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Yovani Gallardo and scoring runs every time on base

Posted by Andy on May 31, 2011

Check out pitchers this year who have scored runs at least half their times on base (minimum 10 plate appearances):

Rk Player R TOBwe PA Year Age Tm G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO HBP SH BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
1 Yovani Gallardo 6 6 32 2011 25 MIL 12 30 6 0 0 1 3 0 12 0 2 .200 .200 .300 .500 *1
2 Carlos Zambrano 5 9 26 2011 30 CHC 12 24 9 2 0 1 4 0 6 0 2 .375 .375 .583 .958 *1
3 Clayton Kershaw 4 7 28 2011 23 LAD 12 25 6 0 0 0 1 0 3 1 2 .240 .269 .240 .509 *1
4 Ryan Vogelsong 3 4 14 2011 33 SFG 8 13 4 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 1 .308 .308 .385 .692 /*1
5 Esmil Rogers 2 2 10 2011 25 COL 8 9 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 1 .222 .222 .222 .444 /*1
6 Matt Cain 2 2 26 2011 26 SFG 11 23 1 0 0 0 0 1 13 0 2 .043 .083 .043 .127 *1
7 Matt Garza 2 1 20 2011 27 CHC 9 20 1 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 .050 .050 .050 .100 /*1
8 Bud Norris 2 3 22 2011 26 HOU 11 18 2 1 0 0 2 1 9 0 3 .111 .158 .167 .325 *1
9 Chris Volstad 2 3 19 2011 24 FLA 9 16 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 3 .188 .188 .188 .375 /*1
10 Jason Hammel 2 3 25 2011 28 COL 10 19 3 0 0 1 3 0 4 0 6 .158 .158 .316 .474 *1
11 Travis Wood 1 1 20 2011 24 CIN 15 18 1 0 0 1 3 0 7 0 2 .056 .056 .222 .278 *1
12 Clayton Mortensen 1 1 11 2011 26 COL 7 10 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 0 0 .000 .091 .000 .091 /*1
13 Roy Halladay 1 1 32 2011 34 PHI 11 27 1 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 5 .037 .037 .037 .074 *1
14 Mat Latos 1 1 16 2011 23 SDP 9 16 1 0 0 1 1 0 8 0 0 .063 .063 .250 .313 /*1
15 Jon Garland 1 1 15 2011 31 LAD 8 10 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 4 .000 .091 .000 .091 /*1
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/30/2011.

Gallardo hasn't actually scored every single time he's been on base, but he's close. On April 17th he singled and was stranded, and on April 27th he reached by a bunt groundout and later scored. However, his other 5 runs came from times he got on base himself.

If you look all-time, here are the leaders for most runs scored per time on base:

Rk Player R TOBwe PA Year Age Tm Lg G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
1 Asa Brainard 18 18 69 1873 32 BAL NA 16 69 18 1 0 0 9 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .261 .261 .275 .536 *1/94
2 Blue Moon Odom 16 9 72 1972 27 OAK AL 59 66 8 1 0 2 2 1 0 29 0 5 0 0 4 2 .121 .134 .227 .362 *1
3 Phil Collins 15 13 60 1929 27 PHI NL 59 58 11 4 0 1 7 1 0 12 1 0 0 0 0 0 .190 .217 .310 .527 *1
4 Pedro Ramos 13 9 62 1963 28 CLE AL 54 55 6 0 0 3 7 3 0 32 0 4 0 0 0 0 .109 .155 .273 .428 *1
5 Hal Jeffcoat 13 9 34 1954 29 CHC NL 56 31 8 2 1 1 6 1 0 7 0 0 2 1 2 0 .258 .265 .484 .749 *1/8
6 Jim Palmer 11 10 78 1966 20 BAL AL 36 73 7 1 0 1 5 3 0 33 0 2 0 0 0 0 .096 .132 .151 .282 *1
7 Grant Jackson 9 6 47 1970 27 PHI NL 52 44 4 0 0 0 1 1 0 15 1 1 0 1 0 0 .091 .130 .091 .221 *1
8 Dock Ellis 9 9 76 1970 25 PIT NL 38 70 7 1 0 0 1 2 0 37 0 4 0 0 1 0 .100 .125 .114 .239 *1
9 Vic Keen 9 9 62 1923 24 CHC NL 35 53 8 2 0 0 2 1 0 16 0 8 0 0 0 0 .151 .167 .189 .355 *1
10 Bernie Boland 8 8 81 1917 25 DET AL 45 72 4 1 1 0 2 4 0 19 0 5 0 0 0 0 .056 .105 .097 .202 *1/9
11 John Gilroy 8 8 30 1895 25 WHS NL 12 29 7 1 0 0 4 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .241 .267 .276 .543 /*175
12 Jumbo McGinnis 8 8 33 1887 33 CIN AA 8 31 6 2 1 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 .194 .242 .323 .565 /*1
13 Pud Galvin 8 6 46 1875 18 STL NA 13 46 6 2 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 .130 .130 .217 .348 /*1978
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/30/2011.

Some of these guys scored more runs than times they were on base. How is that possible? Just like Gallardo, they got on base via a fielder's choice or they entered some games as pinch-runners. To find out who scored every time on base, we'd need to look at each guy's batting game log. I looked at a few but couldn't find anybody who actually did score each time on base. (Note that the above list is for pitchers only!)

Shout out to reader Tim B., who emailed in with this idea moments after I started writing it. He and I were on the same page.

13 Responses to “Yovani Gallardo and scoring runs every time on base”

  1. panrell Says:

    I know Blue Moon was used as a pinch runner quite a bit for the A's in '72.
    This was before the immortal Herb Washington came along.

  2. Doug Says:

    Recent history would suggest Gallardo is not likely to keep it up. Nobody on this list since 1972.

    As Panrell indicated with Blue Moon Odom, Jim Palmer in 1966 also was used a bit as a PR. That year, he appeared as a PR 6 times (incl. 4 times in a 9 day period Aug 30-Sep 7), and scored 5 of those times.

    That also might be an interesting blog idea - who are the most efficient pinch-runners of all time?

  3. JW Lewis Says:

    Just from memory, I think Blue Moon Odom made the last out of Game 5 of the 1972 World Series as a pinch runner when he tried to score from third on a short popup and tie the game. And the A's were up 3 games to 1 at the time.

    And...I think it was a Friday Afternoon game, 3 or 4 PM Eastern time, when an earlier game was rained out.

  4. panrell Says:

    Odom pr'd 28 times in '72 with 8 runs scored.

  5. John Autin Says:

    Just for fun, I looked up the most runs scored in a game with 0 times on base. The record is 3, shared by Paul Lehner (1949), Jo-Jo Moore (1937), Pie Traynor (1922) and Max Flack (1921). Lehner is the only one who scored each time he went to the plate; unfortunately, no play-by-play exists.
    http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WS1/WS1194909200.shtml

  6. jason Says:

    brainard and galvin probably never pinch ran, but they probably made it on base by error at least half again as many times as they were recorded as on base.

    and man did brainard fall off a cliff once they, you know, created a league lol. 3rd worst pitcher ever!

  7. jason Says:

    brainard probably blew his arm out on that huge winning streak in 69 right

  8. Nash Bruce Says:

    Wasn't 1970 also the year, that Dock Ellis claimed to have pitched a no-hitter, while on LSD?
    Those must really have been some "trips" around the bases, for him......

  9. Hartvig Says:

    @1 Pedro Ramos too. I think he once offer to race Mickey Mantle before he blew his knees out.

  10. Hartvig Says:

    @ 6 That 1874 season is amazing! He allowed 329 runs in 240 innings but only 99 of them were earned so he actually has a decent ERA (although is ERA + is just 62.

  11. Johnny Twisto Says:

    most runs scored in a game with 0 times on base

    A neat trick, to be sure....

    Wasn't 1970 also the year, that Dock Ellis claimed to have pitched a no-hitter, while on LSD?

    This has been posted here before, but for those who missed it, it is truly a must-watch:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vUhSYLRw14

  12. Nash Bruce Says:

    @11 JT: just watched your link, OM God was that funny........slightly sad, also (when he talked about medicating, in order to deal with the pressure, of being in the bigs), but mostly, I laughed....
    Thanks for posting, and letting me catch up 🙂

  13. Steve Says:

    I can feel him scoring in the air tonight, oh lord...