SO > TB, Minimum 200 AB

My first real post on this blog had to do with one of my favorite topics: guys with more strikeouts than total bases. Since I never posted a follow-up with 2007 and 2008 players added, I figured now was a good time. The 2009 season is about one-quarter over, so it's also easy to look at guys who might join the list.

First up, the updated list of players with more strikeouts than total bases in 200 or more at bats:

Name	Year	Team	Position	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG	TB	SO	OPS+
Bill Bergen	1911	BRO	C	227	.132	.183	.154	35	42	-4
Billy Consolo	1954	BOS	SS	242	.227	.324	.277	67	69	59
Billy Consolo	1959	BOS WSH	SS	216	.213	.331	.269	58	59	67
Ernie Fazio	1963	HOU	2B	228	.184	.273	.281	64	70	65
Jerry Kindall	1963	CLE	2B	234	.205	.266	.295	69	71	58
Dave Nicholson	1964	CHW	LF	294	.204	.329	.365	107	126	96
Chris Cannizzaro	1965	NYM	C	251	.183	.270	.231	58	60	46
Don Zimmer	1965	WSA	C	226	.199	.284	.252	57	59	55
Ray Oyler	1966	DET	SS	210	.171	.263	.252	53	62	48
Jerry Zimmerman	1967	MIN	C	234	.167	.243	.192	45	49	26
Ray Oyler	1968	DET	SS	215	.135	.213	.186	40	59	20
George Scott	1968	BOS	1B	350	.171	.236	.237	83	88	40
Dick Tracewski	1968	DET	SS	212	.156	.239	.236	50	51	43
Al Weis	1968	NYM	SS	274	.172	.234	.204	56	63	32
Darrel Chaney	1969	CIN	SS	209	.191	.278	.234	49	75	42
Ray Oyler	1969	SEP	SS	255	.165	.260	.267	68	80	49
Jim Mason	1975	NYY	SS	223	.152	.228	.211	47	49	27
John Hale	1978	SEA	RF	211	.171	.283	.265	56	64	56
Leroy Stanton	1978	SEA	LF	302	.182	.265	.248	75	80	47
Bobby Bonds	1980	STL	LF	231	.203	.305	.316	73	74	72
Tom Donohue	1980	CAL	C	218	.188	.216	.243	53	63	27
Reggie Jackson	1983	CAL	RF	397	.194	.290	.340	135	140	74
Gary Pettis	1987	CAL	CF	394	.208	.302	.259	102	124	53
Jody Davis	1989	ATL	C	231	.169	.246	.242	56	61	39
John Shelby	1989	LAD	CF	345	.183	.237	.229	79	92	36
Jeff Kunkel	1990	TEX	SS	200	.170	.221	.280	56	66	40
Rob Deer	1991	DET	RF	448	.179	.314	.386	173	175	92
Hensley Meulens	1991	NYY	LF	288	.222	.276	.319	92	97	65
Gary Pettis	1991	TEX	CF	282	.216	.341	.277	78	91	75
Andujar Cedeno	1992	HOU	SS	220	.173	.232	.277	61	71	47
Jack Clark	1992	BOS	DH	257	.210	.350	.311	80	87	82
Billy Ashley	1995	LAD	LF	215	.237	.320	.372	80	88	90
Benji Gil	1995	TEX	SS	415	.219	.266	.347	144	147	60
Kimera Bartee	1996	DET	CF	217	.253	.308	.304	66	77	57
Archi Cianfrocco	1997	SDP	1B	220	.245	.328	.355	78	80	85
Mark Johnson	1997	PIT	1B	219	.215	.345	.315	69	78	73
Ryan McGuire	1998	MON	1B	210	.186	.292	.243	51	55	46
Greg Vaughn	2002	TBD	LF	251	.163	.286	.315	79	82	60
Mark Bellhorn	2005	BOS NYY	2B	300	.210	.324	.357	107	112	81
Mark Bellhorn	2006	SDP	3B	253	.190	.285	.344	87	90	66
Ryan Langerhans	2007	ATL OAK WSN	CF	210	.167	.272	.305	64	81	53
Andruw Jones	2008	LAD	CF	209	.158	.256	.249	52	76	34
Tony Pena	2008	KCR	SS	225	.169	.189	.209	47	49	7

Angels catcher Jeff Mathis came close to joining in 2008. Fortunately for him, two singles in his last two at-bats of the campaign gave him 90 total bases to go with his 90 strikeouts in 283 at bats.

As I said, the 2009 season is roughly 25% over. Here are the players with more strikeouts than total bases in 50 or more AB so far:

• Brent Lillibridge, CHW - 68 AB, 13 TB, 21 SO
• Edwin Encarnacion, CIN - 63 AB, 12 TB, 19 SO
• Jordan Schafer, ATL - 125 AB, 40 TB, 46 SO
• B.J. Upton, TBR - 136 AB, 38 TB, 43 SO
• Cameron Maybin, FLA - 84 AB, 26 TB, 31 SO
• Josh Fields, CHW - 129 AB, 40 TB, 43 SO
• Travis Ishikawa, SFG - 89 AB, 26 TB, 28 SO
• Ramon Vazquez, PIT - 59 AB, 13 TB, 15 SO
• Jeff Mathis, LAA - 58 AB, 16 TB, 18 SO
• Kelly Shoppach, CLE - 66 AB, 26 TB, 27 SO
• Rob Johnson, SEA - 63 AB, 18 TB, 19 SO

Most Plate Appearances, No Singles

Brad Nelson, 0 for 21 this year, was outrighted (booted off the 40-man roster but not released) to the minors by Milwaukee earlier this week. Since he was outrighted once before, he had the option to choose free agency rather than report to AAA. He did and has had contact from several teams. Until he signs, however, his brief major league career qualifies him for the following list:

Most Career Plate Apperances, No Singles

Name	Years	PA	H	2B	3B	HR
Bobby Tiefenauer	1952-1968	48	1	1	0	0
Randy Tate	1975	47	0	0	0	0
Bo McLaughlin	1976-1982	45	0	0	0	0
Tony McKnight	2000-2001	44	0	0	0	0
Daryl Patterson	1968-1974	37	0	0	0	0
Charlie Cady	1883-1884	36	2	1	1	0
George Borchers	1888-1895	34	2	2	0	0
Ted Davidson	1965-1968	34	0	0	0	0
Charley Stanceu	1941-1946	34	0	0	0	0
Hank Biasatti	1949	33	2	2	0	0
Andy Hassler	1971-1985	31	0	0	0	0
Brad Nelson	2008-2009	31	2	2	0	0
Sean Burnett	2004-2008	30	1	1	0	0
Skip Pitlock	1970-1975	30	2	1	0	1

As you can tell by the years each played, most of those players were pitches. Only Hank Biasatti, a first baseman for the Athletics, and Nelson were not pitchers for a significant portion of their careers. Charlie Cody started five games as a pitcher and also appeared in the outfield, second base, and catcher.

Another active position player who has struggled to single is Matthew Brown, a third baseman for the Angels. He batted 27 times in 2007 and 2008, hitting only a double. Brown is currently playing for the AAA Salt Lake Bees. Both Nelson and Brown will likely get more chances to single in the majors, so hopefully their time around this list is short.

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.

The Unique Nationals

The Washington Nationals might have the worst record in the majors, but they've got one thing going for them. Through May 5th, every regular* in the Nationals lineup has an OPS+ over 100. No other team can claim that.

* Guys in the top spots on each team's Baseball-Reference.com page.

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)
  

A Couple Quick Notes

Just a couple things to pass along:

• Plunk Everyone is a blog dedicated to the humble hit by pitch. It's well worth reading. The author mentioned both on his blog and in a post at Brew Crew Ball on Tuesday that Jason Kendall became only the second player to be hit by all 30 major league teams (can you guess the first without looking? I'm guessing you'll be surprised). The Brewers backstop has now been hit 235 times by 184 pitchers.
  
  
• Elias Says..., a column at ESPN.com, notes that nine different Mets have tripled over the teams last nine games coming into today. The Mets are the first team to do that since 1983. Right on cue, Jeremy Reed hit his first triple of the season today to become the tenth player in ten games, but it wasn't enough to stop New York from losing to Florida.
  
  
• Yovani Gallardo of the Brewers was the winning pitcher in his team's 1-0 victory. He also hit the game-winning home run in the bottom of the 7th inning. He departed after the 8th inning, having thrown 116 pitches. Had he pitched a scoreless ninth, he would have joined the following pitchers since 1954 who homered in all their team's runs while throwing a shutout:
  
  
  • Bob Welch (LAD) on June 17, 1983 - won 1-0
  • Juan Pizarro (CHC) on September 16, 1971 - won 1-0
  • Sonny Siebert (BOS) on September 2, 1971 - won 3-0
    
  • Jim Bunning (PHI) on May 5, 1965 - won 1-0
  • Early Wynn (CHW) on May 1, 1959 - won 1-0
  
  There are a couple honorable mentions as well. Juan Pizarro drove in both Cubs runs during his 2-0 shutout on May 10, 1963 but only one came via the long ball. Also, though Roger Freed drove in one run, that shouldn't take away from Rick Wise's 3 RBI on 2 HR for the Phillies on June 23, 1971 -- all while he was no-hitting the Reds.
  

Two or Fewer Total Bases

After going 1 for 4 in tonight's game, Jason Kendall of the Brewers is hitting .143/.245/.167. He's got six hits (five singles and a double), five walks, and one hit by pitch. His lack of power is well-known around baseball, thanks in large part to his 6 HR in 2453 plate appearances since leaving Pittsburgh. So far this season Kendall has played in thirteen games and has had fewer than two total bases in each.

I'm sure he'll manage to hit three singles, a double and a single, or even a home run at some point, but it might take a while. So that thought made me curious about the longest streak of games with two or fewer total bases to start a season, especially among starters.

Given that he's both punchless and a catcher, Kendall isn't likely to pinch-hit much. I'm not that interested in a list that includes pinch-hitters anyway, because I don't think a guy should be penalized for not hitting pinch-hit triples or home runs very often. Therefore I've looked only at games where the player in question had two or more plate appearances. Obviously, a triple or home run could be overlooked, but that's okay.

As usual, this covers players from 1954 to the present.

Most Consecutive Games with Two or Fewer Total Bases to Start a Season
(minimum 2 PA in each game)

• Ruben Amaro, 1960 PHI - 82 games
• Dal Maxvill, 1970 STL - 69 games
• Bill Russell, 1975 LAD - 64 games
• Fred Stanley, 1982 OAK - 63 games
• Rich Morales, 1973 CHW-SDP - 58 games
• Dave Concepcion, 1988 CIN - 55 games
• Luis Gomez, 1980 ATL - 55 games
• Alvaro Espinoza, 1989 NYY - 49 games
• Fred Kendall, 1976 SDP - 47 games
• Wilbur Wood, 1972 CHW - 46 games
  
• Al Weis, 1966 CHW - 46 games
• Lance Blankenship, 1990 OAK - 45 games
• Pat Rockett, 1978 ATL - 45 games

So not only does Kendall have months to go to match Amaro, he's got a ways to go before he reaches his dad's mark. Fans who were around in the 1970's no doubt recognize lefthanded knuckleballer Wilbur Wood. He actually started 49 games in 1972 but was pulled before batting twice in three of them.

It's been nearly two decades since someone went 45 games into the season without 3+ total bases in a game, though, so let's look at a list of players since 2000. Unsurprisingly, the list is littered with pitchers, so I'm going to drop them.

Most Consecutive Games with Two or Fewer Total Bases to Start a Season
(since 2000; minimum 2 PA in each game)

• Ramon Martinez, 2007 LAD - 35 games
• Luis Rivas, 2005 MIN - 34 games
• Ross Gload, 2008 KCR - 31 games
• Jorge Fabregas, 2002 ANA-MIL - 31 games
• Willie Bloomquist, 2008 SEA - 30 games
• Adam Everett, 2002 HOU - 30 games

Jason Kendall reached 28 games to start the 2007 season, one year after going 23 games without three total bases. Two doubles and a single in the second game of last season messed up the trend, but 2009 might still be his year.

Giving Up Home Runs To Pitchers

In the third game of the season, Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo hit a home run off Giants starter Randy Johnson. It was quickly noted that this was the first homer hit by a pitcher off the Big Unit. Pitchers had faced Johnson 500 times in his twenty-two year career and not a single one had hit a home run. No opposing pitcher had ever knocked one of Randy Johnson's offerings over the fence. Are you impressed yet?

It turns out other pitchers have faced opposing pitchers 500 times without giving up a home run. Since 1954, thirteen different hurlers have done so. Two of those pitchers were active in 2008.

500+ PA Against Pitchers, Zero Home Runs Allowed

1. Don Drysdale, 1016 PA
2. Tommy John, 861
3. Andy Benes, 757
4. Dwight Gooden, 622
5. Jon Lieber, 603
6. Sonny Siebert, 573
7. Jack Billingham, 550
8. Shawn Estes, 548
9. Bob Welch, 542
10. Jim Rooker, 534
11. Bob Walk, 520
12. Gary Nolan, 514
13. Vida Blue, 511

Somehow Randy Johnson facing pitchers 500 times and not giving up a home run seems less impressive when you realize Jon Lieber and Shawn Estes have done the same thing. Actually, I take that back: the real question is how guys like Lieber and Estes made it onto this list of pretty darn good pitchers.

There have been plenty of pitchers who missed that list by only one home run. Thirty-three pitchers allowed only one home run to an opposing pitcher in 500 or more plate appearances since 1954:

• Greg Maddux, 1451 PA
• Jerry Reuss, 972
• Juan Marichal, 961
• John Smoltz, 913
• Jerry Koosman, 843
• Whitey Ford, 841
• Burt Hooton, 754
  
• Darryl Kile, 685
  
• Rick Rhoden, 671
  
• Pedro Astacio, 664
  
• Rick Wise, 660
  
• Dean Chance, 627
  
• Terry Mulholland, 616
  
• Ray Burris, 582
  
• Ray Herbert, 577
  
• Joaquin Andujar, 567
  
• Zane Smith, 566
  
• Bob Shaw, 559
• Bob Veale, ~557
  
• Al Leiter, 554
  
• John Candelaria, 553
  
• Mike Morgan, 550
  
• Denny Neagle, 537
  
• Steve Renko, 532
  
• John Denny, 528
  
• Pete Harnisch, 526
  
• Sid Fernandez, 525
  
• John Burkett, 523
  
• Mike LaCoss, 514
  
• Bob Miller, 512
• Dave Roberts, ~511
  
• Randy Johnson, 509
  

Whitey Ford and Ray Herbert both pitched before 1954, so it's possible they don't actually belong on the list. Bob Veale and Dave Roberts both made appearances that lack play-by-play accounts and it's hard to estimate how many times they faced opposing pitchers in those games, so their exact place on the list is a little uncertain.

Finally, there is one more pitcher who averaged 500 PA or more between opposing pitcher home runs: Bob Gibson. The Cardinals ace faced opposing hurlers 1150 times and gave up a home run only twice.

Here are some pitchers who may join one of these lists in the relatively near future:

• Royals RHP Jamey Wright has faced 494 pitchers without giving up a home run.
• Brewers RHP Jeff Suppan has faced 394 pitchers without giving up a home run. It will take the better part of two seasons for him to reach 500.
• Veteran RHP Brett Tomko has allowed one homer to an opposing pitcher in 483 career PA against. He's currently playing for the Yankees' AAA club.
  

That's it.

The Junior Squad

My dad and I were talking about this the other day. Baseball players seem oddly drawn to naming their sons after themselves. No data to back this up, but it seems like there are a heck of a lot more First Last, Jr.'s among the baseball population than the general population.

Enough to field a full squad, in fact:

C - Sandy Alomar
1B - Billy Sullivan
2B - Jerry Hairston
3B - Ed Sprague
SS - Tony Pena
LF - Jose Cruz
CF - Gary Matthews
RF - Ken Griffey
SP - Jim Bagby
RP - Pedro Borbon

You could have Ruben Amaro, Tony Gwynn and Ozzie Virgil on the bench with Mel Queen, Lew Krausse, and Fred Rath (of course) supporting Borbon out of the 'pen.

First base was the toughest position to fill. There just aren't many good options. I was going to move Sprague there, but there aren't many options at third either. That left a choice between 1930's backup catcher/first baseman Billy Sullivan and the forgettable Pete Rose. You can see which way I went.

Opening Day Oddity

You may have heard about Felipe Lopez and Tony Clark's performance in today's Rockies-Diamondbacks game. The two switch-hitters each had two home runs and they both hit one from each side of the plate. As the AP recap noted,

Lopez and Clark became the first switch-hitting teammates to homer from both sides of the plate in a game since Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams did it for the New York Yankees on April 23, 2000. It had never been done on opening day.

In fact, today and that Yankees game are the only two times that's happened since 1954. More generally, two switch-hitters have each homered twice in the same game only five times in that span:

• Today, obviously - Lopez homered off RHP Aaron Cook in the 1st inning and LHP Glendon Rusch in the 4th inning. Clark homered off Cook in the 3rd and Rusch in the 5th.
  
  
• September 25, 2008 - The Rays' Ben Zobrist hit two home runs off RHP Armando Galarraga, one in the first inning and one in the eighth. Meanwhile, the Tigers' Ramon Santiago homered off LHP Scott Kazmir in the 1st inning and the 3rd inning. Obviously each guy's home runs were from the same side of the plate.
  
  
• July 4, 2003 - Bill Mueller and Jason Varitek both homered twice for the Red Sox against the Yankees. Mueller homered off LHP David Wells in the 6th inning and RHP Dan Miceli in the 9th inning. Varitek homered off Wells in the 3rd and 6th.
  
  
• The aforementioned April 23, 2000 game - Bernie Williams homered off Blue Jays RHP Frank Castillo in the first inning and LHP Clayton Andrews in the fourth inning. Jorge Posada hit round-trippers off the same pitchers but in the second and fourth innings.
  
  
• August 14, 1996 - In the second-last season of his career, Eddie Murray hit a home run off RHP Jeff D'Amico in the third inning of a game against Milwaukee. He followed it up with a home run off RHP Ricky Bones in the 8th inning. His teammate Roberto Alomar drove one out off D'Amico in the 2nd inning and hit a homer off LHP Ron Villone in the 8th.

The long and short of it: for at least forty years there weren't any games featuring 2 HR by two switch-hitters but today saw the fifth one since 1996.