?

George Herman "Babe" Ruth.

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5 minutes ago, RutgersJetFan said:

When Bobby Thompson hit his home run at the Polo Grounds, Willie Mays was on deck.

1.  Explains why he got such a good pitch to hit.

2.  It's been long argued the Giants were heavily stealing signs that year, even more than the normal sign-stealing going on at the time.  It's very possible Thomson knew what pitch was coming. 

3.  Profit.

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The 1961 National League All-Star Team had the following starting outfield:

LF - Orlando Cepeda

CF - Willie Mays

RF - Roberto Clemente

The reserve OF for the NL that year?  Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, and Frank Robinson.  6 Hall of Famers in the NL's OF alone that year.

Also in that All-Star game:  Mickey Mantle, Ernie Banks, Harmon Killebrew, Eddie Mathews, Luis Aparicio, Al Kaline, Brooks Robinson, Yogi Berra, Warren Spahn, Sandy Koufax, Whitey Ford, Don Drysdale, Hoyt Wilhelm, and Nellie Fox.  All of them Hall of Famers (20 total).

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On this day in 1929, 8/11/29, Babe Ruth became the first major league baseball player to hit his 500th career HR.  At the time, he was also the only player to hit 400 HRs.  And the only player to hit 300 HRs.  The only other player to have hit more than 250 was Rogers Hornsby who hit his 263rd on the same day.

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2 hours ago, Jetsfan80 said:

1.  Explains why he got such a good pitch to hit.

2.  It's been long argued the Giants were heavily stealing signs that year, even more than the normal sign-stealing going on at the time.  It's very possible Thomson knew what pitch was coming. 

3.  Profit.

I think Willie was a rookie, and he has stated how relieved he was not to have had to hit.

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Yesterday, Prince Fielder was forced to retire from the game due to a neck injury.  He finished his major league career with 319 home runs.

In 1998, his father, Cecil Fielder ended his major league career.  Cecil also finished his career with 319 home runs.

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When the Yankees had the 2 guys go back to back in their first major league at bat, it reminded me of this story.

In his very first at bat as a 28-year-old rookie pitcher, Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm hit a home run.  His career lasted for 21 more years and 493 plate appearances, but he never hit another home run.

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It's highly unlikely that Babe Ruth actually called his shot in the 1932 World Series.  A still image (below) shows he was pointing at Cubs pitcher Charlie Root (whose back was turned at the time), while the famous painting shows him using two fingers, not one.  Had Ruth actually been calling his shot, the next pitch by Root would likely have ended up heading for Ruth's ear.

The prevailing thoughts, based on eyewitness reports, is that one of the following was true:

1) Ruth was just mad about Root's use of a "quick pitch", and was telling Root not to do that, yelling profanities in the process.

2) Ruth may have also said something along the lines of "Okay, that's 2 strikes, but that's all you're going to get!"  Hence why he was pointing 2 fingers at Root.

In either case, he was not pointing towards center field or the Wrigley scoreboard, as was reported at the time.  Ruth went along with it at the time, because who doesn't like a good story?  Certainly the Babe wasn't going to be the one to dispel it.  But it never happened.  The Home Run did, however, and immediately entered the pantheon of baseball lore.

 

Ruth1932-1.jpg

 

08c94b4120e668b64f3d29de10c240e5.jpeg

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On ‎8‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 1:09 PM, chirorob said:

At the age of 23, Ted Williams finished 2nd in the MVP voting.   He then took off for 3 full years, came back and in his first season back, won the MVP.

Plus, he missed part of two other seasons (played 43 games) due to the Korean War.  He had a great career, but he can be looked as a "what might have been" with 4+ more season of numbers.  He would likely have been Top 10 (maybe Top 5) in hits and HRs and probably the all-time leader in RBIs.

In the year Joe D hit in 56 straight, Ted Williams' average for the whole season was the same as Joe D's during the streak (.406).  And Joe D won the MVP.

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On ‎8‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 2:09 PM, chirorob said:

At the age of 23, Ted Williams finished 2nd in the MVP voting.   He then took off for 3 full years, came back and in his first season back, won the MVP.

Mays was Rookie of Year as a 20 year old and then lost part of 2nd season and all of 3rd. Came back at age 23 and won the next two MVP's.

K'd 100x once in his career at age 40.

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22 hours ago, Blackout said:

it saddens me that guys like Josh Gibson weren't given a shot at challenging these records

That's the sad part.  The negro leagues didn't even really keep accurate stats.  He may have hit 800 home runs, his power was said to be on par with Ruth, we just don't know.

How many games would Satchel Paige have won?   He was an effective reliever into his 40s, and he pitched an unbelievable number of innings.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Barry Bonds from 2001-2004, on average:

.349/.559/.809

w/ 52 HRs and 189 walks. He walked away with 4 straight MVPs.

In his final season before he was totally, definitely, not illegally colluded out of playing:

.276/.480/.565 with 28 HRs

This is all after he won 3 MVPs during the 90s.

GOAT

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Was watching the Cubs v Giants this afternoon and they showed Dave Kingman in the stands at Wrigley.  They mentioned on the telecast that he was the first (and possibly only) player to play for a team in each Division in the same season.  

In 1977, when there were 4 Divisions, Kingman played for the Mets, Padres, Angels and the Yankees.

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16 minutes ago, Scott Dierking said:

Christian Yelich has popped up less than ten times in his career. That is amazing

I know we tend to root against him as he's in our division but the kid is a star. It's a shame that the Marlins can never keep all three of their outfielders healthy at the same time.

Also, I read an article (forget where) the other day that was making a pretty solid case for Joey Votto being perhaps the best hitter ever. Opinion of the article was based on the stance that if the objective is to not make an out while batting, he is the best hands down.  His talent gets lost somewhat in Cincinnati and he also gets some negative reps due to the fact that he won't chase balls out of the strike zone but it was interesting to read the numbers he puts up. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On September 5, 2016 at 6:29 PM, GimmeShelter said:

I know we tend to root against him as he's in our division but the kid is a star. It's a shame that the Marlins can never keep all three of their outfielders healthy at the same time.

Also, I read an article (forget where) the other day that was making a pretty solid case for Joey Votto being perhaps the best hitter ever. Opinion of the article was based on the stance that if the objective is to not make an out while batting, he is the best hands down.  His talent gets lost somewhat in Cincinnati and he also gets some negative reps due to the fact that he won't chase balls out of the strike zone but it was interesting to read the numbers he puts up. 

Yeah no, the article wasn't even kinda sorta making that case:

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/why-joey-votto-is-the-most-underappreciated-great-hitter-of-his-era/

That said, Joey Votto is an awesome and legitimately great hitter that does seem to fly under the radar even as he keeps churning out great season after great season.

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2 hours ago, SenorGato said:

Yeah no, the article wasn't even kinda sorta making that case:

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/why-joey-votto-is-the-most-underappreciated-great-hitter-of-his-era/

That said, Joey Votto is an awesome and legitimately great hitter that does seem to fly under the radar even as he keeps churning out great season after great season.

Article ends with the writer actually writing that Votto is on a path to becoming one of the best hitters baseball has ever seen. Also ranks him 4th best since the mound was lowered per the metrics he used to measure hitters.......so yeah, that said, yes the article was kinda sort of making that case.  

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On September 5, 2016 at 6:29 PM, GimmeShelter said:

I know we tend to root against him as he's in our division but the kid is a star. It's a shame that the Marlins can never keep all three of their outfielders healthy at the same time.

Also, I read an article (forget where) the other day that was making a pretty solid case for Joey Votto being perhaps the best hitter ever. Opinion of the article was based on the stance that if the objective is to not make an out while batting, he is the best hands down.  His talent gets lost somewhat in Cincinnati and he also gets some negative reps due to the fact that he won't chase balls out of the strike zone but it was interesting to read the numbers he puts up. 

 

12 minutes ago, GimmeShelter said:

Article ends with the writer actually writing that Votto is on a path to becoming one of the best hitters baseball has ever seen. Also ranks him 4th best since the mound was lowered per the metrics he used to measure hitters.......so yeah, that said, yes the article was kinda sort of making that case.  

So no, not kinda sorta making that case. It's been a few hours but there's nothing about hands down being the best at not making outs either.

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  • 7 months later...

Over the past 6 seasons leading into 2017, Clayton Kershaw racked up 1,421 strikeouts and allowed only 253 walks (5.6 : 1 ratio).  So far this season he has 39 K's and just 3 walks allowed.  He pitches again tonight against the Giants.

During his dominant run from 1961-1966 (6 years), Sandy Koufax had 1,713 strikeouts and allowed only 412 walks (4.2 : 1 ratio). 

 

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2 hours ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Over the past 6 seasons leading into 2017, Clayton Kershaw racked up 1,421 strikeouts and allowed only 253 walks (5.6 : 1 ratio).  So far this season he has 39 K's and just 3 walks allowed.  He pitches again tonight against the Giants.

During his dominant run from 1961-1966 (6 years), Sandy Koufax had 1,713 strikeouts and allowed only 412 walks (4.2 : 1 ratio).

Koufax's last 4 years in baseball, he threw 1192 innings.

(But yeah, Kershaw is insanely good right now)

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1 minute ago, chirorob said:

Koufax's last 4 years in baseball, he threw 1192 innings.

(But yeah, Kershaw is insanely good right now)

 

Yeah.  Koufax was better, for sure.  Just haven't seen a strikeout pitcher with the kind of control Kershaw has in my lifetime.  Pedro Martinez would be the closest thing to Kershaw in the last 25 years. 

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1 minute ago, Jetsfan80 said:

 

Yeah.  Koufax was better, for sure.  Just haven't seen a strikeout pitcher with the kind of control Kershaw has in my lifetime.  Pedro Martinez would be the closest thing to Kershaw in the last 25 years. 

Pedro's 99-2002 season, 4 total

999 Strikeouts.   134 Walks.  7.4:1

I'm not trying to argue.   Kershaw >>>> Everyone else right now. 

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17 minutes ago, chirorob said:

Red Sox had a guy go 6 for 6 the other day, he became the youngest player in franchise history to do that.   The previous youngest?   Babe Ruth

Anthony Rendon of the Nats did it on 4/30. Drove in ten runs to boot. Who and when did it for the Sox?

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5 minutes ago, JetFaninMI said:

Anthony Rendon of the Nats did it on 4/30. Drove in ten runs to boot. Who and when did it for the Sox?

Sorry, Andrew Benintendi went 5 for 5 against the Orioles on April 23rd, becoming the youngest Red Sox player ever to do it.   The previous youngest was Babe Ruth.  Not 6 for 6, I got the 2 games mixed up in my head.

I just thought it was cool the previous guy was Babe Ruth.

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So, I was thinking about guys with good strikeout to walk ratios.  Again, not taking away from Kershaw, best in the game right now.

Greg Maddux also had a run with insane numbers.  Now, he didn't get the strikeouts the others did, but he never walked people.  Over 4 years he struck out 686, which is good, but nothing amazing.   But he only walked 125 in 889 innings.

 

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