Throwing 95+ pitches in a relief appearance
Posted by Andy on June 27, 2011
2011 isn't quite halfway over yet and we've already had 3 different relief appearances where the pitcher threw at least 95 pitches:
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | Pit | Str | IR | IS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle McClellan | 2011-04-22 | STL | CIN | W 4-2 | 1-6 ,W | 6.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 95 | 57 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Carlos Fisher | 2011-05-25 | CIN | PHI | L 4-5 | 14-19f,L | 5.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 95 | 53 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Anthony Swarzak | 2011-06-10 | MIN | TEX | L 3-9 | 3-8 | 6.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 101 | 66 | 0 | 0 |
McClellan came in in relief of Miguel Batista after the game was delayed by rain in the top of the first inning.
Carlos Fisher pitched a whole bunch of innings in the very long 19-inning game played between the Reds and the Phillies.
Anthony Swarzak relieved Brian Duensing after Duensing had limited effectiveness over the first couple of innings.
The last time there were as many as 3 different relief appearances of 95+ pitches in a season was in 2008:
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | Pit | Str | IR | IS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dustin Nippert | 2008-07-07 | TEX | LAA | L 6-9 | 2-9 | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 103 | 67 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Kirk Saarloos | 2008-08-29 | OAK | MIN | L 2-12 | 2-7 | 5.0 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 96 | 68 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | Alfredo Aceves | 2008-09-04 | NYY | TBR | L 5-7 | 2-7 | 5.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 97 | 61 | 3 | 2 |
The longest relief outings (in terms of pitches thrown) in the B-R.com database are:
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | Pit | Str | IR | IS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turk Farrell | 1958-05-06 | PHI | LAD | L 6-7 | 6-14f,BL | 8.2 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 151 | 88 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | Joey Jay | 1960-06-24 | MLN | LAD | L 3-5 | 1-10 ,L | 8.2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 143 | 81 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Ray Daviault | 1962-06-30 | NYM | LAD | L 0-5 | 1-8f | 7.1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 136 | 77 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | Stu Miller | 1959-06-29 | SFG | LAD | W 6-4 | 1-9 | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 135 | 80 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | Chris Short | 1961-09-12 | PHI | LAD | W 19-10 | 1-9 ,W | 7.2 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 133 | 85 | 2 | 1 |
| 6 | Art Fowler | 1954-08-24 | CIN | BRO | L 4-12 | 2-9f | 7.1 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 129 | 72 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Hal Jeffcoat | 1954-05-06 | CHC | BRO | W 8-7 | 4-11f,W | 8.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 129 | 75 | 2 | 2 |
| 8 | Tom Candiotti | 1994-07-18 | LAD | NYM | W 7-6 | 2-8 | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 127 | 70 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | Ed Roebuck | 1960-06-24 | LAD | MLN | W 5-3 | 2-10f,W | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 127 | 72 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | Bob Purkey | 1954-09-06 (1) | PIT | BRO | W 9-6 | 2-9 | 7.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 127 | 77 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | Clem Labine | 1952-07-04 | BRO | NYG | W 5-1 | 1-8f ,W | 7.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 127 | 70 | 2 | 0 |
The last I'd heard, pitch count data was not completely available nor reliable prior to about 1989, so I'm not completely confident that the above table is totally correct or complete.
June 27th, 2011 at 7:38 am
How odd is it that all of those involve the Dodgers?
June 27th, 2011 at 7:50 am
wow how come the managers dont realize that theryre going to need the relievers later on in different games
June 27th, 2011 at 8:16 am
That Chris Short game in 1961 must have been one of the last games for Koufax before he put it all together. Koufax lasted 1.1 innings, giving up 6 runs. Short didn't pitch great either - giving up 6 runs himself. Demeter hit 3 HRs with 7 RBI to drive the Phils victory.
June 27th, 2011 at 8:31 am
In 1959 Hoyt Wilhelm threw 10 innings of shutout relief, with no hits for the first 8 2/3. Pitch counts not generally kept then but would almost certainly have been over 95.
June 27th, 2011 at 8:54 am
surprised Mike Marshall's not on the list. He had over 200 relief innnings one year.
June 27th, 2011 at 8:56 am
#2, this is exactly why these long relief appearances happen. When a team needs to replace the starter very early in the game, it's far better to have one reliever made a very long appearance than to use a bunch of different relievers from your bullpen for an inning or so each. That way, you blow out just one guy, not all your guys.
#4, Marshall did not routinely make long relief appearances, he just made a lot of them.
June 27th, 2011 at 8:59 am
Maybe the Dodgers' pitch count data is much more complete than every other team's? i can't see any other explanation as to why they are part of all of those games.
June 27th, 2011 at 9:06 am
I suspect you are spot-on, Dave.
June 27th, 2011 at 9:17 am
I wouldn't go as far as to say McClellan "came in relief" of Batista. McClellan was more or less the starter of the game. Batista was really more of a place holder for McClellan, starting the game because it was very clear a rain delay was coming. He threw only a few pitches before the delay, after which McClellan took his place on the mound.
June 27th, 2011 at 9:17 am
And there was a nice nod to this in the College World Series on Friday, as Virginia battled South Carolina into extra innings. The CLOSERS (not long relievers or repurposed starters) threw 107 and 95 pitches, respectively, with the Gamecocks triumphing. I have degrees from both schools, so it was a win-win for me, but I did already bought all my SC CWS Champions gear last year, and it would have been nice to have a UVA collection. . . .
June 27th, 2011 at 9:39 am
Moe Drabowsky, game one of the 1966 World Series, against the (once again!) Dodgers.
June 27th, 2011 at 10:02 am
Even odder was that the Dodgers LOST a majority of those games. Makes you wonder if ol' Smoky Alston counted his chickens before they hatched a few times.
June 27th, 2011 at 10:02 am
Im.shocked the Randy Johnson 17 or 16 k 'relief' after rain delay game isnt here.
June 27th, 2011 at 10:07 am
Frank, that's not too surprising, since many such games occur when the starter has trouble registering outs at the start of the game, so the guy coming in relief here may already see his team down a bunch of runs.
June 27th, 2011 at 11:00 am
interesting that the only game on the list from 1962 is Candiotti's game in 1994. And for the life of me, I can't figure out what was going on there.
Ismael Valdez made his only start of the season in that game. The Dodgers scores three in the first on a Tim Wallach HR. Valdez batted in the top of the 2nd (fly out), then gave up a single and an RBI double to start the bottom of the 2nd, when he was relieved by Candiotti - and it was Tom's only relief appearance of the season. I can't see that Valdez was injured in any way - he was back in action 5 days later. The Dodgers had suffered from a couple of short outings by their starting pitchers the previous couple of games, but it didn't look like they had burned up their bullpen. Why was Valdez used as a starter for the only time - and why was Candiotti used as a reliever in this occasion?
Also, three days earlier Candiotti had been the starter, pitching 6 strong innings and was replaced by - Ismael Valdez.
June 27th, 2011 at 11:01 am
Correction. First line should read "interesting that the only game on the list from later than 1962 is Candiotti's game in 1994."
June 27th, 2011 at 11:05 am
@Thomas: "Im.shocked the Randy Johnson 17 or 16 k 'relief' after rain delay game isnt here."
That was my first thought too, so I looked up the game
July 18-19, 2001 - Diamondbacks at Padres
Randy just missed this list because he only needed 109 pitches for 7 IP. Those 16 strikeouts as a reliever were pretty amazing, even if it wasn't a traditional relief appearance. If I remember right, he broke Walter Johnson's 80+ year old record for relief strikeouts, but I'm running late for work so I can't look it up.
PS - It wasn't exactly a rain delay either. A transformer on one of the grandstand lights exploded at Qualcomm Stadium, and the game was delayed until the next day while repairs were made.
June 27th, 2011 at 11:58 am
In a famous game before World War I, Babe Ruth started for the Red Sox and walked the first batter. He was thrown out of the game by an umpire, and Ernie Shore came in to relieve him. The runner was picked off, and Shore went on to retire the next 27 batters. I wonder how many pitches he made.
June 27th, 2011 at 12:28 pm
@4
John H., perhaps not surprising that knuckle ballers could make long relief appearances without long-term detrimental effects to their arm and shoulder. Candiotti made Andy's last list.
John H., your post prompted me to look up Hoyt Wilhelm. His career stats can't even fit on one screen because of those five mid-season trades. Talk about keeping your bags packed!
What I can't tell though, from his stats' lines is whether he was always a knuck baller. He was used almost exclusively in relief until Baltimore put him into the rotation in 1959 when the led the league in ERA and ERA+.
Why does a pitcher throw the knucker as his bread and butter pitch, whether Candiotti, Wakefield, or Wilhelm? Anyway, I guess one could withstand long relief appearances throwing the flutterball.
June 27th, 2011 at 12:28 pm
#7 Dave- The Dodgers hired Allan Roth as a statistician around 1947, staying until around the 70s-80s- I believe the first full-time statistician hired by a team- probably explains all the Dodgers entries on the list...
June 27th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
@19
Duh, can't even spell knuckler. Time for remedial spelling.
June 27th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
I would guess that the most relief pitches thrown in a game was accomplished by Eddie Rommel on July 10, 1932. Rommel pitched the last 17 innings of an 18 inning game, allowed 29 hits, 7 Ks and 9 BBs in pitching to 87 hitters. According to the pitch count calculator that amounts to 317 pitches. He won the game -- the last victory of his career -- 18-17 allowing 14 runs (13 ER) himself.
June 27th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
#22 - Rommell had also appeared in relief the previous 2 games - pitching 2 innings on July 8 and 3 innings on July 9. After his 17 inning relief appearance, he took 40 days off (or was given, considering his 6.75 ERA). After that 6 week break, he made another 8 inning relief appearance.
He was, of course, a pretty good starting pitcher but finished his career with more relief appearances than starts - (501 games, 249 GS). I wonder if any other pitcher of his time had more than 200 starts and relief appearances? First guy I thought of was Three Finger Brow, but he had only about 150 GIR.
June 27th, 2011 at 1:51 pm
@19
Neil L.
I've read dozens & dozens of articles and interviews regarding Hoyt Wilhelm. The only mention of a pitch count was in regard to his no-hitter -- 99 pitches of which 87 were knucklers. His curve has been described as a "wrinkle", but even that can be effective if the batter doesn't expect it; just don't do it too often.
As to why a pitcher would use a knuckler as his bread & butter, it's called not having a fastball!
June 27th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
@23
I have found 9 pitchers with more than 200 starts and 200 relief appearances between 1919 and 1939. They are Jack Quinn, Waite Hoyt, Charlie Root, Guy Bush, Rube Walberg, Bill Sherdel, Ed Rommel, Bob Smith and Syl Johnson.
The circumstance behind Rommel's long relief appearance is that the A's had a one-game road trip and owner Connie Mack decided to save carfare by sending only two pitchers to the game. The starter was removed after the first inning which left only Rommel as an available pitcher.
June 27th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
@24
When I said "pitch count" I should have said "pitch selection"; 87 of 99 pretty much establishes him as a pure knuckleballer.
June 27th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
Let's not forget the greatest relief appearance. Ernie Shore comes in after Babe Ruth walks the first batter and gets thrown out for arguing. The runner is caught stealing and Shore is perfect the rest of the way.
June 27th, 2011 at 2:33 pm
@24
What, John H.? You mean Dads don't teach their sons to want to grow up to be "knucklers"? 🙂
Who ever got a college scholarship based on a mid-seventies knuckleball?
Seriously, though, wanna have a long career pitching? Throw the dancer.
Hyperlinking from trick pitches, remember how effective Mark Eichorn was with his foozball/frisbee slow curve in his first few seasons. It couldn't break a pane of glass but it was hilarious watching batters tie themselves in knots trying to hit it.
.
June 27th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
No pitch count available, unfortunately, but a 22-year-old Nolan Ryan threw seven innings in relief to close out the 1969 NCLS - struck out 7, walked 2. Ryan tended to have high pitch counts early in his career (to put it mildly) - wouldn't be surprised if he threw 100+ in relief that day.
June 27th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
@3.
Stephen, re: Koufax putting it all together, yes he got better after 1961 but, like anyone else, he wasn't immune from the occasional stinker. Here are his starts of 3 innings or less, from 1960 onwards:
1960 - 5
1961 - 4
1962 - 3
1963 - 3
1964 - 1
1965 - 2
1966 - 3
Two of the three 1962 games came after Koufax returned from injury (apparently) in late September. One was the opening game of the playoff with the Giants. Koufax hadn't pitched since July, and did not last more than 5 innings in any of the starts once he returned. Don't know if the Dodgers were rushing him back because of the pennant race, but it didn't work out.
June 27th, 2011 at 3:26 pm
didn't read all the comments so sorry if this was already mentioned. but once, babe ruth was ejected after hitting the first batter, and the reliever threw 9 perfect innings. back then, of course, games went along much faster and there are some 70 or so pitch CG that i've read about anecdotally, so the game might not even count even if all the data is found somehow, but i thought i'd just share one story i know about a long relief appearance.
June 27th, 2011 at 3:27 pm
maybe ruth argued balls and strikes now that i think about it. at any rate, he was tossed after the first batter.
June 27th, 2011 at 4:01 pm
Interesting in the games 40-50 years ago just how many base on balls there were. And we think the Yankees and Red Sox play long games!
My best guess is that base on balls have decreased over the years as the delivery of the pitcher has become more refined.
June 27th, 2011 at 4:38 pm
@28
Neil, you are absolutely right. There is an overwhelming bias in favor of guys who can "bring it". The only documented case I know of involving a kid coached early-on to throw the knuckler is Phil Niekro, and those results speak for themselves.
I'd forgotten about Mark Eichorn. Don't know what his readings were but would guess mid-70's to low 80's? Compare this to a contemporary of his on the Red Sox, Calvin Schiraldi who consistently threw mid-90's & see who had the longer and more successful career. Blinding speed isn't everything.
June 27th, 2011 at 7:02 pm
#25 Richard - thanks for the legwork. I figured there had to be more, but I didn't expect that many.
And how typical of Connie Mack...
June 27th, 2011 at 9:29 pm
Ruth PUNCHED the umpire in the game you guys are talking about. And yes, that was a rare occurrence even then although still not as frowned upon as it would be today.
I like that Fisher pitched just three days later after throwing 95 pitches in that Reds-Phillies game. Good ol Dusty Baker.
June 27th, 2011 at 10:41 pm
Hey, anyone remember that game where Ruth got thrown out after the first batter reached base and Ernie Shore was perfect the rest of the game after picking off the runner?
Surprised no one has mentioned that.
June 27th, 2011 at 10:59 pm
@37 - LOL!
@30 - Doug, thanks for the insight. I guess he stayed human even in those miracle years. How disappointing would it have been to go to that one game in '64?
June 27th, 2011 at 11:40 pm
My best guess is that base on balls have decreased over the years as the delivery of the pitcher has become more refined.
No need to guess, the numbers are easily available on this site. There has of course been variation over the years, but it seems walks have remained more steady than most other events. See here for BB/game:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/share.cgi?id=DN1o4
June 28th, 2011 at 12:00 am
@39
JT, lose the mustache and come back here clean-shaven. 🙂
Talk to me about the longevity of junk-ball pitchers versus flame-throwers.
June 28th, 2011 at 6:44 pm
HallJeffcoat was a strong armed outfielder with the Cubs from 1948 thru 1953.
He didn't throw a pitch until 1954 when it looks like he became primarily a pitcher and of course came off the bench to pinch hit a lot.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jeffcha01.shtml?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool
His 129 pitches for the Cubs against the Dodgers in 1954 was the first year he was used as a pitcher.
He won that game 8-7 from the 4th to the 11th going a total of 8 innings,
June 28th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
Hal Jeffcoat's son just became the President of my University. Odd convergence of life events.
June 28th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
@42
Eric, what a coincidence. What do they say about degrees of freedom?