28 Responses to “5+ Career Games Since 1919 With 1 IP Or Less & 5+ ER Allowed”

1. GTB Says:
   May 23rd, 2011 at 4:20 pm

   Without those 3.2 terrible innings Feller's career ERA would be 3.19 instead of 3.25. Amazing that such a small sample could affect his numbers that much considering the career IP he had.

2. Chris Says:
   May 23rd, 2011 at 4:20 pm

   Neat list. Many top flight/HOF pitchers on the list. I expected the names to be dominated by relief pitchers. Quite the opposite.

3. Steve Lombardi Says:
   May 23rd, 2011 at 4:44 pm

   I know that Jim Clancy's ERA probably wants those 1.3 IP back.

4. Steve Lombardi Says:
   May 23rd, 2011 at 4:47 pm

   Well, maybe not. I just did the math. 🙂

5. Neil L. Says:
   May 23rd, 2011 at 4:55 pm

   At first I thought these were all starters and couldn't figure out they didn't lose almost every game they flamed out in!

   Steve, I had to look up Tex Clavenger's games after reading the list.

   He caught my eye because he is the only one with 5 no-decisions. What I learned from the box scores was that he was brought in in long relief in all five no-decisions after the starter had laid an egg, stunk the place out but didn't get charged with the loss. A unique usage and result!

   In his only start to qualify him for the list, predictably, Clavenger lost. I do not remember this player.

   Conclusion? Those must have been pretty bad Washington Senators' teams back then, with bad pitching staffs.

6. Gary W Says:
   May 23rd, 2011 at 5:47 pm

   Lots of Hall of Famers in the list! Ted Lyons with an ERA of 135.00!

7. kds Says:
   May 23rd, 2011 at 6:05 pm

   The "King of Pop", has the most games on the list with none being starts. Nolan Ryan is only #2 in walks allowed. Don Sutton tied for #2 in HR allowed. I would guess that if you took all the pitcher seasons in which these games occured and totaled them up the ERA+ would be above 100. You have to be pretty good to get enough chances to be this horrid this often.

8. DoubleDiamond Says:
   May 23rd, 2011 at 7:24 pm

   If you don't mind, I have a couple of crrections to others' observations

   In addition to Truman "Tex" Clevenger, Jason Boyd also had 5 no decision. The difference in his case is that he got no decisions in all such appearances.

   Also, Mel Rojas had the same number of such games with no starts as Michael Jackson, whom I believe is who is meant by the "King of Pop".

9. Gerry Says:
   May 23rd, 2011 at 7:31 pm

   #5, Jason Boyd also had 5 no-decisions, an 0-0 record in his 5 games, all in relief.

   #6, Lyons was only a bit worse than fellow HoFer Burleigh Grimes, at 130.50.

10. sansho1 Says:
    May 23rd, 2011 at 7:38 pm

    Pitchers aren't allowed on the mound like they used to be when they've "got nothing" or are injured, it appears.

11. Neil L. Says:
    May 23rd, 2011 at 8:09 pm

    @9
    Yes, Gerry, you're right. I missed Jason Boyd's 5 no-decisions. Thanks.

    Must have scrolled down a bit too quickly.

12. Johnny Twisto Says:
    May 23rd, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    Pitchers aren't allowed on the mound like they used to be when they've "got nothing" or are injured, it appears.

    Possibly. I think managers are more loathe to pull a SP that quick these days. So you get guys who get hammered in the first, but the manager will leave them in in hopes of getting a few innings out of him.

13. Neil L. Says:
    May 23rd, 2011 at 9:39 pm

    @10 @12
    JT and Sansho1, a larger portion of the roster devoted to pitchers than in the "old" days means a manager doesn't have to stick with a struggling starter or "long" reliever now as long

14. John Autin Says:
    May 23rd, 2011 at 10:08 pm

    I had always wondered why Brendan C. Boyd and Fred C. Harris, authors of the hilarious Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book, had been so hard on Tex Clevenger. He wasn’t that bad, really; he had a 94 ERA+, and he even threw 2 shutouts among his 7 starts in 1959, blanking the #1 and #3 scoring teams in the AL. But perhaps the Topps photographer caught him reflecting on one of those bombardments listed above. Here’s the passage from the GABCFTABGB:

    [photo of Tex Clevenger looking deeply anxious]

    ”If the camera indeed does not lie, then what are we to make of this.

    "Tex Clevenger could never seem to shake the lingering and nagging self-doubt which plagued him throughout his career. Given his record, of course, this was readily understandable. But couldn’t he have tried a little harder to cover it up? In this picture he seems to be saying to himself, ‘Geez, maybe I should get out of this racket.’

    "Geez, Tex, maybe you should.

    "But in the meantime, stop picking your fingernails."

15. MikeD Says:
    May 23rd, 2011 at 10:54 pm

    A lot of good names on that list, then again, I guess a pitcher would have to be good to be at the top since he'd be cut if he wasn't.

    Interesting also to see Rudy May at the very top. He's a forgotten, but was a pretty good lefty for a number of years. His 1972 line is crazy in that he was only league average. Stats like that today from a lefty starter would get him at least $15 million a year! Obviously, low-offense times.

16. Mr. Dave Says:
    May 23rd, 2011 at 11:03 pm

    Johnny Sain had it worse than Rudy May. His seven starts only went 2.2 innings. An ERA of 131.62? Yikes.

17. Hartvig Says:
    May 24th, 2011 at 12:59 am

    And those 4 innings raised Rudy May's ERA from 3.30 to 3.46 for his career...

18. Philippe Says:
    May 24th, 2011 at 6:37 am

    In spite of the huge pitching staffs nowadays, you do not in fact see starting pitchers pulled early anymore. The reason is that there are no true long relievers anymore. Today, if you pull a pitcher in the first or second inning, it messes your bullpen for a week: everyone has to pitch an inning or two, and usage must be closely monitored for the next few days so that no one<s arm blows up as a result.

    Up until the 1980s, you just asked whoever your long reliever was to give you five or six innings, and the consequences were not dire. Not anymore, when no reliever ever pitches more than two innings unless the game goes into extras. Which is why you see more an more starters give up 7+ runs in a game: the innings they give are worth more than the cost of getting beat up badly in that one game.

19. John Autin Says:
    May 24th, 2011 at 10:41 am

    @18, Philippe -- Good point about the decline in the long relief role. I had actually thought that such appearances were on the rise this year, based on anecdotal observation, but I was 100% wrong.

    The number of relief outings of at least 2.1 IP is at a 10-year low at this stage of the season, less than half the rate of 2001, and the curve from 2001-11 is a steady downward slope.

    Hard to say if this is due more to a change in strategy, or just the fact that SPs just aren't getting knocked around as much in recent years. Short starts (less than 4 IP) are down 40% this year compared to 2001.

20. John Autin Says:
    May 24th, 2011 at 10:53 am

    @15, MikeD -- Nice to see Rudy May's name come up at all, even in this context. He was a big part of my Strat-O-Matic years in the late '70s and early '80s, when he was terrific as a swing-man for the Expos and Yankees, winning the 1980 AL ERA and ERA+ titles despite making only 17 starts.

    From 1980-2010, just 11 pitchers notched 162+ IP in a season with 17 or fewer starts. Three of them led their league in ERA+ -- May in 1980, Bob Stanley in '82 (all in relief) and Danny Darwin in 1990 (17 starts).

21. Neil L. Says:
    May 24th, 2011 at 12:53 pm

    @18 @19
    "The reason is that there are no true long relievers anymore. Today, if you pull a pitcher in the first or second inning, it messes your bullpen for a week:"

    Philippe, a good contribution to the discussion.

    What has the evolution of highly specialized, rigid bullpen roles today meant to the decline of the "old-style" long reliever? I suggest it has made it extinct, as you point out.

    Relief specialists are too valuable to have three games worth of innings consumed in a single long-relief outing.

22. Mr. Dave Says:
    May 24th, 2011 at 1:04 pm

    Tim Wakefield was supposed to be that guy for the Red Sox this year. He would have fit the old school long reliever perfectly. However, the fragile nature of Lackey's psyche changed those plans.

23. John Autin Says:
    May 24th, 2011 at 1:17 pm

    Despite the overall decline in long relief outings, there are still a few practitioners. Each of these 5 pitchers has 4 relief games of at least 2.1 IP this year: Carlos Villanueva (Blue Jays), David Pauley (Mariners), Cristhian Martinez (Braves), Corey Luebke (Padres), and Nathan Adcock (Royals). Villanueva, Pauley and Luebke allowed no ER in those games.

    Villanueva's performance in longrelief earned him a start last night -- his first since 2009 -- and he held the Yankees to 1 run on 2 hits in 5 IP.

    BTW ... It's too bad the Braves don't play the Tigers this year. I want to see Cristhian Martinez pitching to Jhonny Peralta.

24. Cheese Says:
    May 24th, 2011 at 3:57 pm

    Tex Clevenger was born in my hometown, so props to that!

25. Jeff Says:
    May 24th, 2011 at 4:30 pm

    @24: That was tricky, Cheese. You forced me to look up Tex Clevenger, so I'd know where he was born.

    P.S. My hometown is Lompoc, and that's not terribly far from Visalia. Casey Candaele is from there.

26. Thom Says:
    May 24th, 2011 at 10:57 pm

    I noticed Johnny Sain on the list and checked out his career stats. I noticed in 1948, he started 39 games and went 24-15. I wonder if anyone has any seasons where he had 40 or more decisions where he received a decision in every game.

27. Johnny Twisto Says:
    May 24th, 2011 at 11:38 pm

    Thom, yes, it was not that uncommon in the days when pitchers completed almost every start. In 1883 Tim Keefe started 68 games, completed every one, and (of course) had 68 decisions (41-27).

    But I don't know if you realized that in that Sain season he also relieved in 3 games. So he did not get a decision in every start -- he picked up one decision as a reliever (albeit one who entered in the first inning and finished the game).

28. Brendan Burke Says:
    May 25th, 2011 at 9:54 am

    @26

    Tim Wakefield had 26 decisions in his first 26 games a few seasons ago, but he's a knuckleballer so he doesn't really count.