Friday Trivia -
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 8:08 AM EDT
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The Indians have two starting pitchers who have been across-the-board excellent for this first (nearly) one-quarter of the season, Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin. Both men have an ERA under 3.00 and are on track to throw over 200 IP for the season. Tomlin has an exceptional strikeout-to-walk ratio and OK-ish strikeout rate, whereas Masterson has good numbers for both. We'd feel a little more comfortable welcoming our new Tomlin overlord if he would K a few more guys, but beyond that it's hard to quibble with anything they're doing. It got me thinking about how often a pitcher could put up a whole season like these two have gotten started on, and what sort of results that usually leads to.
First off, we should respect this level of production. Out of the 4870 pitcher seasons with 200+ IP, only 405 417 met all of the other qualifiers. That is fewer than 4 of these seasons per year, each year since 1901.
Today's trivia questions are all about these 405 417 seasons.
The 'win' stat for pitchers is much denigrated, and here's some evidence to support that position. In those 405 417seasons five times the pitcher finished the year with fewer than 10 wins. Name the year and the hard-luck pitcher.
1. Bob Welch, 1986, LA Dodgers (7-13, 235.2 IP, 106 ERA+)
2. Bob Johnson, 1970, Kansas City (8-13, 214 IP, 121 ERA+)
3. Nolan Ryan, 1987, Houston (8-16, 211.2 IP, 142 ERA+)
4. Kevin Appier, 1997, Kansas City (9-13, 235.2 IP, 137 ERA+)
5. Greg Swindell, 1991, Cleveland (9-16, 238 IP, 120 ERA+)
Those 405 417 seasons were accomplished by a lot fewer than 405 pitchers. Three different pitchers each had 10 such seasons (correction - one had 11, two had 10). The remainder of the top-ten in # of such seasons in a career all had at least 7 such seasons. Name the top ten:
1. Tom Seaver - 11
2. Roger Clemens - 10
3. Greg Maddux - 10
4. Bert Blyleven - 9
5. Randy Johnson - 9
6. Jim Bunning - 7
7. Don Drysdale - 7
8. Fergie Jenkins - 7
9. Juan Marichal - 7
10. Mike Mussina - 7
11. Gaylord Perry - 7
12. Don Sutton - 7
Finally, who are the pitchers to accomplish this feat for the Cleveland Indians (12 seasons by 8 different pitchers) and their opponent tonight, the Seattle Mariners (8 seasons by 4 different pitchers)?
Cleveland: Sonny Siebert (1966), Luis Tiant (1967, 1968), Sam McDowell (1968, 1969), Gaylord Perry (1972), Greg Swindell (1988, 1991), Charles Nagy (1992, 1996), CC Sabathia (2007), Cliff Lee (2008)
Seattle: Floyd Bannister (1982), Erik Hanson (1990, 1993), Randy Johnson (1993, 1995, 1997), Felix Hernandez (2009, 2010)
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Yes to CC, and to Cliff above. Those are the only two Indians since 2000.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 9:19 AM EDT up reply actions
One guy who immediately came to mind was Joel Horlen (sp) in the 60s. He always seemed to have a low ERA but sub-500 record. Another thought is Kevin Millwood’s season with the tribe (2005?).
Millwood is a great guess, but he just misses on the innings pitched – only 192. He makes it with the K/9 (6.8), K/BB (2.8), ERA (2.86) and had only 9 wins.
I never heard of Joe Horlen, but he was damn good for a while. Always just a bit under 6 k/9 though.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 9:25 AM EDT up reply actions
Was gonna guess with Big Train Walter Johnson for the 7+ year career seasons but it doesn’t look like he made it. And Koufax only got 6 seasons from what I see.
But I found one finally … Drysdale.
Drysdale with 7 is one of them. Dodger Stadium in the 60’s was a good place to pitch.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 10:32 AM EDT up reply actions
I think Tom Seaver may be one of the top 10, but I count 11 seasons where he met all 4 criteria (unless I’m misunderstanding something): 1968-1978
No, that’s right. The 1977 trade screwed something up in my spreadsheet, I missed that one. It’s 11.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 11:09 AM EDT up reply actions
Greg Swindell is an answer to both the first question (9 wins, 1991) and the last one (because he was an Indian).
For the middle question: Seaver, Maddux, Clemens.
Yes, 1993, 1995, and 1997 for Johnson, 2009 and 2010 for Hernandez
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 11:25 AM EDT up reply actions
Yes, although 1983 was with the White Sox.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions
Seasons where guys pitched for 2+ clubs were messed up; with the correction there are actually 417 seasons that qualify from 181 different pitchers. The top ten remains the same except for Seaver having 11 seasons as noted above, and there are actually two more guys with 7 (total guys with 7+ is 12, not 10)
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 11:27 AM EDT reply actions
Yes. Nagy doesn’t get as much respect as he deserves.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 12:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Wow, I didn’t think anybody would get that one. Looks like Bob might have had a career derailed by injury.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 12:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Randy Johnson was mentioned above as a Mariner. He also makes the top 12 list with 9 seasons (1993, 1995, 1997-2002, 2004). Bert Blyleven also had 9 (1971-1978, 1985).
Yes to both. Blyleven was one of two guys to be traded in the midst of one of these seasons not once, but twice. It only happened to Johnson once.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Yes, led the league in ERA, ERA+, and strikeouts. No Cy.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 12:38 PM EDT up reply actions
Bob Welch is correct. Of the five who failed to reach 10 wins, Bob may have the least to complain about. Fate made it up to him a few years later.
1986: 33 G, 33 GS, 7 CG, 235.2 IP, 14 HRA, 3.28 ERA, 106 ERA+, 7.0 K/9, 3.33 K/BB
1990: 35 G, 35 GS, 2 CG, 238.0 IP, 26 HRA, 2.95 ERA, 126 ERA+, 4.8 K/9, 1.65 K/BB
1990 looks a little better, but not a lot.
1986: 7 wins, 13 losses
1990: 27 wins, 6 losses
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 12:50 PM EDT up reply actions
I should know this — I just spent the better part of Wednesday looking these things up. But I’m blanking.
Bret Saberhagen?
Cone had 3 seasons meeting the criteria.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Walter Johnson?
"I’ll happily embrace elevated hopes if that is the price to pay." - APV
On Twitter at @grantgw - sports and Cleveland and Columbus stuff
Nevermind.
"I’ll happily embrace elevated hopes if that is the price to pay." - APV
On Twitter at @grantgw - sports and Cleveland and Columbus stuff
by woodsmeister on May 13, 2011 12:56 PM EDT up reply actions
Pedro Martinez
"I’ll happily embrace elevated hopes if that is the price to pay." - APV
On Twitter at @grantgw - sports and Cleveland and Columbus stuff
Close, but only 5 for Pedro. One less than Mickey Lolich, for example. Pedro only had 7 seasons of 200+ IP, and two of them had an ERA>3.50. His 7-year dominant stretch ended with seasons of 116, 199, and 186 innings.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 1:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Eckersley missed by .2 inning for Cleveland in 1976, pitching 199.1 innings. He just missed the ERA goal by putting up a 3.53. in 1977.
"I’ll happily embrace elevated hopes if that is the price to pay." - APV
On Twitter at @grantgw - sports and Cleveland and Columbus stuff
Sonny Siebert, 1966: 241IP, 2.80 ERA, 6.1 K/9, 2.63 K/BB
"I’ll happily embrace elevated hopes if that is the price to pay." - APV
On Twitter at @grantgw - sports and Cleveland and Columbus stuff
Right. Another underrated guy. Didn’t debut until he was 27. He wasn’t very good in the minors. Maybe it was injuries, or maybe he just figured something out a little later than most.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Right. There are three more guys for that question. Plus, one Mariners pitcher hasn’t been found yet.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 1:33 PM EDT reply actions
Mike Mussina had 7 seasons if you count a 3.5 ERA, but you specified under 3.5 so I think he just misses.
It’s really 3.497, so we’re counting it. Mussina is correct.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions
That’s all.
Post-script: The average season out of those 417 produced a line of
17.6 wins, 10.0 losses, 250 IP, 211 hits, 63 BB, 213 SO, and a 2.75 ERA.
The only pitcher to do it between 1933 (Dizzy Dean) and 1957 (Connie Johnson?! and Jim Bunning) was Hal Newhouser in 1946. The feat has been accomplished at least once every year since 1959 except in the strike year of 1981. The only guy to do it in the strike year of 1994 was Greg Maddux.
Walter Johnson (3), Dazzy Vance (5) and Rube Waddell (6) are the only guys from before WWII that did it more than twice.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 1:58 PM EDT reply actions
Appropriately, the saddest tie ever:
Jack Nabors went 1-20 in 1917 for the Philadelphia Athletics. 212.2 innings, an 82 ERA+. He was 1-25 for his career.
John Cassidy went 1-21 in 1875 for the Brooklyn Atlantics of the National Association. 213.2 innings, 69 ERA+.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions
And the most innings without a win? Terry Felton, 1982 Minnesota Twins. 0-13 in 117.1 innings and an 85 ERA+. He was 0-16 for his career.
by InfiniteMonkeyTypists on May 13, 2011 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions
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