Consecutive Games Without a Run Scored

Since I posted on Monday about players scoring runs in consecutive games, I though it'd be interesting to look at the opposite record. To count as a game played, I've required players to have at least one plate appearance in the game. I've also taken out pitchers because most of them are horrible with a bat. I guess I'm not all that interested in seeing a list with a bunch of pitchers on it. With pitchers taken away, players often used as pinch hitters have an advantage since it only takes one plate appearance to further the streak.

It turns out that twelve players have come up to bat in 50+ straight games without managing to score. They were all primarily pinch hitters during their streaks, though some guys started a few games here and there.

Most Consecutive Games Without a Run Scored, 1956-2008
(minimum 1 PA in each game)

• Smoky Burgess, 148 games, 6/30/1965 to 6/23/1967
  .283/.373/.346 in 127 AB
  
  
• Razor Shines, 64 games, 9/12/1983 to 5/14/1987
  .188/.241/.200 in 80 AB
  
  
• Jose Morales, 61 games, 8/18/1976 to 7/3/1977
  .194/.236/.239 in 67 AB
  
  
• Bob Hale, 60 games, 8/27/1960 to 8/24/1961
  .204/.233/.241 in 54 AB
  
  
• Rusty Staub, 60 games, 9/17/1983 to 7/31/1984
  .264/.317/.340 in 53 AB
  
  
• Boog Powell, 56 games, 9/21/1976 to 8/24/1977
  .219/.359/.250 in 64 AB
  
  
• Wally Moon, 55 games, 6/25/1964 to 5/31/1965
  .192/.267/.205 in 78 AB
  
  
• Ron Northey, 52 games, 9/11/1956 to 7/23/1957
  .256/.423/.282 in 39 AB
  
  
• Scott Livingstone, 52 games, 5/8/1998 to 9/26/1998
  .202/.227/.250 in 84 AB
  
  
• Bill Heath, 51 games, 9/30/1966 to 8/15/1969
  .139/.284/.167 in 72 AB
  
  
• Terry Puhl, 51 games, 4/25/1987 to 8/15/1987
  .186/.240/.200 in 70 AB
  
  
• Bob Molinaro, 50 games, 6/11/1982 to 4/5/1983
  .213/.260/.234 in 47 AB

It should be noted that when you take out his games on the mound, pitcher Don Newcombe appeared in 63 consecutive games from 1957 to 1960 as a pinch hitter without scoring a run. When you include his mound appearances, his streak is broken up into insignificant chunks.

The most recent streak on that list is Scott Livingstone's. Since the end of that streak, Orlando Palmeiro's 47 games in 2006 is the longest non-scoring streak. Mark Sweeney had the longest scoring drought in 2008 when he hit .089/.125/.111 in 45 AB over forty games between May 3 and July 27.

But who really cares about pinch hitters not scoring? I think it's more impressive for starters to be stranded on the bases for a long period of time. To try and find the longest streaks of starters not scoring, I've tweaked the criteria. Instead of needing only one plate appearance in a game to be counted for the streak, now players need at least two. Since most defensive replacements and pinch hitters don't come into the game early enough to bat twice, this should narrow the list down to guys who started a majority of games during their streaks. Note: much like how coming up to bat and walking doesn't end hitting streaks, coming in as a pinch hitter and batting only once (regardless of outcome) doesn't end this streak. It's not perfect, but it works for me.

It turns out twelve players (one twice!) had 30 straight games of 2+ plate appearances without scoring. This should be pretty apparent, but they all hit extremely poorly while they weren't coming around to touch home plate.

Most Consecutive Games Without a Run Scored, 1956-2008
(minimum 2 PA in each game)

• Mario Guerrero, 42 games, 8/11/1978 to 4/30/1979
  .227/.250/.253 in 150 AB
  
  
• Tommy Helms, 36 games, 5/5/1970 to 6/21/1970
  .207/.221/.237 in 135 AB
  
  
• Doug Camilli, 34 games, 5/16/1964 to 8/28/1964
  .176/.225/.206 in 102 AB
  
  
• Norm Sherry, 33 games, 5/25/1963 to 9/18/1963
  .151/.221/.163 in 86 AB
  
  
• Dan Graham, 33 games, 5/10/1981 to 10/3/1981
  .151/.200/.172 in 93 AB
  
  
• Leo Cardenas, 32 games, 7/1/1963 to 8/8/1963
  .093/.157/.121 in 107 AB
  
  
• Al Pedrique, 32 games, 5/31/1988 to 6/18/1989
  .194/.240/.224 in 98 AB
  
  
• Enzo Hernandez, 31 games, 5/22/1972 to 6/28/1972
  .211/.277/.237 in 76 AB
  
  
• Bob Barton, 31 games, 9/19/1971 to 5/29/1972
  .228/.262/.238 in 101 AB
  
  
• Ed Brinkman, 31 games, 8/12/1968 to 9/15/1968
  .220/.289/.244 in 82 AB
  
  
• Bob Barton, 30 games, 7/24/1968 to 7/19/1969
  .227/.296/.227 in 88 AB
  
  
• Dave Skaggs, 30 games, 5/27/1979 to 8/31/1979
  .212/.264/.224 in 85 AB
  
  
• Bruce Benedict, 30 games, 7/28/1986 to 4/18/1987
  .151/.223/.172 in 93 AB
  

I guess Bob Barton wasn't paid for his run-scoring ability. No one on the list had an OPS over .533 in their small samples, but Leo Cardenas was at the bottom of the pack with a horrible .278 OPS. The most recent streak on the list belonged to Al Pedrique, almost twenty years ago. In the time since, the longest streak was 27 games, done first by Brent Mayne in 1995 and equaled by Mark Parent in 1997-1998. The longest scoring drought by a regular player in 2008 was achieved by Brewers catcher Jason Kendall. Between May 17 and June 10, a span of 20 games, he hit .179/.243/.239 in 67 AB without coming around to score.