2008 non-hitting streaks
Posted by Andy on February 24, 2009
After yesterday's look at longest hitting streaks in 2008, here are the longest non-hitting streaks. Here are the most consecutive games without a hit (but with at least 1 plate appearance.)
StreakStart Streak End Games AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SO BB SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Teams +-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Jay Bergmann 2008-04-03 2008-09-26 20 40 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 WSN Mark Sweeney 2008-06-08 2008-07-27 18 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 1 0 0 .000 .050 .000 .050 LAD Robert Andino 2008-04-12 2008-06-25 17 18 1 0 0 0 0 0 13 4 0 0 .000 .182 .000 .182 FLA Mark Sweeney 2008-04-02 2008-04-27 17 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 .000 .118 .000 .118 LAD Marlon Anderson 2008-04-01 2008-04-23 17 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 1 0 .000 .063 .000 .063 NYM
Wow, Mark Sweeney makes the list twice. That's pretty impressive given that he had only 92 AB all year. Of course, hitting .130 will do that for you.
Just at home:
StreakStart Streak End Games AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SO BB SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Teams +-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Brian Moehler 2008-04-18 2008-09-26 15 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 1 0 0 .000 .037 .000 .037 HOU Mark Sweeney 2008-08-01 2008-09-25 15 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 .000 .200 .000 .200 LAD Seth Smith 2008-08-14 2008-09-20 14 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 .000 .250 .000 .250 COL Braden Looper 2008-06-18 2008-09-11 14 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 STL Kyle Lohse 2008-04-27 2008-09-09 14 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 STL Johnny Cueto 2008-04-03 2008-09-06 14 21 2 0 0 0 0 0 8 1 0 0 .000 .045 .000 .045 CIN
There's Sweeney again, and now we get some pitchers mixed in too, which makes sense.
And just road games:
StreakStart Streak End Games AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SO BB SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Teams +-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Mark Sweeney 2008-05-13 2008-08-08 20 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 3 0 0 .000 .107 .000 .107 LAD Ubaldo Jimenez 2008-04-03 2008-09-28 17 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 2 0 0 .000 .057 .000 .057 COL John Lannan 2008-04-06 2008-09-27 15 28 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 WSN
Poor Sweeney.
February 24th, 2009 at 9:09 am
how about non-onbase consecutive game streaks (no hits, HBP, BBs) for non-pitchers?
February 24th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
A consecutive game hitting streak doesn't end if the hitter gets no at-bats in a game - if, say, he walks every time up. The game just doesn't count toward the streak. I think.
Similarly, a hitless game shouldn't count toward a non-hitting streak if the batter didn't get an at-bat.
Anyway, there's something bogus about these lists. None of these players got more than 2 AB per game, indeed, many of them were closer to (in some cases, below!) 1 AB per game. So we're talking about a bunch of, what, pinchhitters? late-inning defensive replacements?
I'd rather see a list of leaders in consecutive at-bats without a hit. Bergmann's 40 stands out in the lists above, but a regular batter could top that by going 0-for-3, 0-for-4 for a couple of weeks.
February 24th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
I agree, gerry--if the PI had a way to search for that, I'd do it.
February 24th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Or change it to consecutive hitless games, minimum three AB.
February 26th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
I think that kingturtle's comment wasn't about whether or not games with walks were counted in the steak, but rather he was looking for a list where a game with a walk or HBP would snap the streak - in other words, instead a list of hitless streaks, he'd like to see a list of "on-base-less" streaks. That is, number of consecutive games in which the player made no offensive contribution to his team (after all, a walk or HBP still has a positive offensive value.)
On another note, I don't consider the lists "bogus" just because they are mostly of pinch hitters, the lists just yield different information. I, too, like to see a list of hitless (and/or on-base-less) streaks among "regulars", but instead of AB > 2, I would suggest a criteria based on either PA > 3 or counting only games the player started.
February 26th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
"Bogus" was a poor choice of words on my part. It wasn't my intention to be critical of Andy for posting the lists, which I enjoyed seeing.
February 26th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
For what it's worth, gerry, I didn't take it as a personal criticism--I took it as what it was--a suggestion that I didn't represent the search very well with my description, about which you are correct.
February 27th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
If you do the search with a minimum of 2 PA per game, the top 10 are all pitchers. If you do the search with a minimum of 3 PA per game, Lance Berkman and John Buck each had a 8 game hitless streak. Looking at the 3 minimums, it's easy to see what kind of players you get. 1 PA = Pinch Hitters mostly. 2 PA = Starting Pitchers. With 3 PA, Starters aren't consistently getting those PA's and Pinch Hitters aren't around enough, so you get weak hitting spots by regulars.