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2010 Cubs: Blowout Specialists

Posted by Raphy on March 6, 2011

The  2010 Cubs were involved in a bevy of blowouts.  Mostly they were on the receiving end of the whoopin' , but they also handed out their fair share, as well. In all, the Cubs played 16 games that were decided by at least 10 runs, posting a 5-11 record in those contests.

Rk Gm# Date Tm Opp R RA Inn W-L Rank GB Win Loss Save Time Attendance Streak
1 1 Monday, Apr 5 boxscore CHC @ ATL L 5 16 0-1 3 1.0 Lowe Zambrano 2:45 53,081 -
2 19 Sunday, Apr 25 boxscore CHC @ MIL W 12 2 9-10 2 2.5 Wells Bush 2:58 38,634 +++
3 29 Thursday, May 6 boxscore CHC @ PIT L 1 11 13-16 4 5.0 Burres Wells 2:28 11,085 ---
4 31 Saturday, May 8 boxscore CHC @ CIN L 2 14 14-17 5 5.0 Harang Gorzelanny 3:16 26,404 -
5 68 Saturday, Jun 19 boxscore CHC LAA L 0 12 30-38 3 8.0 Weaver Lilly 3:00 40,008 --
6 69 Sunday, Jun 20 boxscore CHC LAA W 12 1 31-38 3 7.0 Zambrano Saunders 3:00 39,850 +
7 80 Friday, Jul 2 boxscore CHC CIN L 0 12 34-46 4 11.5 Arroyo Dempster 2:51 40,361 ---
8 82 Sunday, Jul 4 boxscore CHC CIN L 3 14 35-47 4 11.5 Leake Lilly 2:40 41,079 -
9 103 Friday, Jul 30 boxscore CHC @ COL L 2 17 46-57 4 11.0 Francis Dempster 3:04 40,189 ---
10 106 Monday, Aug 2 boxscore CHC MIL L 1 18 46-60 5 13.5 Gallardo Wells 3:18 37,731 ------
11 108 Wednesday, Aug 4 boxscore CHC MIL W 15 3 47-61 5 13.5 Dempster Parra 3:07 38,425 +
12 125 Sunday, Aug 22 boxscore CHC ATL L 5 16 51-74 5 21.5 Minor Wells 2:54 37,518 -
13 132 Monday, Aug 30 boxscore CHC PIT W 14 2 56-76 5 20.5 Zambrano Maholm 3:10 29,538 +
14 137 Sunday, Sep 5 boxscore CHC NYM L 5 18 59-78 5 20.5 Niese Dempster 3:27 40,788 -
15 149 Sunday, Sep 19 boxscore CHC @ FLA W 13 3 68-81 5 15.5 Samardzija Miller 3:15 20,203 ++++++
16 152 Thursday, Sep 23 boxscore CHC SFG L 0 13 69-83 5 16.5 Bumgarner Dempster 2:48 34,481 -
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/6/2011.

While those 16 games were not a record, they do tie for the 4th most since 1901. Here are the teams with at least 15 such contests.

Rk Tm Year G W L W-L% RS RA pythW-L%
1 BOS 1938 18 13 5 .722 182 97 .760
2 NYY 1931 17 15 2 .882 249 81 .886
3 NYY 1936 17 16 1 .941 247 57 .936
4 CHW 1934 16 3 13 .188 71 190 .142
5 CHC 2010 16 5 11 .313 90 172 .234
6 MIL 1996 16 9 7 .563 154 131 .573
7 BAL 1996 16 10 6 .625 157 121 .617
8 CLE 1921 16 12 4 .750 192 88 .807
9 WSH 1938 15 7 8 .467 99 113 .440
10 PHA 1935 15 7 8 .467 117 124 .473
11 CLE 1936 15 8 7 .533 127 116 .541
12 CHW 1901 15 12 3 .800 188 79 .830
13 NYY 1929 15 12 3 .800 165 59 .868
14 NYY 1939 15 15 0 1.000 232 31 .975
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/6/2011.

The Cubs didn't just play in a lot of blowouts, they also lost a lot of blowouts. Here are the teams since 1901 with at least 11 10-run losses.

Rk Tm Year G W L W-L% RS RA pythW-L%
1 PHA 1939 14 1 13 .071 45 207 .058
2 CHW 1934 16 3 13 .188 71 190 .142
3 SLB 1937 12 0 12 .000 33 174 .046
4 SLB 1936 13 1 12 .077 40 172 .065
5 PHA 1936 13 1 12 .077 41 197 .054
6 PHA 1954 13 1 12 .077 42 169 .073
7 PHI 1930 14 2 12 .143 86 204 .171
8 PHI 1921 11 0 11 .000 29 152 .046
9 DET 1996 11 0 11 .000 36 164 .059
10 CIN 1901 12 1 11 .083 50 188 .081
11 STL 2007 14 3 11 .214 56 151 .140
12 CHC 2010 16 5 11 .313 90 172 .234
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/6/2011.

16 Responses to “2010 Cubs: Blowout Specialists”

  1. ray Says:

    I'd like to see a report of how many times one team scored 20 runs in a game at Wrigley

  2. Raphy Says:

    18.
    Here you go:
    http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/BakNF

    There were none prior to 1920

  3. Kahuna Tuna Says:

    Compare Wrigley's 18 20+-run team games in 97 seasons with the 19 such games played at Baker Bowl in just 44 seasons (1895-1938).

  4. Dr. Doom Says:

    Ladies and gentlemen, your 2010 Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs. Apparently, there was a 29 run swing in two days (8/2 to 8/4). Yuck. I'm glad Manny Parra's out of the rotation for the Crew, that's all I can say.

  5. Wine Curmudgeon Says:

    The joys of being a Cubs fan. Thanks so much for this. It's the kind of thing I like to see before the season starts, so I'll know what to expect. Again.

  6. Terry Says:

    Are there any with 0 blowouts in a whole season?

  7. Raphy Says:

    33 teams.

    Tm Year G W L W-L%
    1 BRO 1908 154 53 101 0.344
    2 CHW 1910 156 68 85 0.444
    3 CHW 1914 157 70 84 0.455
    4 CHC 1916 156 67 86 0.438
    5 PHI 1916 154 91 62 0.595
    6 PIT 1916 157 65 89 0.422
    7 NYY 1917 155 71 82 0.464
    8 PIT 1917 157 51 103 0.331
    9 SLB 1918 123 58 64 0.475
    10 STL 1919 138 54 83 0.394
    11 STL 1938 156 71 80 0.47
    12 CHC 1942 155 68 86 0.442
    13 CIN 1958 154 76 78 0.494
    14 BAL 1961 163 95 67 0.586
    15 CHW 1962 162 85 77 0.525
    16 MIN 1966 162 89 73 0.549
    17 ATL 1967 162 77 85 0.475
    18 NYM 1967 162 61 101 0.377
    19 LAD 1968 162 76 86 0.469
    20 WSA 1969 162 86 76 0.531
    21 BOS 1971 162 85 77 0.525
    22 NYM 1975 162 82 80 0.506
    23 BOS 1976 162 83 79 0.512
    24 NYM 1978 162 66 96 0.407
    25 LAD 1980 163 92 71 0.564
    26 HOU 1981 110 61 49 0.555
    27 SDP 1982 162 81 81 0.5
    28 SFG 1985 162 62 100 0.383
    29 LAD 1991 162 93 69 0.574
    30 CIN 2002 162 78 84 0.481
    31 NYM 2004 162 71 91 0.438
    32 SEA 2005 162 69 93 0.426
    33 CLE 2007 162 96 66 0.593
  8. Gerry Says:

    No surprise to see all those teams from the 1930s on top of the blowout list, accompanied by teams from the 20s and the high offense years since 1993. No surprise to see the 1936 and 1939 Yankees at 16-1 and 15-0. Bit of a surprise to see the 1935 Athletics at 7-8, as they were 58-91 overall.

  9. Doug Says:

    Further to 8.

    Yankees did the trick 4 times in 11 years, from '29 to '39.

    Combined record of those 4 teams in these games: 58-6. The Bronx Bombers indeed.

  10. Doug Says:

    @7. Interesting patterns in Raphy's list of teams with no blowouts in a season.

    None in the first 7 seasons (1901-07), then 10 teams in 12 years (1908-19), which kind of makes sense being the deadball years.

    Then, only twice in 38 high-offense years (1920-57), followed by 16 times in 28 more pitching-dominated years (1958-85).

    Then, only once in 16 years (1986-2001) of lively ball (and "lively" hitters).

    Finally, now that we're moving out of the PED era, it's happened 4 times in the past 9 years.

  11. Terry Says:

    As a White Sox fan who watches a lot of Cub games, these guys had no heart, last season. A bad bullpen and lousy defense, coupled with an inconsistant offense, led to these blow-out losses.

    But everything will be OK this season. The Cubs have Carlos Pena's leadership....just ask Chicago Tribune writer Paul Sullivan!

  12. Tu Saha Says:

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  13. Andrew Says:

    Take it elsewhere please Tu Saha - this blog is for discussing baseball, not games consoles.

  14. MClark Says:

    So the 2006 Cardinals win 83 games and the world series, and follow that up with 78 wins in 2007, a year that includes 13 blowout losses. Baseball is the greatest game. The margin between the greatest success and miserable failure is so small.

  15. MClark Says:

    Excuse me, 11 blowout losses. Yeah for the English major who can't read.

  16. Dangerous Dean Says:

    As a fan of the Texas Rangers, I saw a lot of 11-7 wins (and losses) in the sad history of this franchise. So I was stunned to not see them make any of these lists. Glad, but stunned.