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Eating the Strikeout Elephant

Posted by Raphy on January 27, 2010

Sometimes PI can be more fun when used in conjunction with other basic programs. Here is a fun stat that I found by comparing the results of a game finder search and a season finder search. I simply converted the searches into CSV format, pasted them into Excel, and had the program compare the lists.

Most Strikeouts in a Season Without a Double-Digit Strikeout Game 1954-2009 (Rk is rank in seasonal strikeouts since '54)

Rk Player Year SO SO/G Age Tm Lg G GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% SV IP H R ER BB ERA ERA+
204 Juan Marichal 1968 218 5.736842 30 SFG NL 38 38 30 5 0 26 9 0.743 0 326 295 106 88 46 2.43 123
291 Roy Halladay 2008 206 6.058824 31 TOR AL 34 33 9 2 0 20 11 0.645 0 246 220 88 76 39 2.78 152
382 Steve Busby 1974 198 5.210526 24 KCR AL 38 38 20 3 0 22 14 0.611 0 292.1 284 118 110 92 3.39 112
419 Sterling Hitchcock 1999 194 5.878788 28 SDP NL 33 33 1 0 0 12 14 0.462 0 205.2 202 99 94 76 4.11 102
438 Wilbur Wood 1972 193 3.938776 30 CHW AL 49 49 20 8 0 24 17 0.585 0 376.2 325 119 105 74 2.51 126
516 Livan Hernandez 2004 186 5.314286 29 MON NL 35 35 9 2 0 11 15 0.423 0 255 234 105 102 83 3.6 126
545 Bronson Arroyo 2006 184 5.257143 29 CIN NL 35 35 3 1 0 14 11 0.56 0 240.2 222 98 88 64 3.29 142
549 Freddy Garcia 2004 184 5.935484 29 TOT AL 31 31 1 0 0 13 11 0.542 0 210 192 92 89 64 3.81 122
565 Brandon Webb 2008 183 5.382353 29 ARI NL 34 34 3 1 0 22 7 0.759 0 226.2 206 95 83 65 3.3 141
576 Dennis Leonard 1978 183 4.575 27 KCR AL 40 40 20 4 0 21 17 0.553 0 294.2 283 125 109 78 3.33 116
597 Hideo Nomo 2000 181 5.65625 31 DET AL 32 31 1 0 0 8 12 0.4 0 190 191 102 100 89 4.74 99
604 Gary Nolan 1970 181 4.891892 22 CIN NL 37 37 4 2 0 18 7 0.72 0 250.2 226 102 91 96 3.27 128
605 Bill Hands 1969 181 4.414634 29 CHC NL 41 41 18 3 0 20 14 0.588 0 300 268 102 83 73 2.49 162
610 Dick Radatz 1964 181 2.291139 27 BOS AL 79 0 0 0 67 16 9 0.64 29 157 103 44 40 58 2.29 168
619 Greg Swindell 1988 180 5.454545 23 CLE AL 33 33 12 4 0 18 14 0.563 0 242 234 97 86 45 3.2 128

3 Responses to “Eating the Strikeout Elephant”

  1. JohnnyTwisto Says:

    Dick Radatz's first 3 seasons: 40-21, 2.17 ERA, 78 Sv, 414 IP, 487 K, 292 H. How many other relievers have had such dominant and valuable runs? He actually did have two double-digit strikeout games out of the pen in '63.

  2. Scott V Says:

    The seasons of Hideo Nomo and Sterling Hitchcock sure do speak to the lack of complete games in modern baseball. Hard to believe that they could have averages of close to one per inning and not at some point in the season have an exceptional game that got them double digit strikeouts.

  3. eorns Says:

    Great list! BION, Hitchcock had only ONE 9K game, and it wasn't until September! Through August he had 163K in 165.1 IP over 27 games, never whiffing more than 8 in any one game. Tough to do!