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No BBs in consecutive starts

Posted by Andy on February 11, 2009

Here are the longest streaks since 1956 of starts with no walks:

                   StreakStart  Streak End Games   W   L   GS  CG SHO  GF  SV   IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR   ERA  HBP  WP  BK Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 Bill Fischer       1962-08-07  1962-09-26    11    2   8  11   3   0   0   0   71     86   36   32    0   18   7   4.06   1   0   0 KCA                                  

 Greg Maddux        2007-08-03  2007-09-13     9    5   2   9   0   0   0   0   53.2   56   19   19    0   30   2   3.19   1   1   0 SDP                                  
 Greg Maddux        2001-06-25  2001-08-07     9    8   1   9   1   1   0   0   65.1   69   24   22    0   45   3   3.03   0   0   0 ATL                                  

 Javier Vazquez     2005-05-01  2005-06-04     7    3   2   7   2   1   0   0   50     51   19   19    0   41   4   3.42   3   0   0 ARI                                  
 David Wells        2002-09-06  2003-04-16     7    6   0   7   2   1   0   0   53     42   12   11    0   36   4   1.87   4   1   0 NYY                                  
 Jimmy Key          1989-09-20  1990-04-29     7    3   2   7   0   0   0   0   33     49   20   20    0   29   4   5.45   0   1   0 TOR                                  
 Randy Jones        1976-05-21  1976-06-18     7    5   1   7   5   2   0   0   60     53   20   16    0   14   5   2.40   0   0   0 SDP                                  
 Dick Donovan       1963-06-20  1963-07-20     7    2   3   7   1   0   0   0   44.1   51   29   28    0   12   9   5.68   0   0   0 CLE                                  

 Kevin Slowey       2007-09-04  2008-05-08     6    1   3   6   0   0   0   0   32     28   14   13    0   28   4   3.66   0   1   0 MIN                                  
 Paul Byrd          2007-05-04  2007-05-30     6    4   0   6   0   0   0   0   40     49   17   16    0   21   6   3.60   1   1   0 CLE                                  
 Jon Lieber         2006-09-02  2006-09-28     6    3   2   6   0   0   0   0   35.1   42   18   17    0   22   7   4.33   1   0   0 PHI                                  
 David Wells        2004-08-24  2004-09-18     6    5   0   6   0   0   0   0   41     36   17   14    0   28   6   3.07   0   1   0 SDP                                  
 Brian Tollberg     2001-07-16  2001-08-22     6    3   2   6   0   0   0   0   36.1   44   19   19    0   24   6   4.71   2   0   0 SDP                                  
 Greg Maddux        1995-06-09  1995-07-06     6    4   0   6   2   1   0   0   47     39    5    5    0   36   1   0.96   0   0   0 ATL                                  
 Bob Tewksbury      1993-06-20  1993-07-17     6    4   1   6   0   0   0   0   44     43   13   12    0   21   2   2.45   1   2   0 STL                                  
 Orel Hershiser     1991-08-11  1991-09-16     6    2   0   6   0   0   0   0   30.2   33   12   12    0   18   1   3.52   3   0   3 LAD                                  
 La Marr Hoyt       1983-07-13  1983-08-07     6    5   1   6   1   0   0   0   38.1   44   18   18    0   24   6   4.23   0   0   0 CHW                                  
 Don Drysdale       1966-08-18  1966-09-06     6    1   3   6   1   0   0   0   35     41   15   15    0   21   3   3.86   0   0   0 LAD                                  

There are some pretty surprising numbers on here:

  • Fischer's streak comprised 71 innings over 11 starts, an average of about 6.5 innings per start. In 1962, that was nothing special. that he went 2-8 in those 11 starts is a bit surprising.
  • Jimmy Key managed only 33 IP in his 7-game streak, or less than 5 innings per start. Yet he still managed 3 wins (despite averaging fewer than the required number innings to win a game.)
  • News flash: Greg Maddux was really good. See you in Cooperstown in 5 years.
  • Brian Tollberg? Raise your hand if you would ever have guessed he'd made this list. He was a great control pitcher, averaging about 2.4 walks per 9 innings for his rather short career.

One Response to “No BBs in consecutive starts”

  1. Raphy Says:

    Fischer only made 16 starts that year.
    In 12 he walked no one. In the other 4 he only walked 1 batter in each game.
    While 2-8 may seem bad, Fischer 0-4 in starts in which he walked a batter.
    It is also interesting to note that in 16 starts he lost 1-0 three times.
    I figured that his team couldn't score, but this isn't true. The'62 A's were 4th in the AL in scoring.

    http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/pktB