SS Brandon Crawford a Slam in Debut
Posted by John Autin on May 28, 2011
- Giants SS Brandon Crawford hit a grand slam in his first MLB game Friday. Crawford, fresh from San Jose in the California League (high-A), lined out and hit into a DP in his first 2 trips. But when he came up in the 7th against Milwaukee's Shaun Marcum with the bases loaded and the Giants down, 3-1, he lifted the ball and the funereal mood of SF fans with the club's first salami of the year, propelling them to a 5-4 win. (There are still 16 teams that have not hit a slam so far.)
I haven't figured out yet whether the Play Index can unearth players who hit a grand slam in their first game, or for their first hit; I think there's a search feature I haven't discovered yet. Anyone?
From a search-and-follow operation, I can tell you two things:
- Brandon Crawford is the first SS since 1919 with a debut grand slam; and
- He's just the 4th player since 1991 at any position with a grand slam in his debut. The other 3 all did it in their first time up: Daniel Nava in 2010, Kevin Kouzmanoff in 2006 and Jeremy Hermida (as a PH) in 2005.
I determined those points by searching for debuts with HR>=1 and RBI>=4. Surprisingly, there have been only 3 such games by a SS since 1919, 1 in each of the last 3 seasons: Ian Desmond in 2009, Starlin Castro in 2010, and Crawford.
Brandon Crawford's path to the majors has been a little unusual. He played most of last year at AA, but hit poorly, and began this year back in the Cali League -- something Dirk Hayhurst could relate to. Crawford played just 14 games there (injury?), but his 1.005 OPS and the continued ossification of Miguel Tejada at SS prompted his promotion. He's 24, and was a 4th-round pick in 2008
P.S. I need to thank the people responsible for my joining the B-R blogging crew: Sean Forman, for giving me the chance; Andy (not sure if he wants his last name published), for putting on the full-court recruiting press to get me off my duff; Neil Paine, for helping a 20th-century man over the technical hurdles; and all you folks out there who responded to Andy's informal referendum with your encouragement. Thank you!
May 28th, 2011 at 12:18 am
How sweet that was!
May 28th, 2011 at 1:08 am
Apologies, JA, for the tangent but when I read your post I focused on the Giants not Brandon Crawford.
After thinking Giants, I thought of the Cousins-Posey collision the other night and its ramifications for SF. Eli Whiteside for Buster Posey?
What about the suggestion from Posey's agent that home-plate collisions should be banned by MLB? Interesting stuff.
May 28th, 2011 at 1:53 am
Neil L. -- What?!? A tangent, on my thread? This is an outrage!!
Seriously, though: Though the loss of Posey is a big downer for the Giants and baseball fans in general, the immediate outcry seems like a huge overreaction.
I have no emotional attachment to, or visceral interest in, home-plate collisions. But I see several problems with changing the rules because of this incident:
Exactly what would the new rule be? Whose behavior would be regulated, the runner's, the catcher's, or both? The runner has to have a path to the plate, and the catcher has to be able to make the tag. Where is the catcher going to stand? How is the umpire going to enforce it? Will they have to draw another box in the home-plate area?
The "double-play interference" rule that was enacted in the '80s was easy to frame and enforce, because it put the burden 100% on the runner to control his approach to the base; if he makes contact with the fielder, he has to wind up in a position from which he can reach the bag, and if not, it's a DP. But for a rule against home plate collisions, what would the restrictions be on the runner? How much contact would constitute a violation? Would we just make all plays at the plate into force plays? How about "throw beat you home, go back to 3rd" like we played on the sandlot when there weren't enough guys to have a catcher?
What's more, if this precedent is set, I can envision further changes proposed the next time a big star is badly hurt. Lots of players get hurt while sliding; will that be the next thing to be banned?
I also think many people are overstating the impact on the Giants' chances this year. If sabermetrics and the Bill James revolution has taught us anything, it's that the win impact of one good player is generally overestimated. The Giants are currently 1.5 games in front in a weak division. Posey was off to a pretty good start, not great; he had 4 HRs, a .389 slugging average and a 110 OPS+. The Giants' offense has been anemic (14th in the NL in R/G), but they should get Sandoval back in a couple of weeks, Huff is hitting way below his career level, they've just called up a hot young SS, and Brandon Belt is hitting very well at AAA. Assuming they can come up with a replacement-level catcher to share the job with Eli Whiteside, the loss of Posey's on-field contributions isn't likely to cost them more than 3 games, in my opinion.
May 28th, 2011 at 2:07 am
SS Derek Jeter has only one grand slam in his career. He hit it on my birthday (June 18th, 2005). I always think about it whenever someone hits a grand slam early in his career.
May 28th, 2011 at 2:26 am
I don't think Play Index can tell you exactly if a player hit a granny in his first game, but it can tell you if he had one or more homers, and 4 or more RBIs in that game.
The query I ran shows 6 games since 2005, one in 1999, and 6 more from 1922 to 1968. Presumably, not all of these will include a slam, so it's pretty unusual (especially in the 30 years starting in 1969).
Prior to Crawford, Daniel Nava of the Red Sox was the last to do it, on Jun 12 last year, and in his first at-bat, while batting 9th.
May 28th, 2011 at 2:26 am
It's worth noting that Crawford was on the Triple-A roster when he was called up; his time spent in San Jose this year was on a rehab assignment.
May 28th, 2011 at 2:30 am
Sorry John, I see I need to keep reading the post and not stop after I come to the first interesting question.
So, to answer that question, no I don't know any interesting tricks - I ran the same query that you did.
May 28th, 2011 at 5:29 am
Baseball is a sport. It is not golf, or checkers. Pitchers have the option (although sharply curtailed, it seems....how would Bob Gibson fare in today's game?) to throw what amounts to a decent-sized rock into a hitter's shoulder blades (or worse). And, if the runner wants the plate, and the catcher is blocking it.....well, game on!
Please please don't remove that aspect of the game, from the game, lest it become 'flag baseball'.
For the record, I have no love for violence, but I do not feel as though, violence is what I am advocating 🙂
May 28th, 2011 at 6:50 am
Did Bobby Bonds hit a grand slam his first game on June 25, 1968......
May 28th, 2011 at 8:01 am
1. Re: your PS. Indeed, big welcome aboard. Considering the quality of your posts you've been a de facto contributor for some time.
2. Rather than a tangent, how about a piece on the catcher collision question? Short review of historic injuries and their impact on players/careers/team fortunes, poll of reader views.
Good luck!
Cheers,
User100
May 28th, 2011 at 11:45 am
Bobby Bonds hit a grand slam in his first game in 1968, and Bill Dugglesby in 1896, I believe...
May 28th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
I seem to recall that Roy Smalley hit a GS in his debut, probably his first AB.
May 28th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
@7, Doug -- No worries. I put those sentences out of order, anyway -- I shouldn't say "I don't know how to do this," and then show that I basically did it by an end-around.
May 28th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
JA, since I already posted off-topic in this thread, why not do it again?
Don't know where to point out this anomaly, but Adam Dunne of the White Sox struck out four times in Thursday's game and then walked four times in the next game.
How often has that been done in ML baseball?
It highlights the enigma that is Adam Dunne as a hitter, IMO!
I don't think the PI can find consecutive games like this because they are diffeent events.
May 28th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
Hideki Matsui hit a grand slam in his first ML home game in 2003.
May 28th, 2011 at 3:44 pm
Nava and Kouzmanoff both did it on the first pitch of their Major League careers.
May 28th, 2011 at 4:32 pm
Off subject a little, but I saw where Joe Madden batted Longoria in the lead off spot today. I am one that thinks except for the lead off spot in the NL batting order is a little overrated, and I would say Joe agrees. He has had Damon batting 3rd, and he moved Fuld from 1 to 9. I really think Madden gets it and it shows the confidence he has to try to shake things up a little. Try this in NY and they would have you in Bellevue before the game started. It's official Joe Madden is underrated and awesome, and if he keeps it up maybe in the HOF.
May 28th, 2011 at 7:36 pm
@8
Nash, baseball is not a contact sport compared to hockey, football or even basketball.
Body contact, between opposing players, only takes places in certain situations in baseball.
(i) A runner sliding into 2B or 3B on an attempted steal.
(ii) A 1B-man blocking the bag on a pickoff attempt.
(iii) A middle infielder pivoting on 2B to try and complete the double play.
(iv) A baserunner attempting to score at home on a contested throw.
Clearly, the last one has the most potential for injury based on the physics of the play.
You can't legistrate contact out of the gamw.
May 28th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
@18 Seen quite a few collisions at first on errant throws, or the pitcher covering, but that is unintentional contact. Last week Marlon Byrd might have been knocked out of baseball by a fastball to the face. A broken leg during a play at the plate sounds pretty good compared to that. Hate to see young people hurt in such a beautiful game though, no doubt about it.
May 29th, 2011 at 8:51 am
Jeter lost 36 games in 2003 because of a collision with catcher at third. It was on opening day. Jeter was sliding into third, headfirst with his arms reaching for the bag, and the catcher who was racing up the third base line to cover dislocated his shoulder in the process of tagging him out. He basically crashed down onto Jeter's exposed left shoulder with his shinguard.
Did anyone suggest that catchers wearing protective equipment shouldn't leave the home plate area? Or that catchers shouldn't use their equipment as an advantage to be physically aggressive with base runners during a play? I feel bad for Posey because he is a great young player, but I just wanted to point out that catcher's dish out injuries too. If you can dish it out, you have to take it.
May 29th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
@18 @19
Yeah, I guess I missed a few potential collision possibilities. Forgot about the pitcher-batter at 1B. Also collisions between defensive players both trying to field the ball. That's how Aaron Hill suffered his devastating concussion.
Of all the collision possibilities the baserunner-catcher one at home plate has the most deliberate "intent" doesn't it? That means it is the most logical one to legistrate out of the game if you're inclined to chamge the rules.
May 29th, 2011 at 1:36 pm
@21, Neil L. -- Care to try your hand at drafting the rule to prevent home-plate collisions?
May 29th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
@14, Neil L. re: Dunn's 4-K game followed by 4-walk game:
No way for me to directly check the frequency of such games back-to-back.
Restricting the search to games of 4+ Ks or BBs acccounting for all his PAs in the game, I can tell you that:
-- Dunn is the first player this year to have one of each game, regardless of them being consecutive. (9 players have a game of "4+ Ks = PAs" this year; B.J. Upton is the only one with 2 such games. BTW, who is Rene Tosoni? The only other player with a game of "4+ BBs = PAs" is Ryan Langerhans.)
-- Nobody in 2010 had one of each type of game. The BB variety is much rarer; last year, only Jim Thome and Colby Rasmus had one.)
-- In 2009, Chipper Jones was the only player with 1 of each type, but they were a month apart.
That's as far as I'm going to take this right now, and I don't want to extrapolate too much from just 2-1/3 seasons, but it seems that doing it in consecutive games could be pretty rare.
May 29th, 2011 at 4:01 pm
@22
John Autin, wouldn't touch the wording of a collision rule revision with a 10-foot ...... 🙂
May 29th, 2011 at 10:25 pm
Two blog posts in a row about someone named Crawford. I expected long-time umpire Shag to be the subject of the next one!
May 30th, 2011 at 1:54 am
@25, DoubleDiamond -- Don't forget that I have discussed Sam Crawford in these threads with Timmy P., who hails from Wahoo Sam's hometown.
Willie Crawford was the last position player to make his MLB debut at seasonal age 17.
Perhaps I'll come up with a topic about the Crawford Boxes in Houston's stadium.
P.S. There are currently 2 minor-league players named Evan Crawford. The Cubs OF is currently among the Florida State League leaders in BA, OBP and SB. Toronto's LHRP has a 3.52 ERA in AA.