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Ain’t 108 Great?

Posted by Steve Lombardi on December 19, 2009

There are 108 stitches on a baseball. Taking that number, let's have some fun with Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index...

How many players, since 1901, have had exactly 108 plate appearances in their career? The answer:

Rk     PA From To Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Pos Tm
1 Elmer Yoter   108 1921 1928 21-28 36 96 5 24 2 2 0 12 9 0 12 0 3 0 0 0 0 .250 .314 .313 .627 /*5 PHA-CLE-CHC
2 Tim Unroe   108 1995 2000 24-29 79 95 13 21 3 0 3 11 11 0 32 1 1 0 0 2 1 .221 .308 .347 .656 /39574D MIL-ANA-ATL
3 Leo Sutherland   108 1980 1981 22-23 45 101 15 25 3 0 0 5 4 1 12 0 2 1 2 6 2 .248 .274 .277 .551 /78 CHW
4 Rick Stelmaszek   108 1971 1974 22-25 60 88 4 15 3 0 1 10 17 0 18 0 2 1 3 0 0 .170 .302 .239 .541 /*2 WSA-TOT-CHC
5 Larry Pape   108 1909 1912 25-28 51 102 6 20 3 0 0 6 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 .196 .219 .225 .445 /*1 BOS
6 Dan Osinski   108 1962 1970 28-36 324 98 5 12 1 0 0 4 2 0 28 2 5 1 0 0 0 .122 .155 .133 .288 *1 TOT-LAA-MLN-BOS-CHW-HOU
7 Jim Lindsey   108 1922 1937 24-39 177 97 6 18 1 1 0 6 1 0 23 0 10 0 0 0 0 .186 .194 .216 .410 *1 CLE-STL-TOT-BRO
8 Pete LePine   108 1902 1902 25-25 30 96 8 20 3 2 1 19 8 0 0 1 3 0 0 1 0 .208 .276 .313 .589 /*93 DET
9 John Hiller   108 1965 1980 22-37 546 101 2 11 1 0 0 4 3 0 34 0 4 0 1 0 0 .109 .135 .119 .253 *1 DET
10 Jack Hammond   108 1915 1922 24-31 45 99 13 22 2 1 0 4 2 0 19 0 7 0 0 0 1 .222 .238 .263 .500 /*4 CLE-TOT
11 Geremi Gonzalez   108 1997 2006 22-31 132 86 2 10 1 0 0 3 4 0 28 0 18 0 1 0 0 .116 .156 .128 .283 *1 CHC-TBD-BOS-TOT
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/19/2009.
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And, how many pitchers have faced exactly 108 batters in their career, since 1901? That answer:

Rk       From To Age G GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% SV IP H R ER BB SO ERA ERA+ HR BF IBB HBP BK WP Tm
1 Lefty Scott     1945 1945 29-29 8 2 0 0 3 0 2 .000 0 22.1 29 13 11 12 5 4.43 87 1 108   0 0 1 PHI
2 Ken Penner     1916 1929 20-33 9 2 0 0 3 1 1 .500 0 25.1 28 17 10 10 8 3.55 107 1 108   0 0 0 CLE-CHC
3 Edwin Moreno     2009 2009 28-28 19 0 0 0 5 1 3 .250 0 22.1 28 13 12 15 15 4.84 76 3 108 3 2 0 0 SDP
4 Spike Merena     1934 1934 24-24 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 .333 0 24.2 20 8 8 16 7 2.92 162 2 108   1 0 1 BOS
5 Red Bullock     1936 1936 24-24 12 2 0 0 3 0 2 .000 0 16.2 19 32 26 37 7 14.04 36 0 108   0 0 5 PHA
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/19/2009.
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Since 1901, how many batters have reached base exactly 108 times in their big league career? Here's the list:

Rk     TOB From To Age G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Pos Tm
1 Les Sweetland   108 1927 1931 25-29 183 325 287 38 78 15 2 0 34 29 0 55 1 8 0 0 0 0 .272 .341 .338 .679 *1 PHI-CHC
2 Tom Seaton   108 1912 1917 24-29 232 493 451 44 84 12 6 4 32 24 0 163 0 18 0 0 8 0 .186 .227 .266 .493 *1 PHI-BTT-TOT-CHC
3 Mike Scott   108 1979 1991 24-36 348 743 653 33 81 14 0 2 45 27 0 279 0 59 4 9 2 1 .124 .158 .155 .313 *1 NYM-HOU
4 Fritz Peterson   108 1966 1976 24-34 355 603 515 31 82 15 1 2 31 24 0 144 2 59 3 3 0 0 .159 .199 .204 .402 *1 NYY-CLE-TEX
5 Al Moran   108 1963 1964 24-25 135 395 353 28 69 5 2 1 27 38 1 62 1 1 2 7 3 7 .195 .274 .229 .504 *6/5 NYM
6 Mike Laga   108 1982 1990 22-30 188 449 423 39 84 18 0 16 55 22 3 115 2 0 2 6 1 0 .199 .241 .355 .595 *3/D DET-TOT-STL-SFG
7 Bud Hafey   108 1935 1939 22-26 123 398 366 53 78 19 3 10 33 30 0 91 0 2 0 11 2 0 .213 .273 .363 .636 /8971 TOT-PIT
8 Paul Foytack   108 1953 1964 22-33 314 530 461 34 82 7 0 1 35 25 0 126 1 43 0 11 1 1 .178 .222 .200 .421 *1 DET-TOT-LAA
9 Buck Etchison   108 1943 1944 28-29 119 369 327 32 72 19 0 8 35 35 0 52 1 6 0 6 1 0 .220 .298 .352 .649 /*3 BSN
10 John Dodge   108 1912 1913 23-24 127 451 418 38 90 9 8 4 48 16 0 45 2 15 0 0 13 0 .215 .248 .304 .552 *5/46 PHI-TOT
11 Jack Conway   108 1941 1948 22-29 128 394 359 35 80 10 3 1 27 28 0 54 0 7 0 10 2 2 .223 .279 .276 .555 /*465 CLE-NYG
12 Ray Burris   108 1973 1987 22-36 490 586 502 30 76 11 3 1 27 31 0 160 1 50 2 3 0 3 .151 .201 .191 .393 *1 CHC-NYY-TOT-NYM-MON-OAK-MIL-STL
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/19/2009.
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Lastly, since 1901, how many pitchers, in their major league career, have retired exactly 108 batters? Here they are:

Rk     IP From To Age G GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% SV H R ER BB SO ERA ERA+ HR BF IBB HBP BK WP Tm
1 Colby Ward   36.0 1990 1990 26-26 22 0 0 0 7 1 3 .250 1 31 17 17 21 23 4.25 92 3 158 4 1 0 6 CLE
2 Brian Snyder   36.0 1985 1989 27-31 17 6 0 0 6 1 2 .333 1 46 30 27 21 24 6.75 62 3 172 2 1 2 4 SEA-OAK
3 Mark Malaska   36.0 2003 2004 25-26 41 0 0 0 11 3 2 .600 0 34 18 15 24 29 3.75 124 2 163 4 2 0 0 TBD-BOS
4 John Leister   36.0 1987 1990 26-29 10 7 0 0 1 0 2 .000 0 56 36 34 16 19 8.50 53 9 175 1 0 0 1 BOS
5 Emiliano Fruto   36.0 2006 2006 22-22 23 0 0 0 6 2 2 .500 1 34 24 22 24 34 5.50 80 4 165 1 2 0 4 SEA
6 Horacio Estrada   36.0 1999 2001 23-25 15 4 0 0 6 4 1 .800 0 48 31 30 25 22 7.50 62 10 181 4 3 0 3 MIL-COL
7 Al Epperly   36.0 1938 1950 20-32 14 4 1 0 5 2 0 1.000 0 42 19 16 20 13 4.00 97 2 166   0 0 3 CHC-BRO
8 Steve Ellsworth   36.0 1988 1988 27-27 8 7 0 0 0 1 6 .143 0 47 29 27 16 16 6.75 61 7 168 1 1 0 1 BOS
9 Brad Cornett   36.0 1994 1995 25-26 14 4 0 0 2 1 3 .250 0 49 31 28 14 26 7.00 68 2 166 2 4 0 3 TOR
10 Ralph Buxton   36.0 1938 1949 24-35 19 0 0 0 10 0 2 .000 2 34 20 17 21 23 4.25 100 4 156   0 0 0 PHA-NYY
11 Jim Blackburn   36.0 1948 1951 24-27 18 0 0 0 5 0 2 .000 0 46 25 22 16 11 5.50 71 4 166   2 0 0 CIN
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/19/2009.
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There are some "fun" names on these lists, huh? Elmer Yoter, Tim Unroe, Pete LePine, Spike Merena, Red Bullock, Paul Foytack, Buck Etchison, Emiliano Fruto, Al Epperly, etc. They just sound like ol' time "ball players," don't they?

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Related posts:

    Great names for pitchers
    Bloops: A Look Back at “8 Who May Be Great”
    A great day for baseball stats
    The Orioles’ great start

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 19th, 2009 at 1:49 pm and is filed under Season Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

5 Responses to “Ain’t 108 Great?”

  1. statboy Says:
    December 20th, 2009 at 1:38 am

    No big deal, but I think the last list is probably incorrect. If a pitcher pitches 36.0 innings, he doesn't necessarily retire 108 batters, right?

  2. Steve Lombardi Says:
    December 20th, 2009 at 9:23 am

    That's a fair point - considering DPs, CS, FC, etc.

  3. SJBlonger Says:
    December 20th, 2009 at 11:48 am

    I had never heard of Red Bullock. That's some really bad pitching -- so bad, in fact, that his career WHIP (3.360) is the highest for any pitcher who managed to throw 15 innings or more.

    I couldn't find much about him on the Web. Surprisingly, though, I was able to find a photo.

  4. Steve Lombardi Says:
    December 20th, 2009 at 12:30 pm

    I wonder if this is Red's son:

    http://www.doctoralia.us/healthpro/bullock+jr+malton+joseph-11135270

  5. birtelcom Says:
    December 21st, 2009 at 10:41 am

    A list with a somewhat higher recognition factor would be generated by looking for guys with 108 career homers (Gary Matthews, Jr., Carmelo Martinez, Shea Hillenbrand, Jimmy Dykes, George Selkirk, Al Cowens, Jack Howell, Fred Whitfield, Ron Northey) or 108 career wins as a pitcher (Bryn Smith, Ray Burris, Dick Drago, Bob Shaw, Max Lanier, Hank Borowy, Bil Dietrich, Rip Collins, Orval Overall). Each of these two lists produces exactly nine names, generally in the same category of guys who had substantial careers but never reached star level. Ron Kline and Wayne Granger had 108 career saves.

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