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Most Natural Golden Sombreros

Posted by Steve Lombardi on August 12, 2011

Since 1919, who has the most games, of 9-innings of less, where they whiffed 4+ times in the contest?

Here is the list -

Rk Player #Matching   PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SH SF IBB HBP GDP
1 Bo Jackson 17 Ind. Games 73 73 1 1 0 0 0 0 69 .014 .014 .027 .041 0 0 0 0 1
2 Reggie Jackson 16 Ind. Games 72 72 5 0 0 2 8 0 65 .069 .069 .153 .222 0 0 0 0 0
3 Dave Kingman 15 Ind. Games 68 67 4 1 0 2 3 1 61 .060 .074 .164 .238 0 0 0 0 0
4 Rob Deer 14 Ind. Games 62 60 1 0 0 1 3 2 57 .017 .048 .067 .115 0 0 0 0 0
5 Jim Thome 13 Ind. Games 63 60 5 0 0 1 9 2 53 .083 .111 .133 .244 0 1 0 0 0
6 Andres Galarraga 13 Ind. Games 55 55 2 0 0 0 0 0 52 .036 .036 .036 .073 0 0 0 0 0
7 Jose Canseco 13 Ind. Games 59 57 3 3 0 0 2 2 53 .053 .085 .105 .190 0 0 0 0 0
8 Jay Buhner 13 Ind. Games 57 55 0 0 0 0 0 2 52 .000 .035 .000 .035 0 0 0 0 0
9 Ryan Howard 12 Ind. Games 61 59 7 2 0 4 8 2 48 .119 .148 .356 .503 0 0 1 0 0
10 Adam Dunn 12 Ind. Games 54 51 2 0 0 1 3 3 49 .039 .093 .098 .191 0 0 0 0 0
11 Dick Allen 12 Ind. Games 52 52 2 1 0 1 2 0 49 .038 .038 .115 .154 0 0 0 0 0
12 Reggie Sanders 11 Ind. Games 52 49 4 2 1 0 1 3 44 .082 .135 .163 .298 0 0 0 0 0
13 Tony Clark 11 Ind. Games 46 45 1 0 0 0 0 1 44 .022 .043 .022 .066 0 0 0 0 0
14 Sammy Sosa 10 Ind. Games 43 43 2 0 0 0 0 0 40 .047 .047 .047 .093 0 0 0 0 0
15 Andruw Jones 10 Ind. Games 47 45 2 0 0 2 4 0 41 .044 .064 .178 .242 0 1 0 1 0
16 Frank Howard 10 Ind. Games 43 43 2 0 1 1 4 0 41 .047 .047 .163 .209 0 0 0 0 0
17 Jim Edmonds 10 Ind. Games 47 46 1 1 0 0 0 1 40 .022 .043 .043 .086 0 0 0 0 0
18 Jack Cust 10 Ind. Games 46 42 1 1 0 0 1 4 40 .024 .109 .048 .156 0 0 0 0 0
19 Bobby Bonds 10 Ind. Games 45 44 3 0 1 0 2 0 40 .068 .067 .114 .180 0 1 0 0 0
20 Gorman Thomas 9 Ind. Games 37 36 0 0 0 0 0 1 36 .000 .027 .000 .027 0 0 0 0 0
21 Mark Reynolds 9 Ind. Games 37 37 1 1 0 0 0 0 36 .027 .027 .054 .081 0 0 0 0 0
22 Lance Parrish 9 Ind. Games 38 37 0 0 0 0 0 1 36 .000 .026 .000 .026 0 0 0 0 1
23 Ray Lankford 9 Ind. Games 39 38 1 0 0 0 1 1 36 .026 .051 .026 .078 0 0 0 0 1
24 Michael Tucker 8 Ind. Games 39 38 4 2 0 0 1 0 32 .105 .128 .158 .286 0 0 0 1 0
25 Mickey Mantle 8 Ind. Games 36 34 0 0 0 0 0 2 32 .000 .056 .000 .056 0 0 0 0 0
26 Pete Incaviglia 8 Ind. Games 33 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 32 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
27 Alex Gonzalez 8 Ind. Games 34 33 1 0 0 0 0 1 32 .030 .059 .030 .089 0 0 0 0 0
28 Ron Gant 8 Ind. Games 38 38 4 2 0 1 3 0 32 .105 .105 .237 .342 0 0 0 0 0
29 Carlos Delgado 8 Ind. Games 34 33 0 0 0 0 0 1 32 .000 .029 .000 .029 0 0 0 0 0
30 Mike Cameron 8 Ind. Games 38 36 0 0 0 0 1 0 33 .000 .026 .000 .026 0 1 0 1 0
31 Russell Branyan 8 Ind. Games 33 33 1 0 0 1 2 0 32 .030 .030 .121 .152 0 0 0 0 0
32 Mark Bellhorn 8 Ind. Games 35 34 1 0 0 0 0 1 32 .029 .057 .029 .087 0 0 0 0 1
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/12/2011.

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Bo knows Jervis Tetch.

Related posts:

    “Natural” grand slam

This entry was posted on Friday, August 12th, 2011 at 3:05 pm and is filed under Game Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

40 Responses to “Most Natural Golden Sombreros”

  1. John Autin Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    "In the land of the blind, Ryan Howard is king."

  2. MetsFan Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 3:27 pm

    Bo knows Ks

  3. eorns Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    Man, some of them also had one of these games with a GDP. There should be another name for a day like that...

  4. Jeff Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 3:35 pm

    Howard still managed a .503 OPS in his 12 games.

  5. jim Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    i'm guessing this may have been partially inspired by the recent second 4K game of todd helton's career?

  6. Kahuna Tuna Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 3:41 pm

    Bobby had 10 of these days, Barry four.

  7. Neil L. Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 3:41 pm

    Howard and Dunn will easily catch Jim Thome among active players, this year?

    Nice list, Steve. What would be interesting is to see the number of career games so far for each player in order to know the percentage of times they wore the big, golden, Mexican hat.

    Given his relatively short career, Bo Jackson's leadership of this list is positively, er ........ prolific.

  8. Djibouti Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 3:55 pm

    Bo knows Jervis Tetch

    That has to be the nerdiest joke in the history of this site and I love it

  9. Kahuna Tuna Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 3:59 pm

    What would be interesting is to see the number of career games so far for each player in order to know the percentage of times they wore the big, golden, Mexican hat.

    The top ten:

    Bo Jackson, 2.45% (17 / 694)
    Jack Cust, 1.49% (10 / 670)
    Mark Reynolds, 1.33% (9 / 677)
    Rob Deer, 1.21% (14 / 1155)
    Ryan Howard, 1.21% (12 / 991)
    Mark Bellhorn, 1.09% (8 / 731)
    Jay Buhner, 0.88% (13 / 1472)
    Adam Dunn, 0.78% (12 / 1547)
    Dave Kingman, 0.77% (15 / 1941)
    Russell Branyan, 0.76% (8 / 1049)

    No one from this list will seriously threaten Bo's rate.

  10. Larry R. Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 5:09 pm

    Only 4 of these guys (Bonds, Allen, Frank Howard, Mantle) played prior to 1970. Joe Sewell had 5 full SEASONS where he struck out 4 times or less! Times have changed.

  11. Travis Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 5:13 pm

    I thought a golden sombrero required that the player never reached base safely in the game in addition to the 4 K's.

  12. topper009 Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 6:38 pm

    How many HOFers have 0 of these?

  13. topper009 Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 6:43 pm

    After a little manual searching a found Ted Williams and Stan Musial have 0 so there must be a bunch, and obviously Joe Sewell and Nellie Fox have 0.

  14. Luis Gomez Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    Wow, Mike Cameron actually struck out 5 times in one of those games.

  15. topper009 Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 6:48 pm

    And scrolling down the progressive all-time K leader board,
    Babe Ruth: 0 - 9 inning sombreros
    Mantle: 8
    Stargell: 4
    Jackson: 16, above

  16. Richard Chester Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 7:45 pm

    @13

    The most strikeouts in a game for Joe Sewell was 2, it happened twice.

  17. Doug Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 7:49 pm

    I'm very surprised that there has never (since 1919) been a 9-inning game where more than two players (on both teams) had 4+ Ks, and only 39 games with two such players. Of those 39 games, the two players were on the same team 26 times, which kind of makes sense when you think about guys struggling against a dominant pitcher.

    22 of the 39 games (56%) with 2 players having 4+ Ks have occurred since 1997. First time it happened wasn't until 1955 when a young Sandy Koufax bamboozled Gus Bell and (ironically) Koufax himself flailed away against a trio of Reds pitchers.

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO195508270.shtml

  18. Kahuna Tuna Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 8:11 pm

    I lowered the threshold of four-strikeout games to three.

    Five pitchers have rates of 1.9% or higher: Johnny Broaca, 4.65% (4 / 86 starts); Gary Gentry, 3.62% (5 / 138); Dean Chance, 2.38% (7 / 294); Hank Aguirre, 2.01% (3 / 149); and the ever-flailing Sandy Koufax, 1.91% (6 / 314).

    The new top eleven, position players only:

    Jordan Schafer, 2.94% (3 / 102 career games so far)
    Jim Fuller, 2.80% (3 / 107)
    Bo Jackson, 2.45% (17 / 694)
    Pedro Álvarez, 2.04% (3 / 147)
    Jack Cust, 1.49% (10 / 670)
    Billy Ashley, 1.42% (4 / 281)
    Mike Stanton, 1.42% (3 / 211)
    Brent Lillibridge, 1.40% (3 / 215)
    Mark Reynolds, 1.33% (9 / 677)
    Rob Deer, 1.21% (14 / 1155)
    Ryan Howard, 1.21% (12 / 991)

    Jim Fuller was a failed TTO experiment by Earl Weaver in the mid-'70s. Jordan Schafer is presently ahead of Bo Jackson's pace, but he's got a long way to go and a brand-new club to prove himself to.

  19. Neil L. Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 8:36 pm

    @18
    Nice research, Kahuna. Why is Jordan Schafer still getting at bats? He doesn't even have power to justify his whiffs. At least Pedro Alvarez stills lives on the fumes of his first year.

    Bo Jackson moves down to 3rd on your list. But over a much longer career, to date.

  20. maTt Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 8:36 pm

    Kudos to Gorman Thomas for going exactly 0-for-4 with 4Ks in all 9 of his 4+ K games - he's the only member of the list to make every out via the whiff (he did draw a walk in one of the 9 games).

  21. Gary W Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 8:44 pm

    @17

    Koufax struck out 12 times in 12 at bats in 1955. That set a major league record.

  22. DoubleDiamond Says:
    August 12th, 2011 at 9:40 pm

    I don't know where else to stick this bit of trivia I'm about to post, but since a lot of the guys on this list are/were lefthanded batters and no doubt suffered some of these strikeouts while facing southpaws, I decided to put it here.

    I have just learned that August 13 is National Lefthanders Day. Since baseball is one of the most important areas in which handedness plays a part, I thought maybe one of the blogwriters here could come up with something for it.

    Lu Blue and Vida Blue had something else in common in addition to having the same last name - both were lefthanded throwing switch hitters. (Most, but not all, switch hitters are or were righthanded throwers.)

  23. TheGoof Says:
    August 13th, 2011 at 2:05 am

    Sweet! A post with Bo Jackson and Jervis Tetch? I love this site.

  24. groundball Says:
    August 13th, 2011 at 3:27 am

    @18

    Not surprised about Dean Chance, I did a search this winter for worst BA by players with (I think) 400 ABs. His .065 was 11 points worse than anybody else. Struck out about 2 of every 3 ABs. I think he (and Doug Davis) were the only ones with an OBP under .100 too. (though Davis had a 099 OBP, so with a little luck.....)

  25. Freud Says:
    August 13th, 2011 at 3:46 am

    It's called a sombrero and not a stetson for a reason. Sombrero's are ROUND. Meaning that for a hitter to have a "sombrero" game, he has NO hits.

  26. Jimbo Says:
    August 13th, 2011 at 9:10 am

    Does anyone know where the term, "golden sombrero" evolved from?

  27. Jimbo Says:
    August 13th, 2011 at 10:33 am

    Is a "silver sombreo" 3 strikeouts?

  28. Steve Says:
    August 13th, 2011 at 11:22 am

    This guy Stubbs(Cin) has the makings of an all timer in the SO department.

  29. tbone82 Says:
    August 13th, 2011 at 11:50 am

    I thought it was called a "golden sombrero" because that was fancier than just a plain old "hat" trick for a 3-K game... have also heard announcers on occasion try to make up terms for a 5-K game

  30. Chris Melito Says:
    August 13th, 2011 at 12:24 pm

    The real question is, how long before Mark Reynolds blows Bo out of the water on this? He has another 8-10 potential years of swinging at EVERYTHING.

  31. RobMer Says:
    August 13th, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    By quick look:

    HOFers (2) -- On the list, there are two HOFers (Jackson and Mantle).

    Pending HOFer (1) -- Thome will be the clear third member.

    "Is he a HOFer?" (1) -- Sosa, by historical voting patterns, should be the fourth, but there are other issues with him.

    Possible HOFers (3) -- Dick Allen, Andruw Jones, Jim Edmonds have strong cases, but Allen's chances have passed unless some future old timer's committe inducts him. Jones and Edmonds might make it depending on how heavily voters weigh position (CF) and defense.

    Unkown but Unlikely (3) -- Delgado, Dunn and Howard. I don't see any of them making it, but they can't be ruled out. Delgado's 473 career HRs and lifetime 138 OPS+ says he should be seriously considered, but his lack of dominance and the high-offense time in which he played will work against him. Dunn may seem laughable considering what he's doing now (or not doing), but he can't be ruled out if he has some sort of revival and can maintain his march toward 500. Howard already seems to be fading.

    Not sure what any of this means.

  32. geo7vest Says:
    August 13th, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    What about platinum sombreros (5 Ks in a game)? I would love to see a list of these. I believe Pat Burrell and Andrew Jones have done it.

  33. J. B. Rainsberger Says:
    August 13th, 2011 at 3:47 pm

    Ugh. As I learned it growing up:

    3 SO - hat trick
    4 SO - sombrero
    5 SO - golden sombrero

    I don't know when nor why it changed sometime in the '90s. I assume that some broadcaster got it wrong, then it stuck.

  34. J. B. Rainsberger Says:
    August 13th, 2011 at 3:51 pm

    As a follow up: 5 is "golden" because, you know... "5 golden rings"...

  35. Liam Says:
    August 13th, 2011 at 4:18 pm

    did anyone mention that reggie hit a grand slam to win the game after striking out four times he didnt know weather to laugh or cry

  36. thom-13 Says:
    August 13th, 2011 at 6:17 pm

    @33. That is the way I remember it and they all had to be 0-fors. I actually thought all your PAs had to be Ks, so if you went 0-6 with 5Ks you weren't in the group.

  37. DoubleDiamond Says:
    August 14th, 2011 at 1:01 am

    I wonder if any of them had, in any of the listed games, a strikeout in which they reached on a dropped third strike, which would be a slight consolation prize. Jimmy Rollins did that tonight. In fact, he had two plate appearances in which he reached base with a hitless charged time at-bat, since he also reached on an error.

  38. Johnny Twisto Says:
    August 14th, 2011 at 1:09 am

    Hmm. We can tell who reaches on an error. But is there any statistical notation when a player reaches after a dropped third strike? Not that I know of. It's such a random event that it matters hardly at all in assessing player value. Still, I'd be interested in seeing the results, and over a career I wouldn't be surprised if a few guys stand out with more reaches than others.

  39. Joe Garrison Says:
    August 14th, 2011 at 5:58 am

    Pete Incaviglia, across the board, point zero zero zero.

    That's no way to go through life...

  40. Wednesday Links (17 Aug 11) | Ducksnorts Says:
    August 17th, 2011 at 9:07 am

    [...] Most Natural Golden Sombreros (Baseball-Reference). Speaking of lousy contact, this is a fascinating list occupied mostly by very good/great offensive players… and Mark Bellhorn. [...]

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