PI Tag
Posted by Raphy on November 23, 2009
Let's try something a little different this afternoon. I'll call it PI tag.
I'm going to post a trivia question that can be answered using PI.
The first commenter will post a PI link containing the answer to this question and also a trivia question of his own.
Each subsequent commenter will reply to the previous comment in a similar fashion.
I don't know if it will work, let's give it a shot.
Question 1: Which are the only 2 games since 1954 in which both starting pitchers were teenagers?
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:59 pm
well there's these two games
http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/68w9Z
(If I knew how to do table view it would be great)
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Great job!
... and your question?
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Who holds the record for most homers in his rookie season for a player that played for 2 or more teams?
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Dave - Did you used to post as Davie?
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Jose Cruz
http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/shareit/n4k6h
Since 1954, which player struck-out the most in their first 162 games?
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:48 pm
"also a trivia question of his own."
I know that grammar teachers will find nothing wrong with this, but there is at least one female regular here (yours truly), and I wish you could have stated it, "also a trivia question of his or her own."
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:03 pm
DoubleDiamond- I did think of that, but I couldn't think of one female commenter. I didn't realize that you were a woman. I apologize (also to anyone else whose gender I've misidentified).
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:50 pm
I haven't had much chance to play with the new PI tools yet, so I'm not 100% sure I did this right. But I think the most K's in his first 162 games is Bo Jackson: http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/enCtp
OK, my question is coming, but I'm caught in the middle of cooking right now, so give me a moment....
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Who had the most double-digit HR seasons prior to the "live ball" era (1920)?
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:01 pm
that's a tough call. I get different results based on different year ranges
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Connor and Cravath both had 7 double-digit HR seasons prior to 1920. Did anyone have more?
November 24th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Regarding the gender issue, I have struggled with that one. For a long time on this blog, I wrote gender-neutral phrases wherever possible because I didn't want to exclude anyone. I even went to far as to write gener-neutral phrases when referring to player performance, given that there is no fundamental reason why a woman could not play MLB even though all of the historical data we talk about was accumulated by men only. But I've given up on that aspect and now I regularly say things like "only three guys have ever had a season with..." etc. However when referring to commenters or the general public I always use gender-neutral phrasing. I know for a fact that there are other regular commenters who are women because I have seen their actual first names on emails. I will leave it to them if they choose to identify themselves.
November 24th, 2009 at 10:20 am
Gerry, you got it. http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/6jXdu
November 24th, 2009 at 11:48 am
There's really nothing wrong with using "guys" when addressing a group of males and females.
guys plural
1. Plural of guy.
2. (colloquial) Persons, irrespective of their genders.
Who are those guys?
3. (colloquial) A form of address for a group of male persons or a group of mixed male and female persons.
Hi guys!
November 24th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
I use "guys" for everyone, too. On the last episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in the 1970s, the new owner of the T.V. station says that Ted Baxter is staying, but the rest of the guys are fired. Mary at first thinks that she's not being fired because she's not a "guy", but it turned out she was fired, too.
November 24th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
I doubt Raphy expected this tangent...
November 24th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
... well an earlier post of mine did start the debate over the definition of the '00s. Maybe I just try to blog about semantics from now on.
November 24th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
At this point I have to argue. The only people to post questions were named Dave, Johnny and Raphy. Unless, I'm missing something, I believe "his own" was correct.
November 24th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Sorry to break up the language thread, but I guess it's my turn to ask a baseball question. In 2002, Pedro Martinez became the second pitcher ever to win 20 games without pitching 200 innings. Who was the first? A not-terribly-helpful hint: he was a Yankee rookie at the time.
November 25th, 2009 at 1:33 am
Bob Grim. http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/PCUt6
This harkens back to my old Rule of 10, which I think I posted about on here at some point. I found via the PI a couple years ago that pretty much every number of wins (for a starting pitcher) has historically required at least 10 times as many IP. Whether it's 17 wins, or 24, or 37, the fewest IP per win at every number is about 10. (Most of the lowest ratios are in recent years.)
Anyway, my question is, who was the first pitcher who qualified for the ERA title to record fewer than 10 IP per win?
November 25th, 2009 at 1:47 am
That's a neat list Johnny:
Eddie Plank in 1912 or Jack Manning in 1875, depending on what your counting.
http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/Ten7G
From 2000-2009 what was the most pitches thrown by a pitcher in a single game in which he threw more balls than strikes?
November 25th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Is it 121 by Josh Beckett in 2006 (58 strikes)?
November 25th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
BunnyWrangler- You got it.
http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/Vc6QE
November 26th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Sorry about that - I'm not a subscriber, so I don't think that I can share my searches.
In the World Series era (1903-present), only twice has a player had 500 or more plate appearances and been hit by pitches more than he has walked. When did this happen, and who did it?
November 26th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
It would appear to be Art Fletcher, who did it in both 1915 and 1916.
Statboy, I can accept that the definition of 'guys' can be meant to include women. I suppose that is somewhat a more recent definition and languages do change over time. My personal opinion is that 'guys' is not a word that indicates particular sensitivity to the gender issue, and I think there are lots of words that are better choices. As readers of this blog may have noticed, one word I prefer is 'folks'.
Anyway, here is my question:
Who are the only 3 players, 1901-present, to finish their careers with at least twice as many stolen bases as walks, minimum 10 walks?
November 26th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Eddie Miller (49 SB, 19 W), Ced Landrum (27, 10), and Matt Alexander (103, 18). Name the three men who played over 350 games and had career batting averages over .400.
November 26th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/UKt4e
Estaban Yan (2-2)
Jose Valverde (1-2)
Roberto Hernandez (1-2)
In a season in which he qualified for the batting title, only 1 player struck out more times than he reached base, yet put up an OPS+ over 100. Who was he?
November 26th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
Dave Nicholson, 1963 - that was a good one. Here's something of a pitching analog; in seasons since 1901 in which they qualified for the ERA title, only three pitchers walked 3 times as many batters as they struck out, yet put up an ERA+ over 100. Who were they?
November 27th, 2009 at 10:02 am
The answer is 3 guys I've never heard of---Sugar Cain in 1933, Ted Wingfield in 1925, and Ernie Wingard in 1924. Link is here.
Question: what is the highest number of strikeouts a player has recorded in a season when his strikeout total was EXACTLY five times his walk total?
November 27th, 2009 at 11:15 am
[...] often than he reached base and still post an OPS+ of 100 or higher. As Gerry and I mentioned in the PI Tag thread, only Dave Nicholson has done so while qualifying for a batting [...]
November 27th, 2009 at 11:46 am
110, by Jesse Barfield. Am I allowed to participate in this, since I can't share lists? If I shouldn't, please let me know.
Which team holds the single-season record for games won despite 10 or more strikeouts by its hitters?
November 27th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Yes you are allowed to participate. Strangely enough, I was thinking about pitchers when I posted the question in #29. The answer there was Fergie Jenkins with 225 Ks in 1974.
November 27th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
#31, is it the 2008 Marlins with 27 such wins?
November 27th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Yeah, you got it.
Sorry for messing up your earlier question; I don't know why I assumed you meant hitters.
November 28th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
My question is:
Since saves became an official stat in 1969, who is the only pitcher to record at least 10 saves in a season in which he started more games than he relieved?
November 29th, 2009 at 12:33 am
http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/a2erb
Tom Gordon 1997.
Since 1954 which player has played both catcher and pinch runner in the same game the most?