Revolving Door On The Mound
Posted by Steve Lombardi on July 10, 2009
Today I found myself wondering "What's the high mark for most pitchers used by a team in a 9-inning (or less) game where the team was not throwing a ton of pitches?" Basically, I was looking for games where a manager was running pitchers in and out of a contest faster than someone with a severe sharting problem changes their underwear. So, I used Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Team Pitching Game Finder and set the controls for "From 1954 to 2009, (requiring pitchers>=8, IP<=9 and Pitches<=150), sorted by greatest pitchers in a game" - and this is what I found:
Cnt Date Tm Opp GmReslt IP H R ER BB SO HR Pit Str IR IS BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk **Ptchrs** ERA +----+-------------+---+----+-------+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+--+--+--+----------+------+ 1 2006-09-25 HOU PHI W 5-4 9 8 4 4 4 6 1 148 95 5 0 39 34 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 4.00 2 2008-09-17 MIL CHC W 6-2 9 6 2 2 3 8 1 140 91 1 0 36 32 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 8 2.00 3 2008-09-09 FLA PHI W 10-8 9 12 8 8 2 4 1 149 97 4 2 41 38 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 8 8.00 4 2007-09-30 CHC CIN L 4-8 8 9 8 8 1 10 1 138 90 2 0 36 33 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 8 9.00 5 2006-09-30 ATL HOU L 4-5 9 12 5 2 3 3 2 136 84 6 0 41 38 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 8 2.00 6 2002-09-29 ATL NYM L 1-6 8 10 6 2 2 9 2 141 91 1 0 34 30 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 1 0 8 2.25 7 2002-07-07 ARI SFG L 2-5 9 10 5 5 4 3 2 140 87 5 0 41 37 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 8 5.00 8 1998-09-27 TBD NYY L 3-8 8 10 8 8 4 5 1 135 83 7 3 36 31 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 8 9.00 9 1996-09-27 MON ATL L 4-6 9 13 6 6 2 7 2 134 83 5 2 43 39 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 8 6.00 10 1995-09-27 DET BOS W 7-5 9 16 5 5 0 2 1 118 89 8 1 42 42 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 8 5.00 11 1995-09-18 MON CIN L 4-7 8 14 7 7 3 4 0 129 80 7 2 40 37 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 8 7.88 12 1994-07-07 OAK BAL W 6-4 9 9 4 3 3 3 0 145 89 6 0 37 31 2 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 8 3.00 13 1993-09-27 PIT PHI L 4-6 9 8 6 6 8 3 1 144 76 6 1 41 33 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 8 6.00 Games found: 13.
Lotta September games here - as expected since teams have expanded rosters and more pitchers to use in September. However, note those two games on July 7th. Tony LaRussa and Bob Brenly really worked their pens in those games.
July 10th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Really? "[F]aster than someone with a severe sharting problem changes their underwear" was the best comparison you could make?
July 10th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
That July 7th game featured six different pitchers on the same team collecting a hold. Is that a record?
Jack
July 10th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
You should note that pitch count data is very sporadic before the '90s or so.
July 11th, 2009 at 1:13 am
JohnnyTwisto: "You should note that pitch count data is very sporadic before the ’90s or so."
Well, that's okay -- since the nonsense overuse of relievers, lack of training in starters and pretending that 100 pitches is everyone's magic threshhold -- that all began in the '90s... or so. 🙂
July 13th, 2009 at 8:24 am
Both of those July games were the game before the All Star break as well.
July 13th, 2009 at 8:25 am
The day before, to be specific. Sorry.