But...the box is the zone...no?

This can never be a good sign for an umpire (and/or Gameday):



Red circles are strikes and green are balls. Pitches 1 & 3 were swinging strikes.

Trying Is The First Step Towards Failure

Here's a list of the top 11 (just how the numbers fall) all-time seasons of most times caught stealing without a single stolen base.

1. Pete Runnels, 10, 1952 (I like the irony in his name)
2. Oscar Robles, 8, 2005
3. Jose Offerman, 8, 2000
4. Chet Lemon, 7, 1983
5. Manny Trillo, 7, 1978
6. Mike Vail, 7, 1977
7. John Milner, 7, 1976
8. Ted Simmons, 7, 1976
9. Ron Theobald, 7, 1972
10. Denis Menke, 7, 1966
11. Dick Gernert, 7, 1953
    

Baseball-Reference.com

Since I like their site and I'm a man of modest means, I decided to sponsor a cheap page. While I did think about sponsoring Whitey Alperman because I like his abysmal walk rate in 1909, I decided instead on this former Brewers player. Why does this deserve its own post? I don't know, but there it is.

Daily Tracker, 8/29

It's the 29th of August and all's updated:

• Ryan Braun Update:
  
  • Today in the box score: 1-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI, 2 K
    
  • Current line on season: .332/.376/.641 (370 PA)
  • Line adjusted for leaderboards: .298/.340/.575 (409 PA) - I believe I had his slugging average wrong last time, my apologies.
    
  • Leaderboard ranks: 17 (+1)/50 (-2)/ 6 (+1)
  • PA/G needed to qualify for leaderboards (502) without adjustment at end of season: 4.40
  • Current PA/G since call-up: 4.40
  • MIL Average PA/G for #3/#4 spot in lineup: 4.48/4.35
  • PA's projected lost if in #4 instead of #3 for rest of season: 4
    
  • Projected PA at end of season if in #3/#4 spot for MIL: 504.5/500.5
    
    
• Johnny Estrada Swing Index:
  
  • Plate Appearances: 404
    
  • Times Swung at First Pitch: 204
    • Swung at First Pitch Percentage: 50.5%
      
  • Times Made Contact with First Pitch: 178
  • Contact Percentage for First Pitch Swings: 87.3%
    
  • First Pitch Put Into Play: 98
  • First Pitch Contact Put Into Play Percentage: 55.0%
  • First Pitch Overall Put Into Play Percentage: 24.3%
  • Double Play Opportunities: 73
  • Double Plays Resulting: 15
  • DP Rate: 20.5%
  • Double Plays Ended by Two-Hop Throws to First: At least one
    
    
• Ryan Langerhans went 2-3 with a sacrifice for AAA Columbus.
  
• MLB numbers: 54 TB, 74 SO, 196 AB
  
• AAA numbers: 8 TB, 8 SO, 27 AB
• Total numbers: 62 TB, 82 SO, 223 AB
  
  
• Joe Borchard was 1-4 with a RBI, a strikeout and one time picked off for AAA Albuquerque.
  
  • MLB numbers: 56 TB, 60 SO, 179 AB
  • AAA numbers: 50 TB, 9 SO, 55 AB
  • Total numbers: 106 TB, 69 SO, 234 AB
    
    
• Jimmy Rollins was 2-4 today. His season pace is now at 205 hits and 707 at bats.
  
  
• Cubs catchers:
  
• Tonight in the box score: 1-4
• Through June 19: 290 PA, 264 AB, 62 H, 8 HR, 30 RBI, 20 BB, 46 K, 98 TB, .235/.287/.371, .658 OPS
• Since June 19: 245 PA, 215 AB, 47 H, 3 HR, 29 RBI, 23 BB, 40 K, 70 TB, .219/.299/.326, .625 OPS
• Season Line: 535 PA, 479 AB, 109 H, 11 HR, 59 RBI, 43 BB, 86 K, 168 TB, .228/.293/.351, .643 OPS
  
  
• Brewers catchers:
• Tonight in the box score: 1-4, K
• Through June 19: 298 PA, 283 AB, 77 H, 6 HR, 28 RBI, 9 BB, 32 K, 113 TB, .272/.300/.399, .699 OPS
• Since June 19: 252 PA, 237 AB, 61 H, 4 HR, 29 RBI, 12 BB, 32 K, 85 TB, .257/.290/.359, .648 OPS
• Season Line: 550 PA, 520 AB, 138 H, 10 HR, 57 RBI, 21 BB, 64 K, 198 TB, .265/.295/.381, .676 OPS
  
  
• 2007 MLB Average Catcher's Line: .253/.315/.389, .704 OPS

Final Line for [insert name here], 0.0 IP...

We've all seen it happen before: a team's manager plays the percentages and calls on his left-handed specialist to face the other team's lefty slugger. The new pitcher promptly gives up a hit, walk, or otherwise fails in his task and is removed before recording an out. His line in the box score then looks like "0.0......0....1...." and so on. Let's look at the season and career leaders for 0.0 IP appearances. As usual with play by play reliant searches, this spans 1957-2007.

Most 0.0 IP appearances in a season by a lefthanded pitcher:

1. Sean Runyan, 1998, 17
2. George Sherrill, 2006, 15
3. Bob McClure, 1977, 15
4. Mike Myers, 2001, 13
5. Mike Myers, 1997, 13
6. Jason Christiansen, 2004, 13
7. 11 tied with, 12

Most 0.0 IP appearances in a career by a lefthanded pitcher:

1. Mike Myers, 127
2. Jesse Orosco, 80
3. Paul Assenmacher, 76
4. Bob McClure, 65
5. Wedsel "Buddy" Groom, 65
6. Mike Stanton, 61
7. Steve Kline, 59
8. Dan Plesac, 58
9. Tony Fossas, 54
10. Ray King, 51
11. Mike Holtz, 51

Alright, as established, these guys tend to get lifted because they are called upon to face one batter. I would think it's tougher to be taken out without recording at least 1/3 inning if you're righthanded. Let's look at those leaders.

Most 0.0 IP appearances in a season by a righthanded pitcher:

1. Jeff Nelson, 1993, 10
2. Horacio Pina, 1971, 9
3. Turk Lown, 1960, 7
4. Cecilio Guante, 1988, 7
5. Kevin Gryboski, 2003, 7
6. Bob Anderson, 1962, 7

Most 0.0 IP appearances in a career by a righthanded pitcher:

1. Jeff Nelson, 49
2. Paul Quantrill, 28
3. Kent Tekulve, 27
4. Don McMahon, 27
5. Hector Carrasco, 26

Now let's look to see what years featured the most 0.0 IP appearances, regardless of handedness, because we can:

1. 1999 - 487
2. 2000 - 482
3. 2006 - 474
4. 2005 - 473
5. 1998 - 472
6. 1997 - 465
7. 2003 - 456
8. 2004 - 452
9. 2002 - 448
10. 2001 - 447

Surprise, surprise, managers have been more willing to yank guys quickly since bullpens have specialized. For the curious, 2007 has already seen 364 such appearances, through yesterday. The highest appearances total for any season before 1990 was 324 in 1987. The lowest total? 128 in 1958.

Finally, let's see what teams had a manager with a quick hook:

1. 2004 San Francisco Giants, 43
2. 2007 Cincinnati Reds, 29
3. 1995 Chicago Cubs, 29
4. 1971 Washington Senators, 28
5. 2003 Toronto Blue Jays, 28
6. 2002 Texas Rangers, 28
7. 1993 Seattle Mariners, 28
8. 1963 Los Angeles Angels, 28
9. 2000 Colorado Rockies, 28
10. 1998 Chicago Cubs, 28

It's interesting to me that the 2nd and 3rd place teams didn't (yet) get the benefit of a full season. Obviously 2007 is still going on and 1995 had a weird 144-game schedule due to the players' strike of 1994-5.

The pitchers involved in the 2004 Giants record-shattering campaign: Jason Christiansen, David Aardsma, Kevin Walker, Jim Brower, Felix Rodriguez, Wayne Franklin (ha!), Matt Herges, Scott Eyre, Tyler Walker, Dustin Hermanson, and Dave Burba. Eleven, count 'em, eleven guys. That's almost twice the number of relievers on a given team at a given time.

Daily Tracker, 8/27

Today features an abbreviated post because a number of teams had the day off. The guys that did play are below and the rest of the players' numbers can be found here.

• Ryan Braun Leaderboard Ranks: 18 (+3) / 49 (+1) / 7 (--)
  
  
• Ryan Langerhans went 2-6 with a double, walk and three strikeouts for AAA Columbus in the team's doubleheader today.
  
• MLB numbers: 54 TB, 74 SO, 196 AB
  
• AAA numbers: 6 TB, 8 SO, 21 AB
• Total numbers: 60 TB, 82 SO, 217 AB
  
  
• Joe Borchard had an 0-3 day with a walk and a strikeout for AAA Albuquerque. He was also named PCL Offensive Player of the Week for hitting .520 (13-25) with 4 HR and 14 RBI.
  
  • MLB numbers: 56 TB, 60 SO, 179 AB
  • AAA numbers: 48 TB, 8 SO, 47 AB
  • Total numbers: 104 TB, 68 SO, 226 AB
    
    
• Jimmy Rollins was 2-5 today. His season pace is up to 203 hits and 707 at bats.

Gimme That Old Time Contact Hitting

Today some records involving guys who didn't strike out at all in a season. I set the parameters for this search to be the years 1913-2007 since some (or maybe all) teams are missing batting strikeouts totals for previous years (though, oddly, they have pitching strikeouts recorded).

First up, we need guys to get on base. Let's look at the most walks by anyone who didn't strike out. I'd do OBP, but there aren't many plate appearances in these seasons, but we'll get to that.

1. Lloyd Waner, 12, 1941
2. Manny Mota, 10, 1977
3. Merl Combs, 9, 1949
4. Davy Jones, 9, 1913
5. Steve O'Neill, 8, 1928

Since it's the olden days of baseball, we'll need someone to bunt our leadoff guy into scoring position. Let's look at the sacrifice hits leaders. Not surprisingly, there's a number of pitchers at the top, though third baseman Manuel Cueto is up there too:

1. Johnny Sain, 10, 1946
2. Manuel Cueto, 5, 1914
3. Oscar Zamora, 4, 1975
4. Jim Middleton, 4, 1921
5. 14 tied with 3

Now we want a guy with a little pop in his bat. Doubles sounds like a good way of measuring that, huh?

1. Lloyd Waner, 5, 1941
2. Bill Sherdel, 5, 1925
3. Biff Pocoroba, 4, 1979
4. Eddie Murphy, 4, 1919
5. 10 tied with 3

Our cleanup hitter should be able to smack one out of the park. The list is a little skimpy but here it is nonetheless:

1. Terry Steinbach, 2, 1986
2. Carson Bigbee, 2, 1926
3. 61 tied with 1

Okay, so the chances of a home run are not so good. Maybe our fifth batter should be a guy who is good at knocking runs in. How about those RBI-men:

1. Johnny Sain, 17, 1946
2. Johnny McCarthy, 12, 1941
3. Lloyd Waner, 11, 1941
4. Willie Jones, 10, 1947
5. Bill Rariden, 10, 1920

Let's be goofy and say we want speed from the six spot. Here's our stolen base kings:

1. Larry Lintz, 31, 1976
2. Herb Washington, 29, 1974
3. Don Hopkins, 21, 1975
4. Matt Alexander, 13, 1979
5. Matt Alexander, 10, 1980

Surprise, surprise, the designated runners of the 1970's top the list. Ah, well, maybe they can swing the bat, too. Assuming they do get on base, who do we want to make sure they run in front of? Let's look at the GIDP leaders:

1. Bob Garbark, 5, 1938
2. Dave Hajek, 3, 1996
3. Al Richter, 3, 1951
4. Willie Jones, 3, 1947
5. Stan Galle, 3, 1942
6. Lloyd Waner, 3, 1941
7. Red Lynn, 3, 1939

Our eight hitter needs to get on base to clear the pitcher's spot. Let's look at hits leaders:

1. Lloyd Waner, 64, 1941
2. Johnny Sain, 28, 1946
3. Bill Rariden, 25, 1920
4. Tony Lupien, 17, 1945
5. Roy Spencer, 17, 1926
6. Eddie Murphy, 17, 1919

Finally, rather than looking up pitchers, let's look up why these lists tell us next to nothing about the talents of the men therein. Plate appearances leaders:

1. Lloyd Waner, 234, 1941
2. Bill Rariden, 108, 1920
3. Johnny Sain, 104, 1946
4. Bill Sherdel, 79, 1925
5. Carson Bigbee, 72, 1926

So maybe the no-strikeout squad would be pretty bad, after all.

Daily Tracker, 8/26

Sunday means the work week is just around the corner. To distract you from that dreary fact, some updated data:

• Ryan Braun Update:
  
  
  • Today in the box score: 2-4, HR (25), 3 RBI, K
  • His 25th home run ties him for 16th all-time among first-season players with Orlando Cepeda, Eddie Mathews, Joe Gordon, Dale Alexander, and Del Bissonette.
    
  • Current line on season: .334/.378/.648 (362 PA)
  • Line adjusted for leaderboards: .298/.340/.576 (403 PA)
  • Leaderboard ranks: 21 (+3)/50 (--)/ 7 (+1)
  • PA/G needed to qualify for leaderboards (502) without adjustment at end of season: 4.38
  • Current PA/G since call-up: 4.41
  • MIL Average PA/G for #3/#4 spot in lineup: 4.49/4.35
  • PA's projected lost if in #4 instead of #3 for rest of season: 4
    
  • Projected PA at end of season if in #3/#4 spot for MIL: 506/502
    
    
• Johnny Estrada Swing Index: Did not play today.
  
  
  • Plate Appearances: 396
  • Times Swung at First Pitch: 200
    • Swung at First Pitch Percentage: 50.5%
      
  • Times Made Contact with First Pitch: 176
  • Contact Percentage for First Pitch Swings: 88.0%
    
  • First Pitch Put Into Play: 98
  • First Pitch Contact Put Into Play Percentage: 55.7%
  • First Pitch Overall Put Into Play Percentage: 24.7%
  • Double Play Opportunities: 72
  • Double Plays Resulting: 14
  • DP Rate: 19.4%
    
    
• Ryan Langerhans went 0-3 with a walk and two strikeouts for AAA Columbus.
• MLB numbers: 54 TB, 74 SO, 196 AB
  
• AAA numbers: 3 TB, 5 SO, 15 AB
• Total numbers: 57 TB, 79 SO, 211 AB
  
  
• Joe Borchard had the day off, along with his teammates on AAA Albuquerque.
  
  • MLB numbers: 56 TB, 60 SO, 179 AB
  • AAA numbers: 48 TB, 7 SO, 44 AB
  • Total numbers: 104 TB, 67 SO, 223 AB
    
    
• Jimmy Rollins was 2-4 today. His season pace is up to 202 hits and 706 at bats.
  
  
• Cubs catchers:
  
  
• Tonight in the box score: 1-5, 2B, K
  
• Through June 19: 290 PA, 264 AB, 62 H, 8 HR, 30 RBI, 20 BB, 46 K, 96 TB, .235/.287/.371, .658 OPS
• Since June 19: 238 PA, 208 AB, 44 H, 3 HR, 29 RBI, 23 BB, 40 K, 66 TB, .212/.295/.317, .613 OPS
• Season Line: 528 PA, 472 AB, 106 H, 11 HR, 59 RBI, 43 BB, 86 K, 164 TB, .225/.291/.347, .638 OPS
• 2007 MLB Average Catcher's Line: .253/.315/.389, .704 OPS

Who Needs A Bullpen?

A few days ago I looked at pitchers who had trouble getting through five or more innings per start in a season. Today I want to do the opposite. In order to differentiate between innings as a starter and reliever in the same season, I limited the search to the years 1957-2007. Here's the list of every pitcher to make more than 20 starts in a season and average eight or more innings per start.

Name	Year	Starts	IP	IP/GS
Bob Gibson	1969	35	314.0	8.97
Bob Gibson	1968	34	304.7	8.96
Rick Langford	1980	33	287.7	8.72
Gaylord Perry	1974	37	322.3	8.71
Bob Gibson	1970	34	294.0	8.65
Mark Fidrych	1976	29	249.3	8.60
Juan Marichal	1968	38	326.0	8.58
Gaylord Perry	1972	40	341.7	8.54
Juan Marichal	1966	36	306.0	8.50
Jim Palmer	1975	38	322.3	8.48
Frank Tanana	1976	34	288.3	8.48
Steve Carlton	1972	41	346.3	8.45
Steve McCatty	1981	22	185.7	8.44
Catfish Hunter	1975	39	328.0	8.41
Gaylord Perry	1973	41	344.0	8.39
Mickey Lolich	1971	45	376.0	8.36
Ferguson Jenkins	1971	39	325.0	8.33
Nolan Ryan	1973	39	323.7	8.30
Juan Marichal	1969	36	298.7	8.30
Catfish Hunter	1976	36	298.7	8.30
Gaylord Perry	1969	39	323.3	8.29
Bert Blyleven	1976	36	297.7	8.27
Mike Caldwell	1978	34	281.0	8.26
Gaylord Perry	1975	37	305.7	8.26
Denny McLain	1968	41	336.0	8.20
Luis Tiant	1974	38	311.3	8.19
Bob Gibson	1965	36	294.7	8.19
Jim Palmer	1977	39	319.0	8.18
Bob Gibson	1972	34	278.0	8.18
Tom Seaver	1971	35	285.7	8.16
Larry Dierker	1969	37	301.3	8.14
Rick Langford	1981	24	195.3	8.14
Sandy Koufax	1965	41	333.7	8.14
Bert Blyleven	1973	40	325.0	8.13
Nolan Ryan	1977	37	299.0	8.08
Greg Maddux	1994	25	202.0	8.08
Ron Guidry	1983	31	250.3	8.08
Nolan Ryan	1974	41	331.0	8.07
Tom Seaver	1970	36	290.3	8.06
Vida Blue	1976	37	298.3	8.06
Tom Seaver	1973	36	290.0	8.06
Mario Soto	1983	34	273.7	8.05
Ferguson Jenkins	1972	36	289.3	8.04
Don Drysdale	1964	40	321.3	8.03
Bill Lee	1973	33	265.0	8.03
Vern Law	1959	33	265.0	8.03
Phil Niekro	1967	20	160.3	8.02
Gaylord Perry	1970	41	328.7	8.02
Camilo Pascual	1963	31	248.3	8.01
Bob Gibson	1966	35	280.3	8.01
Jim Colborn	1973	36	288.3	8.01
Warren Spahn	1958	36	288.3	8.01
Ferguson Jenkins	1970	39	312.3	8.01
Ferguson Jenkins	1974	41	328.3	8.01
Vida Blue	1971	39	312.0	8.00
Steve Carlton	1980	38	304.0	8.00

That's a lot of innings pitched! It's interesting to me that of the 56 seasons listed, 39 of them took place in the decade from 1968-1977. A number of guys had more than one season on the list: Bert Blyleven (2), Bob Gibson (6), Catfish Hunter (2), Ferguson Jenkins (4), Gaylord Perry (6), Jim Palmer (2), Juan Marichal (3), Nolan Ryan (3), Rick Langford (2), Steve Carlton (2), Tom Seaver (3), and Vida Blue (2) were the multiple entrants. Greg Maddux is the only pitcher since 1983 to appear on the list. I doubt another guy will show up on it anytime soon. Say the average starter makes 33 starts per year now; he would have to pitch 264 innings in those starts to make the cut.

Bullpen Uniform Numbers

This is totally pointless but I've always had a sort of admiration for baseball players wearing high numbers. Unlike football, where high numbers are expected, baseball players generally go no higher than the fifties. Sure, there's exceptions like So Taguchi (#99) and Joe Beimel (#97), but usually high numbers are reserved for fringe guys on the 40-man roster and spring training flunkies. Whether they are career minor leaguers, guys wearing a number in tribute, or guys who like gimmicks, I enjoy seeing a number in the 70's, 80's or 90's. The place you usually see higher numbers is off the field of play, in the bullpen. With that in mind, I decided to look at the uniform numbers of players currently in MLB bullpens (with the aid of Yahoo! Sports' MLB rosters and mlb.com's lists of probable pitchers) to see which teams had the highest and lowest average uniform number for a reliever.

Here's the list in its entirety, sorted from highest to lowest:

1. Milwaukee Brewers, 50.1
2. Cleveland Indians, 49.8
3. Detroit Tigers, 49.7
4. Chicago White Sox, 49.6
5. Los Angeles Angels, 49.5
6. Houston Astros, 49.3
7. Chicago Cubs, 49.1
8. Los Angeles Dodgers, 48.7
9. Atlanta Braves, 48.5
10. Boston Red Sox, 47.4
11. Florida Marlins, 46.0
12. Philadelphia Phillies, 45.6
13. Kansas City Royals, 45.6
14. Cincinnati Reds, 45.1
15. Washington Nationals, 44.7
16. Arizona Diamonbacks, 44.4
17. Texas Rangers, 44.3
18. Oakland Athletics, 43.7
19. San Francisco Giants, 43.4
20. New York Yankees, 43.1
21. Colorado Rockies, 41.7
22. Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 41.6
23. Minnesota Twins, 41.4
24. Toronto Blue Jays, 41.0
25. San Diego Padres, 39.4
26. Seattle Mariners, 39.3
27. New York Mets, 37.7
28. Baltimore Orioles, 37.7
29. Pittsburgh Pirates, 37.0
30. St. Louis Cardinals, 34.4

Obviously those numbers change with every roster move and some may change soon. For example, the Phillies will likely dump one of their eight relievers to make room for Adam Eaton and the Brewers will do the same to make room for Ben Sheets. With that in mind, here's the guys making up the highest and lowest averages:

Milwaukee Brewers:

• Matt Wise, #38
• Chris Capuano, #39 (recently removed from rotation)
  
• Manny Parra, #43
• Francisco Cordero, #48
• Brian Shouse #51
  
• Seth McClung, #52
• Derrick Turnbow, #59
• Scott Linebrink, #71

St. Louis Cardinals:

• Tyler Johnson, #19
• Ryan Franklin, #31
• Randy Flores, #34
• Russ Springer, #36
• Todd Wellemeyer, #37
• Troy Percival, #40
• Jason Isringhausen, #44

Wellemeyer just came back from an injury to replace #48, Brad Thompson, knocking the team's average down from 36.0 even further. To lose their spot atop the board, the Brewers would have to send down Derrick Turnbow or DFA Scott Linebrink when Ben Sheets is activated. In other words, another team will have to take the title from them.