Update: Last Position Players to Pitch by Team

Previous installments can be found here: April 2008, May 2009.

With September call-ups a couple days away, it is likely the days of position players pitching are over for another season. Here is the full list of 2009 position player pitchers:

Ross Gload (FLA) - May 22
Nick Green (BOS) - August 27
Paul Janish (CIN) - May 6 & July 6
Mark Loretta (LAD) - July 28
Cody Ross (FLA) - April 26
Nick Swisher (NYY) - April 13
Jonathan Van Every (BOS) - April 30
Josh Wilson (ARI & SDP) - May 11 & June 7

Here's the updated list by team:

Last Position Player to Pitch by Team
(through 8/30/2009)

Team	Name	Date
Arizona Diamondbacks	Josh Wilson	5-11-2009
Atlanta Braves	John Russell	6-25-1989
Baltimore Orioles	Manny Alexander	4-19-1996
Boston Red Sox	Nick Green	8-27-2009
Chicago Cubs	Gary Gaetti	7-3-1999
Chicago White Sox	Dave Martinez	8-4-1995
Cincinnati Reds	Paul Janish	7-6-2009
Cleveland Indians	Tim Laker	4-20-2004
Colorado Rockies	Todd Zeile	9-14-2002
Detroit Tigers	Shane Halter	10-1-2000
Florida Marlins	Ross Gload	5-22-2009
Houston Astros	Tim Bogar	6-24-2000
Kansas City Royals	Tony Pena	6-21-2008
Los Angeles Angels	Chili Davis	6-17-1993
Los Angeles Dodgers	Mark Loretta	7-28-2009
Milwaukee Brewers	Trent Durrington	4-17-2004
Minnesota Twins	John Moses	7-31-1990
New York Mets	Todd Zeile	7-26-2004
New York Yankees	Nick Swisher	4-13-2009
Oakland Athletics	Frank Menechino	7-18-2000
Philadelphia Phillies	Tomas Perez	5-13-2002
Pittsburgh Pirates	Abraham Nunez	5-30-2004
San Diego Padres	Josh Wilson	6-7-2009
Seattle Mariners	Jamie Burke	7-6-2008
San Francisco Giants	Greg Litton	7-4-1991
St. Louis Cardinals	Aaron Miles	6-13-2008
Tampa Bay Rays	Josh Wilson	6-8-2007
Texas Rangers	Scott Sheldon	9-6-2000
Toronto Blue Jays	Frank Menechino	8-28-2004
Washington Nationals	Junior Noboa	7-20-1990*

* - Fellow position player Dave Martinez pitched right before Noboa in the same game.

Games Finished & Saves

As most baseball fans know, Trevor Hoffman is the all-time saves leader with 578 over the length of his career. His 578th save came last night against the Los Angeles Dodgers after a rocky ninth inning. While each save obviously sees him extend his own saves record, last night he tied another career mark. It was his 802nd career game finished, tying him with former saves leader Lee Smith.

Games finished (GF) is, really, a useless counting stat. All it tells you is that such-and-such pitcher was the last reliever to appear in a game for his team. That's not that impressive, right? After all, a guy who mops up blowouts can rack up games finished just as easily as a closer. Then again, chances are that guy mopping up blowouts probably won't stay in the league very long. So, one game finished isn't very impressive, but you have to be pretty darn good to get up to 500-600-700 GF.

With that in mind, here are the sixteen pitchers with over 600 games finished through August 3:

• Lee Smith, 802
  
• Trevor Hoffman, 802
• John Franco, 774
• Mariano Rivera, 753
• Rollie Fingers, 709
• Jeff Reardon, 695
• Rich Gossage, 681
• Roberto Hernandez, 667
• Hoyt Wilhelm, 651
• Doug Jones, 640
• Kent Tekulve, 638
• Billy Wagner, 637
• Sparky Lyle, 634
• Jose Mesa, 633
• Todd Jones, 619
• Gene Garber, 609

Three pitchers on that list are still active. Behind them, Troy Percival sits in 27th place with 546 and Jason Isringhausen is 37th with 467. The next healthy player is Francisco Cordero, 55th with 407. The top 1000 can be found here.

Many closers in need of work are used in the ninth inning even when it's not a save situation, so they end up with more games finished than saves. For players who became closers early in their career and never relinquished the role, a large percentage of their relief appearances result in games finished. Here are the top all-time pitchers in terms of game finished per relief appearance (min. 200 GF):

1. Kazuhiro Sasaki, 201 of 228, 88.2%
2. John Wetteland, 523 of 601, 87.0%
3. Bobby Jenks, 228 of 254, 86.8%
   
4. Rick Aguilera, 643 of 732, 86.6%
5. Bryan Harvey, 278 of 322, 86.3%
6. Robb Nen, 548 of 639, 85.8%
7. Billy Koch, 325 of 379, 85.8%
8. Tom Henke, 548 of 642, 85.4%
9. Jonathan Papelbon, 208 of 244, 85.2%
   
10. Mariano Rivera, 753 of 885, 85.1%

Hoffman has finished 802 of his 963 appearances, good for 83.3%.

Update: Last Position Players to Pitch by Team

UPDATE: New post through August 30, 2009 here.

Since plenty of people have stumbled across my April 2008 post about the last position players to pitch for each team, I figured it was high time for an update. So far in 2009, four position players have taken the mound for their teams: Paul Janish, Cody Ross, Nick Swisher, and Jonathan Van Every. Last year Jamie Burke, Aaron Miles, and shortstop Tony Pena pitched. Burke even picked up a loss.

Here's the updated list:

Last Position Player to Pitch by Team

Team	Name	Date
Arizona Diamondbacks	Jeff Cirillo	8-20-2007
Atlanta Braves	John Russell	6-25-1989
Baltimore Orioles	Manny Alexander	4-19-1996
Boston Red Sox	Jonathan Van Every	4-30-2009
Chicago Cubs	Gary Gaetti	7-3-1999
Chicago White Sox	Dave Martinez	8-4-1995
Cincinnati Reds	Paul Janish	5-6-2009
Cleveland Indians	Tim Laker	4-20-2004
Colorado Rockies	Todd Zeile	9-14-2002
Detroit Tigers	Shane Halter	10-1-2000
Florida Marlins	Cody Ross	4-26-2009
Houston Astros	Tim Bogar	6-24-2000
Kansas City Royals	Tony Pena	6-21-2008
Los Angeles Angels	Chili Davis	6-17-1993
Los Angeles Dodgers	Robin Ventura	6-25-2004
Milwaukee Brewers	Trent Durrington	4-17-2004
Minnesota Twins	John Moses	7-31-1990
New York Mets	Todd Zeile	7-26-2004
New York Yankees	Nick Swisher	4-13-2009
Oakland Athletics	Frank Menechino	7-18-2000
Philadelphia Phillies	Tomas Perez	5-13-2002
Pittsburgh Pirates	Abraham Nunez	5-30-2004
San Diego Padres	Sean Burroughs	9-20-2005
Seattle Mariners	Jamie Burke	7-6-2008
San Francisco Giants	Greg Litton	7-4-1991
St. Louis Cardinals	Aaron Miles	6-13-2008
Tampa Bay Rays	Josh Wilson	6-8-2007
Texas Rangers	Scott Sheldon	9-6-2000
Toronto Blue Jays	Frank Menechino	8-28-2004
Washington Nationals	Junior Noboa	7-20-1990*

* - Fellow position player Dave Martinez pitched right before Noboa in the same game.

Update: Most Games Pitched With Zero Plate Appearances

Back in the day I looked at pitchers who have made the most appearances without ever batting. With guys like Brian Shouse and Jamie Walker still LOOGY'ing it up in the AL East, I thought it'd be interesting to take another look at the leaderboard.

Most Career Games Pitched, Zero Career Plate Appearances

1. Buddy Groom, 786
2. Bob Stanley, 637
3. Mike Fetters, 620
4. Tippy Martinez, 548
5. Chad Bradford, 541*
6. Mike Flanagan, 529
7. Jamie Walker, 523*
8. Steve Farr, 509
9. Mark Clear, 481
   
10. Edwin Nunez, 427
11. Brian Shouse, 422*
12. Francisco Rodriguez, 418*
13. Mark Gubicza, 384
14. Kirk McCaskill, 381
15. Ron Guidry, 380
16. Mark Williamson, 365
17. Sammy Stewart, 359
18. Scott McGregor, 357
19. Mike Boddicker, 347
20. Scott Bailes, 343
21. Mike Witt, 341
22. Bryan Harvey, 322
23. J.J. Putz, 321*
    
24. Billy Taylor, 317
25. Doug Corbett, 313
26. Dennis Leonard, 313
27. Richard Dotson, 312
28. Chris Bosio, 310
29. Bill Simas, 308
30. Mike Venafro, 307
31. Bill Castro, 303

*active player - stats through 5/3/2009

Obviously the guys that were on the list last time have climbed further up the ladder. Walker became only the eighth pitcher to appear in 500 games without batting last June and since Bradford is currently on the disabled list, he should take over as the active leader pretty soon. Speaking of the submariner, he's only 96 appearances away from setting the record for a righthander, but Francisco Rodriguez might end up seizing the top spot shortly after Bradford gets there.

J.J. Putz is the only new addition to the list. As I mentioned last time, Jason Frasor is getting near to 300 games without batting. He currently sits at 291 and, apropos of nothing, is 4-0 in ten appearances this year. Orioles closer George Sherrill has now appeared in 263 games without batting. The other active players above 200 games:

• Mike MacDougal (262)
• Huston Street (259)
  
• Jesse Crain (256)
• Bobby Jenks (231)
• Jonathan Papelbon (212)
  

Most Games Started, Zero Plate Appearances

With interleague play firmly a part of the MLB schedule, it's nearly impossible for a starting pitcher to go more than a season or two without batting at least once. For the first twenty-five years after the DH rule was introduced, however, it was entirely possible for a starter to spend his entire career in the American League and never bat. Let's look at the pitchers who started the most games without ever stepping to the plate.

Most Career Games Started, Zero Plate Appearances

1. Mike Flanagan, 401
2. Mark Gubicza, 329
3. Ron Guidry, 323*
4. Scott McGregor, 309
5. Mike Boddicker, 309*
6. Dennis Leonard, 302
7. Mike Witt, 299
8. Richard Dotson, 295*
9. Jack McDowell, 275
10. Moose Haas, 252
11. Chris Bosio, 246
12. Kirk McCaskill, 242
13. Bill Wegman, 216*
14. Glenn Abbott, 206
15. Teddy Higuera, 205
16. Mike Smithson, 204
17. Melido Perez, 201
18. Jim Beattie, 182
19. Ed Figueroa, 179
20. Steve McCatty, 161
    
21. Britt Burns, 161
    
22. Luis Leal, 151
    
23. Ken Schrom, 137
24. Dave Rozema, 132
25. Bob Milacki, 125
26. Roger Pavlik, 125
    

* - appeared as pinch runner

A footnote: Teddy Higuera batted once in the 1986 All-Star Game, striking out.

Update: Commenter NaOH notes that Flanagan, Guidry, McGregor, and Boddicker batted during the playoffs, so they didn't really go their entire career without batting.

Completing Every Start

Have you ever seen something online, decided to pursue more information on the topic, and realize an hour later that you've wandered into topics far from the original? I had such an experience last night and it resulted in my finding the BR Bullpen page of turn-of-the-century hurler Kid Nichols. Nichols is deservedly a Hall of Famer and I was struck by this quote on the page:

"(He) took pride in two things - his election to (the Hall of Fame), and the fact he was never removed from a game for a relief hurler." - from the New York Times obituary of Kid Nichols

If you look at his career stats, you can see he started 561 games and completed 531 of them. That means he went the distance in nearly 95% of his starts. That's a stunning number, even for those days. Among pitchers who started at least 400 games (~10 seasons), only Will White, Charley Radbourn, Jim McCormick, and Mickey Welch completed a higher percentage of their starts.

You might be saying that it's all well and good Nichols was a durable pitcher, but the quote is wrong. He had thirty starts that he didn't finish, so obviously relievers were used. I wonder how many of those thirty starts were ended by pinch hitters sent up to bat for him (he was no great shakes with the bat). You could argue that situation isn't being removed for a relief pitcher. Also, if he only came out of games between innings, he was never relieved while on the mound. Either way, I'm willing to give a guy who completed 95% of his starts the benefit of the doubt.

That quote also made me wonder about pitchers who did complete every single game they started. It turns out twenty pitchers, all from 1901 or before, started ten or more games in their career and completed every one.

Most Career Games Started, All Complete Games

1. Bill Stemmeyer, 59
2. Fleury Sullivan, 51
3. Sam Kimber, 42
4. Frank Hankinson, 28
5. Charlie Knepper, 26
6. Doug Crothers, 21
   
7. John Shaffer, 21
8. Ed Dugan, 20
9. John Henry, 18
10. Will Sawyer, 15
11. Ed Mars, 14
12. Peek-A-Boo Veach, 13
13. Frank Brill, 12
14. John Connor, 12
15. John Hofford, 12
16. Frank Hoffman, 12
17. Jack Bracken, 12
18. Buck Becannon, 11
19. Jim Egan, 10
20. Ed Trumbull, 10

Most Games Pitched With Zero Plate Appearances

It's always strange to me to see a relief pitcher bat in a major league game. That's not to say it doesn't happen: a quick glance at teams in the 2007 NL Central reveals the Cubs sent seven relievers to the plate at least once and every other team did it at least a couple times. My favorite recent reliever batting episode took place in 2005, involving 36-year-old Korean lefty Dae-Sung Koo. Having already struck out five days earlier in his batting debut, Koo led off the seventh inning on May 21 against Yankees lefthander Randy Johnson. Without looking into it, a lefthanded hitting reliever squaring off against a lefthanded pitcher would seem to be pretty rare. Anyway, Koo took a ball and a strike and then doubled to centerfield for his only major league hit.

I bring all this up because most pitchers who have a lengthy major league career wind up hitting at some point. Of the 1,004 pitchers in major league history to make 300 or more appearances, only thirty of them never recorded a plate appearance. A quick look at the list shows this is mostly due to the designated hitter rule and partly to evolving bullpens: the earliest debuts on that thirty-pitcher list took place in 1974. In fact, if you look at only players who debuted before 1973 (when the DH rule took effect), the leader for most games pitched without a plate appearance ends up being Charlie Hudson with 40 career games (12 prior to 1973).

Obviously, pitching in the American League for a long time and/or being a relief pitcher (especially a lefty specialist) helps propel players up the list of most game pitched without a plate appearance. That doesn't mean there aren't some long-time AL starters on the list. Good luck finding them. Without further ado, here are the thirty pitchers in MLB history to pitch in 300 or more games without once coming up to bat.

Most Career Games Pitched, Zero Career Plate Appearances

1. Buddy Groom, 786
2. Bob Stanley, 637
3. Mike Fetters, 620
4. Tippy Martinez, 548
5. Mike Flanagan, 529
6. Steve Farr, 509
7. Chad Bradford, 500*
   
8. Jamie Walker, 496*
9. Mark Clear, 481
   
10. Edwin Nunez, 427
11. Mark Gubicza, 384
12. Brian Shouse, 383*
13. Kirk McCaskill, 381
14. Ron Guidry, 380
15. Mark Williamson, 365
16. Francisco Rodriguez, 363*
    
17. Sammy Stewart, 359
18. Scott McGregor, 357
19. Mike Boddicker, 347
20. Scott Bailes, 343
21. Mike Witt, 341
22. Bryan Harvey, 322
23. Billy Taylor, 317
24. Doug Corbett, 313
25. Dennis Leonard, 313
26. Richard Dotson, 312
27. Chris Bosio, 310
28. Bill Simas, 308
29. Mike Venafro, 307
30. Bill Castro, 303

*active player - stats now through 6/10/2008

Barring a plate appearance, J.J. Putz should join the list later this year as he's at 280 appearances now. Jason Frasor (254), Mike MacDougal (249), and George Sherrill (225) are the only other active players past 200 games. Something tells me it won't be widely noted that Chad Bradford did something done only six other times in MLB history after his next appearance.

UPDATE (6/11): Bradford did pitch in his 500th career game on June 10 but his entry into pretty exclusive company was unheralded in the recaps I saw. Shucks, I never woulda guessed!

Wait, Games Last Nine Innings?!

In the Marlins game notes for Friday's Florida-Milwaukee game, it was noted that starting pitcher Scott Olsen ranks eleventh all-time on the list of most career games started without a complete game. That in itself is hardly surprising, since young pitchers aren't often allowed to go much beyond 100 pitches and this usually works out to six or seven innings. The expansion of the bullpen and relief roles in recent decades has also influenced the lesser number of complete games for all MLB teams compared to, say, the 1970's and before. Therefore, the list of most career starts without a complete game is, as expected, filled with active or recently retired pitchers.

Most Career Starts, Zero Complete Games, 1876-2008
(Players in MLB in 2008 italicized)

1. Tony Armas Jr., 166 GS
   
2. Shawn Chacon, 124
3. Casey Fossum, 120
4. Claudio Vargas, 110
5. Chris Young, 104
6. Tim Redding, 99
7. Byung-Hyun Kim, 87
8. Mike Thurman, 87
9. Marvin Freeman, 78
10. Brandon Duckworth, 77
11. Scott Olsen, 73
12. Dave Eiland, 70
13. Dave Weathers, 69
14. Wally Whitehurst, 66
15. Scott Scudder, 64
16. Pat Mahomes, 63
17. Damian Moss, 61
18. Gustavo Chacin, 58
19. Brandon Claussen, 58
20. Joaquin Benoit, 55
    

Last Position Players to Pitch by Team

UPDATE: I've posted a table through May 6, 2009 here.

It's always notable when a position player takes the mound for an inning or two. Usually it only happens in blowouts when a manager wants to save the other arms in the bullpen for another day. While it hasn't happened yet this season, six position players on four different teams toed the rubber at some point in 2007 (Can you name them? Answers at the end of the post). For this post I looked up the last position players to pitch for every team. Surprisingly, three of the four teams that have gone the longest without using a position player on the mound play in the National League.

Last Position Player to Pitch by Team

Team	Name	Date
Arizona Diamondbacks	Jeff Cirillo	8-20-2007
Atlanta Braves	John Russell	6-25-1989
Baltimore Orioles	Manny Alexander	4-19-1996
Boston Red Sox	David McCarty	10-3-2004
Chicago Cubs	Gary Gaetti	7-3-1999
Chicago White Sox	Dave Martinez	8-4-1995
Cincinnati Reds	Lenny Harris	6-1-1998
Cleveland Indians	Tim Laker	4-20-2004
Colorado Rockies	Todd Zeile	9-14-2002
Detroit Tigers	Shane Halter	10-1-2000
Florida Marlins	Jason Wood	6-29-2007
Houston Astros	Tim Bogar	6-24-2000
Kansas City Royals	Shane Halter	7-17-1998
Los Angeles Angels	Chili Davis	6-17-1993
Los Angeles Dodgers	Robin Ventura	6-25-2004
Milwaukee Brewers	Trent Durrington	4-17-2004
Minnesota Twins	John Moses	7-31-1990
New York Mets	Todd Zeile	7-26-2004
New York Yankees	Wade Boggs	8-19-1997
Oakland Athletics	Frank Menechino	7-18-2000
Philadelphia Phillies	Tomas Perez	5-13-2002
Pittsburgh Pirates	Abraham Nunez	5-30-2004
San Diego Padres	Sean Burroughs	9-20-2005
Seattle Mariners	John Mabry	5-28-2000
San Francisco Giants	Greg Litton	7-4-1991
St. Louis Cardinals	Aaron Miles	9-20-2007
Tampa Bay Rays	Josh Wilson	6-8-2007
Texas Rangers	Scott Sheldon	9-6-2000
Toronto Blue Jays	Frank Menechino	8-28-2004
Washington Nationals	Junior Noboa	7-20-1990*

* - Fellow position player Dave Martinez pitched right before Noboa in the same game.

I wonder which team will have a position player pitch first this season. The Braves already got creative by having a pitcher play the outfield (Chris Resop on April 4) for one batter, but it's been almost twenty years since a position player pitched for them.

As promised, the six position players to pitch last season:

• Jeff Cirillo - Arizona Diamondbacks
• Aaron Miles - St. Louis Cardinals
  
• Augie Ojeda - Arizona Diamondbacks
• Scott Spiezio - St. Louis Cardinals
  
• Josh Wilson - Tampa Bay Devil Rays
  
• Jason Wood - Florida Marlins
  

Most Relief Appearances, No Games Finished in a Season

This post is kind of a reverse of yesterday. In that post, I looked at pitchers who had the most games finished without a save. In this post, I want to look at relievers who never managed to finish a game during the year. I would guess the list is probably made up of nondescript middle relievers and/or lefty specialists, but the occasional late-season call-up might sneak on as well.

Most Relief Appearances with Zero Games Finished in a Season

Rank	Name	Year	Relief App.
1	Omar Daal	1995	28
2	Grant Jackson	1971	20
3	Don Bessent	1958	19
4	Mike Schooler	1993	17
5	John Rheinecker	2007	16
	Jim Constable	1957	16
7	Billy Traber	2003	15
	Bill Krueger	1994	15
	Stan Bahnsen	1982	15
10	Travis Hughes	2005	14
11	Arnie Munoz	2007	13
	Ricky Nolasco	2006	13
	Scott Downs	2005	13
	Cliff Politte	1999	13
	Brian Keyser	1995	13
	Dave Weathers	1995	13
	Gene Bearden	1949	13
18	Mark Hendrickson	2002	12
	Allen Levrault	2001	12
	Kyle Abbott	1992	12
	Hank Fischer	1965	12

A lot of the players on the list started some games during those seasons, but this simply looks at their relief appearances. It's not surprising part-time starters litter the list because they tend to shift into long relief roles in the bullpen when they aren't in the rotation.

Obviously, John Rheinecker and Arnie Munoz led the AL and NL, respectively, in 2007.

Most Games Finished with Zero Saves in a Season Since 1901

Usually the pitchers with the most games finished (GF) in a particular season are the ones that appear high on the saves list. This makes sense because closers tend to close out a lot of games and often will pitch an inning even if it's not a save situation if they haven't been in a game for a while. Less common is a pitcher ending a season with a considerable number of games finished and zero saves.

Usually if you're the finishing pitcher in enough games you stumble into a save one way or another. Whether the pitchers below were simply mop-up relievers on bad teams or just unlucky enough not to enter any games in a save situation all they got for their trouble was a steadily increasing number in the obscure GF column of their season stats lines.

Most Games Finished with Zero Saves in a Season Since 1901

Rank	Name	Year	GF
1	Justin Speier	2005	36
2	Marty Kutyna	1962	31
3	Roger Mason	1993	29
	Jeff Innis	1991	29
	Doug Sisk	1988	29
	Ed Vande Berg	1986	29
	Gary Ross	1973	29
8	Braden Looper	2006	28
9	Lance Carter	2004	27
	Duaner Sanchez	2004	27
	Joe Boever	1991	27
	Norm Charlton	1989	27
	Clyde Shoun	1942	27
14	Terry Mulholland	2005	26
	Mike Remlinger	2003	26
	Bobby Howry	2002	26
	Felix Rodriguez	1999	26
	Matt Turner	1993	26
	Joe Coleman	1978	26
20	Kyle Farnsworth	2004	25
	Kerry Ligtenberg	2002	25
	Mark Wohlers	2001	25
	Lindy McDaniel	1972	25

The 2007 leaders were Brian Stokes of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Chris Spurling of the Milwaukee Brewers with 21 each. That might well be the only time either pitcher is atop a major league leaderboard in his career.

Young Pitchers

Today was going to be the conclusion of the "Lowest OPS..." series, but with the unfortunate passing of Cincinnati Reds pitcher and broadcaster Joe Nuxhall, I wanted to look at pitchers that debuted in the major leagues before their eighteenth birthday.

On Baseball-Reference.com, a player's age during a given season is considered to be their age on June 30th of that year. This means a player like Geoff Jenkins, who turned 33 on July 21, 2007, was considered to be 32 all year. I bring this up because I may miss a couple players who debuted early in the season (as 17-year-olds) and turned 18 before June 30, making it look like they debuted during their age-18 season. A cursory check indicates no one fell through the cracks this way but, like always, if you think I'm in error, let me know.

Here are the pitchers since 1901 that debuted before their 18th birthday, sorted by the most games pitched through their age-17 season:

• Jim Derrington, 1956-1957, 21
• Carl Scheib, 1943-1944, 21
• Bob Feller, 1936, 14
• Bob Miller, 1953, 13
• Art Houtteman, 1945, 13
• Rogers McKee, 1944-1945, 5
• Ron Moeller, 1956, 4
• Chuck Stobbs, 1947, 4
• Larry Dierker, 1964, 3
• Claude Osteen, 1957, 3
• Mike McCormick, 1956, 3
• Joey Jay, 1953, 3
• Dave Skaugstad, 1957, 2
• Jay Dahl, 1963, 1
• Stover McIlwain, 1957, 1
• George Werley, 1956, 1
• Harry Macpherson, 1944, 1
• Joe Nuxhall, 1944, 1
• Charlie Osgood, 1944, 1
• Chris Haughey, 1943, 1
• Lefty Weinert, 1919, 1
  

Saves = Games Pitched in a Single Season

Today I want to look at players that had as many saves as games pitched in a single season. For example, Joey Jay of the Milwaukee Braves pitched in one game during the 1957 season and picked up the save. That was his whole major league season. He's one of only forty-six men since 1871 to pitch one game in a season and get a save.

Only four players in major league history pitched in two games and picked up two saves. All four played in the nineteenth century and the last turned the trick in 1895. Here are their names:

• Ned Williamson, 1885 - The erstwhile single-season home run champion also moonlighted as a pitcher for the Chicago White Stockings (now the Cubs), throwing in a few games every year. He picked up one more save in 1886, giving him three saves in twelve appearances for his career.
• George "Dandy" Wood, 1888 - Primarily a left fielder, Wood saved two games for the Philadelphia Quakers (now known as the Phillies), making forty percent of his career pitching appearances.
• Bill Bishop, 1889 - Bishop only pitched in three seasons and was out of major league baseball before his twentieth birthday. He managed to record two saves in two games for the Chicago White Stockings, despite giving up 6 hits, 13 runs (6 earned), and 6 walks while striking out only one batter in three innings pitched. His 18.00 ERA and 4.00 WHIP makes his two saves look a lot less pleasant.
• Jack Cronin, 1895 - Cronin was a rookie with the Brooklyn Grooms (now the Los Angeles Dodgers) and didn't do very well, giving up 10 hits, 8 runs (6 earned), and 3 walks while striking out one batter in five innings. Despite the 10.80 ERA and 2.60 WHIP, he picked up two saves for his two games. He ended up pitching in seven different seasons, ending up with a 43-57 career record (and three saves).

Only eight players had one game pitched and one save since 1950:

• Ernie Nevel, 1951
• Walt Kellner, 1952
• Bill Abernathie, 1953
• Joey Jay, 1957
• Bud Daley, 1963
• Rick Waits, 1973
• Randy Lerch, 1976
• Don Carman, 1983

If you're interested in the list of all such players dating back to 1871, you can find it by clicking here.

Most Career Games Pitched, No Wins

This post is similar to the previous one but rather than looking for players with no decisions, its focus is players with zero career wins. Some of the names overlap, but there's been a fair amount of winless pitchers to throw in a lot of games. Of the 2,408 pitchers with zero career wins, there are twenty-two that have appeared in forty or more games. A number of these guys are still active, so the list will be fluid next season.

With that in mind, here are the winless wonders. As with yesterday, active pitchers are bolded:

Name	Games	Innings	Losses	(L/R)HP
Ed Olwine	80	89.2	1	LHP
Juan Alvarez	80	60.1	5	LHP
Chris Britton	63	66.1	3	RHP
Franquelis Osoria	61	75.2	6	RHP
Erik Plantenberg	61	42.1	0	LHP
Terry Felton	55	138.1	16	RHP
Frank Fanovich	55	105.0	5	LHP
Rob Mallicoat	51	53.2	2	LHP
Jeff Kaiser	50	52.0	2	LHP
Ross Powell	48	53.1	5	LHP
Mike Kinnunen	48	51.2	0	LHP
Bob Moorhead	47	119.2	3	RHP
John Lamb	47	66.1	2	RHP
Erik Schullstrom	46	60.0	0	RHP
Mike Burns	45	52.0	0	RHP
Steve Sinclair	45	34.1	3	LHP
Marcos Carvajal	42	57.0	2	RHP
Scott Forster	42	32.0	1	LHP
Brad Voyles	40	68.1	4	RHP
Ron Tompkins	40	50.0	2	RHP
Carmen Cali	40	34.1	1	LHP
Chad Bentz	40	29.2	3	LHP

Though I didn't bold his name Chad Bentz pitched this season for the Bridgeport Bluefish, an independent league team featuring other ex-major leaguers like Quinton McCracken, Brian Boehringer, and Matt Perisho, among others. It's not inconceivable that he'd be able to catch on again in some team's minor league system and the fact he's lefthanded makes it that much more probable.

Another interesting name is Terry Felton. Despite support from Brooks Robinson, Felton was released after going 0-13 for the Twins in 1982. He never appeared in the majors again and holds both the record for most career losses without a win with 16 (Steve Gerkin and Charlie Stecher are the only winless others to lose as many as ten) and the record for most losses in a season without a win with 13.

Most Career Games Pitched, No Decisions

Shortly after the season ended, I noted Trever Miller had set a single-season record for most games pitched without a decision. Today I want to look at the career leaders for most games without a win or a loss.

There have been thirty-one pitchers in baseball history to appear in 20+ games without moving their career record off 0-0. Overall, 1,417 pitchers have appeared in at least one game without a career decision.

UPDATE (2/11/13): There are now 35 pitchers who have appeared in 20+ games without a decision.  The table below has been updated through 2012.  The active contenders (pitched in majors or minors in 2012) are bolded:

Name	Games	Innings	(L/R)HP
Erik Plantenberg	61	42.1	LHP
Mike Kinnunen	48	51.2	LHP
Erik Schullstrom	46	60.0	RHP
Greg Jones	38	47.2	RHP
Allen McDill	38	34.2	LHP
Tom Qualters	34	52.2	RHP
Mike Neu	33	46.0	RHP
Dae-Sung Koo	33	23.0	LHP
Harry Shuman	30	50.2	RHP
Dustin Richardson	29	16.1	LHP
Mike Hinckley	28	23.1	RHP
Scott Watkins	27	21.2	LHP
Eulogio de la Cruz	27	32.0	RHP
Don Rowe	26	54.2	LHP
Wayne Schurr	26	48.1	RHP
Tim Kubinski	25	25.0	LHP
Roberto Vargas	25	24.2	LHP
Ron Diorio	25	20.1	RHP
John Anderson	24	44.2	RHP
Lee Hancock	24	32.1	LHP
Brad Boxberger	24	27.2	RHP
Jose Valdez	24	26.0	RHP
Norm McRae	22	34.1	RHP
Jose Cecena	22	26.1	RHP
Chris Hatcher	22	25.0	RHP
David Sanders	22	24.0	LHP
Rick Kester	21	40.2	RHP
Doug Piatt	21	34.2	RHP
Jim Morris	21	15.0	LHP
Takahito Nomura	21	13.2	LHP
Rommie Lewis	22	23.2	LHP
Lester Oliveros	22	23.0	RHP
Aaron Taylor	20	21.1	RHP
Reynaldo Garcia	20	20.0	RHP
Kevin Tolar	20	17.2	LHP

I wonder if Erik Plantenburg knows he set a major league record during his career? Speaking of Erik's, it's kind of weird that both the LHP and RHP records for career decisionless games were set by guys with the first name Erik. There have only been nine major league players (seven pitchers) named Erik, so that's almost unbelievable.

Trever Miller Record Update

In mid-September I wrote about Trever Miller's chase for a season record. At the time, Miller had 74 appearances with a 0-0 record. The previous record for most games in a season without a win or loss had been 48 games pitched by Scott Aldred for the 1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Since the season is over, I thought it made sense to confirm that his final season total of 76 games in the official new record. Interestingly, Manny Delcarmen of the Boston Red Sox placed third on the all-time list by throwing in 44 games this year without a decision. Ron Villone also joined the all-time top ten this year by tying for ninth with 37 "decisionless" appearances.

I wonder if he gets a bonus for a decision?

I got curious tonight (upon hearing Mike Stanton is 1-3 in 65 appearances) and decided to look up who holds the major league record for most appearances in a season without recording a win or loss. The record coming into the year was lefty Scott Aldred's 48 for the Devil Rays in 1998. With a couple weeks to go, however, Trever Miller has appeared in 74 games for the Astros and still carries a 0-0 record on the year. Something else to keep an eye on as the season winds down.