There’s Picking, And, Then There’s Pilfering
Posted by Steve Lombardi on February 21, 2010
How many pitchers, since 1954, have picked-off at least one runner in four or more straight games (that they have pitched)?
Here's the answer, via Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Pitching Streak Finder -
Rk | Strk Start | End | Games | W | L | GS | CG | SHO | GF | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | WP | BK | Tm | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Andy Pettitte | 1997-06-16 | 1997-07-21 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 53.1 | 58 | 21 | 19 | 11 | 31 | 0 | 3.21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | NYY |
2 | Ken Brett | 1977-09-14 | 1978-04-10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 35.2 | 38 | 16 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 3.53 | 1 | 1 | 1 | CAL |
3 | Steve Busby | 1973-06-12 | 1973-06-28 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40.0 | 32 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 35 | 5 | 3.38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | KCR |
4 | Dallas Braden | 2008-08-25 | 2008-09-11 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22.0 | 27 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3.27 | 0 | 0 | 1 | OAK |
5 | Pete Schourek | 2000-06-27 | 2000-07-14 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.2 | 24 | 13 | 13 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 6.27 | 2 | 2 | 0 | BOS |
6 | Dwight Gooden | 1997-07-02 | 1997-07-23 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23.0 | 25 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 11 | 4 | 5.09 | 1 | 0 | 0 | NYY |
7 | Chris Hammond | 1995-07-23 | 1995-08-19 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25.1 | 23 | 11 | 11 | 5 | 23 | 3 | 3.91 | 2 | 1 | 0 | FLA |
8 | Steve Avery | 1995-05-04 | 1995-05-19 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27.1 | 22 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 18 | 2 | 1.98 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ATL |
9 | Greg Swindell | 1994-06-12 | 1994-06-28 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22.2 | 33 | 13 | 13 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 5.16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | HOU |
10 | Armando Reynoso | 1994-04-15 | 1994-05-03 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26.0 | 22 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 3.46 | 1 | 1 | 0 | COL |
11 | Terry Mulholland | 1992-07-09 | 1992-07-26 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33.0 | 32 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 23 | 4 | 3.27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | PHI |
12 | Frank Tanana | 1990-04-12 | 1990-04-28 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24.1 | 32 | 17 | 17 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 6.29 | 3 | 0 | 0 | DET |
13 | Brian Dubois | 1989-08-27 | 1989-09-25 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 23.0 | 19 | 10 | 5 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 1.96 | 1 | 0 | 1 | DET |
14 | Frank Tanana | 1989-07-04 | 1989-07-26 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28.0 | 29 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 2 | 2.89 | 1 | 1 | 0 | DET |
15 | Charlie Hough | 1988-07-09 | 1988-07-25 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29.1 | 19 | 12 | 9 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 2.76 | 0 | 1 | 0 | TEX |
16 | Rick Sutcliffe | 1983-05-05 | 1983-05-23 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 29.2 | 26 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 19 | 0 | 3.34 | 1 | 1 | 0 | CLE |
17 | Fernando Valenzue | 1983-04-20 | 1983-05-06 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27.0 | 26 | 15 | 15 | 9 | 22 | 1 | 5.00 | 3 | 0 | 1 | LAD |
18 | Fernando Valenzue | 1982-06-05 | 1982-06-19 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34.1 | 34 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 17 | 1 | 2.36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | LAD |
19 | Jesse Jefferson | 1979-06-06 | 1979-06-22 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23.1 | 33 | 20 | 18 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 6.94 | 0 | 1 | 0 | TOR |
20 | Steve Carlton | 1977-09-05 | 1977-09-20 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34.0 | 24 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 27 | 3 | 1.85 | 0 | 0 | 1 | PHI |
21 | Dave McNally | 1973-05-22 | 1973-06-08 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29.1 | 22 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 2.76 | 0 | 3 | 0 | BAL |
22 | Wilbur Wood | 1972-05-29 | 1972-06-09 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32.0 | 27 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 2.53 | 1 | 1 | 0 | CHW |
23 | Danny McDevitt | 1957-07-27 | 1957-08-14 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28.2 | 23 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 13 | 0 | 2.51 | 1 | 2 | 0 | BRO |
.
How about Andy Pettitte - picking off at least one runner in 8 straight games back in 1997? That was his third year in the big leagues. Was no one paying attention to his pick-off move during the first two?
February 21st, 2010 at 7:58 pm
Is there a righty on the list?
Andy is questionable though, he now definitely has the "vet" call, but he is always a borderline balk.
February 21st, 2010 at 8:28 pm
Here are the righties:
Generated 2/21/2010.
February 21st, 2010 at 8:41 pm
amazing (to me) that kenny rogers doesn't make the list...
February 21st, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Mrf -Not only that, but the only time Rogers managed 3 in a row was as a reliever.
Generated 2/21/2010.
February 21st, 2010 at 9:14 pm
I think it's interesting that most of the W-L records for these guys were pretty bad. Only two of them won more than half their games. I guess if you're getting enough opportunities to pick guys off, you're not having too much success against the batters.
February 21st, 2010 at 11:06 pm
[...] Andy Pettitte is so much fun. Filed under Stat Of The Day Blog · Print This Post · Email This Post [...]
February 21st, 2010 at 11:44 pm
So what's the (post-1954) record for most consecutive games pitched with at least one balk?
February 22nd, 2010 at 12:53 pm
"Was no one paying attention to his pick-off move during the first two?"
I remember how it always seemed Pettitte picked off the guys who thought they were safe because they weren't taking a big lead. They'd be not even two feet off the bag, lulled by his move and a false sense of security. He never seemed to get the guys with a big lead.
I was curious if the guys he caught off guard during the streak would bear that out, and I suppose it does a bit: Gilkey, Grissom, Easley, Graffanino, Shawn Green, Nevin, Belle, Stinnett and Voigt (he caught the last two in the eighth game).
February 22nd, 2010 at 1:12 pm
So what's the (post-1954) record for most consecutive games pitched with at least one balk?
The answer is six. A Play Index subscriber can tell you the offender's name. (-;þ
February 22nd, 2010 at 6:12 pm
Or a non-subscriber can do a little extra work and find out that it was Dave Stewart, 1988. That was the year of the balk, and Stewart set the all-time record with 16 of them. He balked in his first 6 games that year; once on 4 April, 3 times on the 9th, once on the 14th, 3 more on the 19th, another one on the 23rd, then twice on the 28th - 11 balks in 6 games.